Travel Route: Round trip Southern Brazil from Rio de Janeiro (2/3 weeks)
Start in Rio de Janeiro (3 to 4 days of culture, beach, food and party), Rio is an amazing awesome place. We think the best place to stay is Copacobana as it is lively and in the middle of the city. The great beach (nr9) and clubs of Ipanema are closeby as well as more traditional parts of the city such as Lapa and the city center. Check out Samba club Salgueiro (check if it is open first (depends on season)).
After Rio, go to Ilha Grande. This is an amazing island without cars 3 hours south from Rio. If you are in a rush go to Ilha de Santa Catarina (Florianopolis) (like 15 hours south of Rio) for some quality beach time. Take about 3 days here. They are both magnificent places. Ilha Grande is a paradisiacal island close to Rio without any traffic. There are no cars here, just massive sand beaches, palm trees, cocktails and blue sea. Ilha de Santa Catarina is a peninsula next to the city of Florianopolis with 42 fantastic beaches. The northern beaches on the peninsula are more touristic, the beaches in de Mideast are mellow and have good surf. The beaches in the south of the island are more difficult to reach and quite deserted except for a couple of diehard surfers. Ilha Santa Catarina has some great spots for body surfing with frequent international surfing competitions.
Your next stop are the incredible waterfalls of Foz de Iguacu. Spend 1 or 2 days to see these amazing waterfalls. Check both the Brazilian and the Argentinean side. If you only have one day do the Brazilian side and check out Itaipu, which is one of the biggest dams in the world. It is stunning. You can combine Itaipu and Iguacu Brazilian side in 1 day. If you do 2 days, stay overnight on the Argentinean side which is more pleasant than the Brazilian city of Iguazu.
Then, from Iguacu travel to the Campo Grande to discover the Pantanal, which is an extensive wetland bordering the Amazon, where you can see caimans, capibaras, anacondas and catch and eat Piranhas. The trip to Campo Grande from Iguacu is a long trip and will take like 20 hours by bus, so that is 1 day (fly if you want to save time). Do a 3 day trip in Pantanal and return to Rio through Ouro Preto (again a long bus ride) 1 day.
If you want you can also go the other way around if you like to have your relax and beach time at Ilha Grande or Florianopolis at the end of your trip. Keep in mind that Rio has Some great great beaches as well.
Finally, when you are in Brazil you should try Açaí na tigela. This is an incredible ice frozen fruit snack from the Amazon. Brazilians also love to drink juice (suco) made from fruits from the Amazon. Delicious fruits are Copuaçu, Guave, Guanabana, Acerola (acid but very rich in vitamin c).
Brazil is amazing!
|
Visited hotspots
|
