A cylinder immersed in a current and free to translate along a circular arc is considered to investigate the impact of path curvature on the flow-induced vibrations (FIV) occurring without structural restoring force. Path curvature magnitude (
$\kappa$
, inverse of path radius non-dimensionalized by the body diameter
$D$
) is varied from
$0$
(transverse rectilinear path) to
$20$
, over a wide range of values of the structure to displaced fluid mass ratio,
$m^\star \in [0.05,10]$
. The exploration is carried out numerically at subcritical and postcritical values of the Reynolds number (
$Re$
, based on
$D$
and the inflow velocity), i.e. below and above the critical value
$47$
for the onset of flow unsteadiness when the body is fixed, up to
$100$
. Path curvature triggers a desynchronized regime of the flow–body system in addition to the synchronized regime typical of vortex-induced vibrations, and alters the composition of fluid forcing. The most prominent effect uncovered here is, however, a global enhancement of FIV, with three principal results: (i) vibrations and flow unsteadiness are found to arise at lower subcritical
$Re$
along a curved path, down to
$19.5$
versus
$31$
for
$\kappa =0$
; (ii) the
$m^\star$
range where substantial responses develop is considerably extended and encompasses the entire interval under study, which contrasts with the narrow band of low
$m^\star$
identified for
$\kappa =0$
; (iii) the vibrations are amplified,
$+45\,\%$
relative to the peak amplitude measured along a rectilinear path at
$Re =100$
.