BRAZIL
The Most Colorful Soul: from the Unique Lençois to the Ecstatic Rhythm of Samba
Welcome to Brazil, a land that defies simple description and bursts with life in every direction. This country offers an unparalleled blend of traditions, landscapes, cultures, and colors, stretching from the untamed rhythm of the Amazon to the serene sands of its endless coastline. Brazil is a world unto itself - an expansive tapestry of contrasts that stirs the senses and awakens the soul.
At the heart of this experience lie Brazil’s cities, pulsating with vibrant life, where colonial charm meets modern ambition. The melodies of samba and bossa nova echo through every corner, while each city tells its own story of history, diversity, and a celebration of life that’s impossible to ignore.
As you venture deeper into Brazil, breathtaking natural beauty unfolds, with landscapes alive with color, sound, and movement. Here, nature and culture intertwine in a harmonious dance, creating a place where the energy is palpable and the boundaries between urban and wild blur in perfect harmony.
Join us as we embark on a journey through Brazil - an odyssey that transcends mere travel. It's a voyage into the soul of a nation that celebrates life with unmatched vibrancy.
Day 1 - Let yourself be amazed by São Paulo’s jaw dropping gastronomic scene
Welcome to São Paulo, by far the most underrated city in Brazil. Only some of the travelers heading there really give it a chance, but trust us, it’s so worth it! First of all we are talking about the Country’s capital of finance, design, and food. Isn’t that something? The only downside - we tell you already - is hotels. None of them really convinces us 100%, but we are pretty sure that great projects are coming up. For now, you can go with the classics: the Rosewood and the Fasano - both massive hotels - not really aligned with the EC’s vibe, but that’s what we have for now. Otherwise, as a cheaper option in a less central area, you can try Casa Degar, a few small rooms a little further away, but stylish, well renovated, and featuring a little terrace for your down time. Last option - more central - the basic but vibey Guest Urban Hotel, located in the heart of Pinheiros district.
Let’s get to the good stuff, though - São Paulo is by far the most dynamic city in Brazil. After your arrival - and a few hours of down time after the trip - what better way to begin your trip than your first Capirinha at Bar do Baixo?! During weekends you can usually sip it accompanied by live music.
Day 2 - Discovering São Paulo’s surprising beauty
Start your day with a stroll in Ibirapuera park. You’ll have a chance to visit multiple buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer, one of the greatest architects in Brazil’s history, renowned in all continents for his modernist masterpieces, usually featuring white-painted concrete and curve lines. Ibirapuera was opened in 1954 for the City’s 400th anniversary and is still one of South America’s biggest urban parks!
Have lunch at the beautiful Cuia, a little restaurant / library 10 minutes away by Uber, serving amazing contemporary Brazilian food. From here, you can start the walking tour of São Paulo’s city center. A quick note on safety - of course the City is not one of the safest in the world, but as long as you keep your phone in your pockets and pay a good deal of attention when you must check it (or you simply enter a shop), you’ll be fine.
You’re now ready to tour São Paulo’s legendary city center! If you’re into architecture, start from Edificio Copan, right next to the restaurant, designed by Oscar Niemeyer as well. You can visit its beautiful ground floor anytime, but what you’d love the most is certainly going to be the rooftop, which is open only on weekdays at 10:30am or 3:30pm. Curiously enough, for the building’s most hardcore fans, you can also spend one night in it (on the 22nd floor) in this small but refined Airbnb.
You can then take a long stroll, checking out the center’s most remarkable buildings: The Municipal Theatre and the São Bento - a 17th century Monastery - to conclude with The Municipal Market (closes around 4PM). Don’t be shy and taste some of incredible fruits or dishes you’ve likely never seen before.
After a shower, go for another unforgettable dinner at one of the most hyped restaurants in São Paulo at the moment, Casa do Porco. If you don’t like pork, you can try Chou, a wonderful small restaurant in Pinheiros.
Day 3 - Another day of wonder in São Paulo
Start your day with a walk in the Paulista shopping road par excellence, Rua Oscar Freire in the Jardim Paulista neighborhood. Enjoy the hundreds of shops, each one with its own vibe. Have lunch or coffee at Botanikafé Jardins, a beautiful “jungly” coffee shop / restaurant.
If you’re into street art, check out Beco do Batman, an entire street dedicated to the best street art in São Paulo. If you’re into architecture like us, a MUST see is Casa do Vidro by Italian/Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi. As the name in Portuguese suggests, it’s a modernist house covered in windows. It’s the first completed project by Bo Bardi and was inaugurated in 1951. Lina’s talent was crafted in Italy by his majesty Gio Ponti, in his own studio, where she worked before moving to Brazil in 1946. It’s a little bit out of the way - 20-25 minutes by Uber - but we guarantee it’s worth the short trip.
After this, it’s time to leave and hop on a short flight to Rio de Janeiro.
Day 4 - Rio de Janeiro and its contagious energy
What does it mean to be carioca, from Rio? The best way to describe it for us is pure energy! No matter how many steps you’ll walk in a day, how many kilometers you’ve driven on your bike, or how many hours you’ve partied at night - the energy around you will nurture you and make you enjoy every minute in this magical city - This is a promise!
First of all, we strongly recommend you stay in the city at least 4, if not 5 nights - if your itinerary allows. Since Rio is huge, our advice is to spend half of the time in the historic and colorful neighborhood of Santa Teresa, and half of it in Leblon, on the beach. In Santa Teresa, located on top of a hill, you can find one of our favorite hotels in all of Brazil, Chez Georges. Designed by Wladimir Alves de Souza - an outstanding modernist architect - this villa was initially built for a Belgian family. Today it hosts seven marvelous suites, a beautiful swimming pool, a rooftop with incredible views, and an amazing common living room with a functioning piano. The luxury of this hotel is the feeling of being surrounded by silence and nature while actually being in the middle of a 6+ million people city.
For your Leblon base, we recommend the Janeiro Hotel - A 15 floor building featuring 51 rooms right in front of Leblon beach. Of course a completely different vibe, but that’s the beauty of it!
The hotel was recently very carefully renovated and features a beautiful restaurant on the first floor, and a top floor pool, cocktail bar, and restaurant. Another good perk is that they provide you with free bikes to tour the city with.
Let’s get back to the itinerary! First things first, leave Chez Georges and explore the wonderful neighborhood of Santa Teresa, home to many artists, academics, gallerists and politicians. You might have seen it in pictures featuring its iconic yellow tram. On your way down towards the city center, stop by the Parque das Ruinas, which features an art gallery and coffee shop, and climb down the Escadaria Sedarón, the iconic staircase covered in mosaics.
Pass by the Arcos da Lapa, the Carioca aqueduct, and pay a visit to the enormous brutalist cathedral, built in 1979 and able to host up to 20,000 people. We bet you’re hungry by now - have lunch at Lilia, a wonderful restaurant “hidden” on top of an ancient building’s staircase.
Continue the tour with the marvelous Royal Portuguese reading room and treat yourself with a sweet treat at Casa Cavé. Once you got your sugar rate high enough, head to the Museum of Modern Art for your last stop of today’s tour.
Have dinner at Ipanema’s Maria e o Boi - one of the best picanha we tasted in the whole trip.
Day 5 - Dive into Rio’s outstanding art and craft scene
Head to Rio Museum of Art, where you can enjoy beautiful contemporary art exhibits, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, and the Mosteiro de São Bento. In the afternoon visit the incredible and completely off the beaten path Fábrica Bhering. This former chocolate factory today hosts dozens of small shops, including hand-crafted objects of all kinds, vintage furniture (Um Quarto is our favorite), and art galleries. You can still walk around every floor of the factory, which remains as authentic as it can possibly be. Definitely take an Uber to go and come back - you’re surrounded by favelas and this is not a touristy area at all.
For dinner, you could go to the beautiful - albeit a little touristy - Aprazivel, which sits in the middle between Chez Georges and the best samba spots!
It’s finally time for you to go dance samba! - Our favorite spots are:
On Thursdays, Fundiçao Progreso - This huge indoor space is entirely dedicated to samba. The stage is surrounded on all sides by people dancing and singing. It’s frankly impossible to even try to tell you how the vibe is - we can just say that we’ve never seen anything similar in our lives! Just to be sure, check the venue’s program before going!
On Mondays or Fridays, Pedra do Sal - This is simply a global symbol of samba, where you’ll dance in the middle of the road with hundreds or even thousands of cariocas.
On weekends, Rio Scenarium is also a great alternative!
Day 6 - The other side of Rio. The magic of Leblon, Ipanema, and Copacabana
Drop your bags at the Jainero hotel and ask them to grab two bikes for the day. There is no better way to tour this part of the city on a bike - it’s flat and full of bike lanes. Start pedaling towards Ipanema on the bike line alongside the beach, and enjoy the beautiful show of people running, playing soccer, volleyball, or simply swimming. On the other side of the road, buildings with entirely different architectural styles keep succeeding in front of your eyes as if you were traveling through time every few meters.
After fifteen minutes (or more - we bet you stopped a few hundred times to take photos) stop at arp bar - sit in their dehors to enjoy a nice breakfast or a snack - their freshly squeezed juices are awesome. It’s also an incredible spot for people watching - that portion of the beach is always fairly crowded.
A few meters away, at the Largo do Millôr, there’s a perfect frame to take your shot of Ipanema beach. After that, you can keep going until the end of the beach. You simply won’t get enough of this bike ride.
Once you arrive at the end, head towards the up and coming neighborhood of Botafogo. In Botafogo stop at a fantastic contemporary art gallery called Portas Vilaseca Galería and check out what’s on. Same goes for Athena.
It’s finally time for a (likely late) lunch, in one of our favorite places in Rio - the incredible Slow bakery. Please do yourself a favor and have lunch here. It’s an old warehouse repurposed as a bakery serving outstanding sweet and savory food. The coffee comes from a local selection and is just outstanding.
After lunch, it’s time to go and chill at the beautiful Red Beach. Relax there for as long as you’d like before heading for sunset to the top of Pão de Açúcar, only a few meters away. Once you’re up, go around and explore, but make sure to take the right position for sunset. Looking down, you’ll need to stay next to the gondola on the left, on the little balcony next to it. You’ll be able to take this amazing shot!
After this unforgettable sunset, head back to Janeiro and go for dinner close by at Chez Claude - the picanha is simply unforgettable.
Day 7 - The last breath of Rio’s magic
Have breakfast at Janeiro and go to Cristo Redentor. No words can describe its beauty - and how packed it’s going to be. However, as touristy as it can get, it’s surely worth a visit. On your way down, have a coffee at the incredible Parque Lage - here make sure to go to the upper floor for a 360° view and to explore the park around the building. Please don’t have lunch here, but rather take a short Uber ride to La Bicyclette for your a light lunch - you’ll know why we want you to stay light later.
After lunch check out Anita Schartz Gallery and OM.art, both interesting carioca contemporary art projects. After this, take a stroll back or - if you feel like it - around the lake (formally Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas) and relax for a minute - maybe enjoy a caipirinha by the pool or by the beach - before the best dinner of your whole trip.
We are of course talking about Lasai - this ten seats, two Michelin star restaurant, is simply an experience you’ll never forget. From vegetables to meat, from fish to dessert, the chef and his staff are going to cook one meter from you, encouraging you to socialize with the other guests while living this fantastic culinary trip. Your goodbye to Rio is never going to feel this bittersweet.
Day 8 - The hippie dream: Jericoacoara
Head to the airport to catch a flight to Jericoacoara. At the moment there are no direct flights, so you’ll need to stop over either in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, or Brasilia. In any case, it’s not going to be a short journey. From Jeri airport, you’ll need a 4WD transfer - the only road to get to Jeri is literally the beach. The town is absolutely isolated and completely surrounded by sand. In fact, there are no paved roads anywhere - feel free to walk around in your espadrillas or, why not, just barefoot!.
Once a tranquil fishing village, then a hippie niche destination, today Jeri has become much more touristy than it once was, and its charm and authenticity are partially gone. While the experience is still worth it, if you need to cut a stop in your Brazil itinerary, we suggest you skip Jeri. In any case, don’t spend more than three nights here, unless you want to dedicate yourself to improving your kite surfing skills.
Stay at Casa na Praia, pretty basic but stylish, and facing the beach, or at Villa Praia, a little more lux and more tucked away.
Enjoy your first evening by grabbing a caipirinha from this stand or another one right on the beach and head over to the nearby Duna do Pôr do Sol to enjoy the sun setting right in front of you, as in an outdoor cinema - a classic Jeri ritual.
Day 9, 10 - The kite surfer’s paradise
Whether you’re a kite surfer or just a beginner, you simply must try kitesurfing here - it’s one of the best places in the world for this sport thanks to constant strong wind blowing from East to West, and hitting the beach slightly side-shore. If you’re an advanced kite surfer, you might want to check out the numerous downwind expeditions in the area.
Most lessons will take place west of Jeri, after the famous Praia por do Sol - kite schools will pick you up with a bug or a car and drive you there.
After your kite class, you’ll need some dolce far niente, some relax time - since you’ll be exhausted, particularly if you’re a beginner.
Have dinner at Na Casa Dela - incredible vibe!
After dinner, just follow the music - either in a bar or at the beach itself you’ll certainly find live samba playing somewhere.
At some point, however, do explore the village’s surroundings by foot - the dunes diving in the ocean are truly a unique landscape, which you will hardly forget.
Day 11-13 - The legendary Lençóis Maranhenses
A huge desert filled with rainwater lagoons? You don’t believe until you see for yourself this absolutely surreal masterpiece of nature. Leave Jeri to hop on a very short flight to Parnaiba, saving yourself hours and hours of trip by car. There’s only a few flights per week, so make sure to book in advance and decide your itinerary beforehand.
Once you land in Parnaiba, it’s still going to be four hours by car - and a fun river crossing - before getting to the little town of Atins, your gateway to the Lençois. Make sure to stay in the isolated, low key Atins, rather than in the tacky and chaotic Barreirinhas. Book at the charming la Ferme de Georges - you’ll stay in a suite entirely made of local wood, but with all the amenities you might need. Take the rest of the day off by the pool and enjoy another incredible sunset on Brazil’s magic coastline. Have a fantastic dinner at the hotel.
Early in the morning you’ll wake up for this…
Facundo from Sempre Atins Cavalgadas will come with his horses and pick you up before the sun rises, and you’ll start horse riding towards the desert. No words can describe the emotion of riding a horse, completely on your own, in the middle of the desert, witnessing the colors changing and the landscape taking its form while the sun rises. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced horse rider, it doesn’t matter.
You’ll head back for lunch to the hotel, and after some downtime, you can go out in the desert again, this time on a quad. Certainly less romantic than on a horse, but the quad allows you to cover more ground and get deeper into the desert. The best thing - hard to believe - is that you’ll be on your own the whole time. Even if Lençois is becoming more popular, you’ll very rarely encounter other travelers.
The day after it’s time for another “version” of the desert - you can hike through it. This is a one day long, and frankly unmissable experience. You’ll get into the middle of the desert by car, where your driver drops you. At that point a guide will lead you through the core of the Lençois by foot. You’ll stop for lunch in an oasis, with a population of 15 people. Here you’ll have the most wonderful lunch - eating beans, chicken and tropical fruit, cooked by a fun old lady. After lunch, a siesta on the hammock is just mandatory.
After another hike - with multiple breaks to dive in the lagoons - you’ll get back to the car and stop to see a magic sunset over the dunes. The end of a day you’ll never forget. Get your last dinner in Atins.
Day 14-17 - The tropical paradise of Fernando de Noronha
Before we get to the good part, it’s worth mentioning that the trip to Fernando de Noronha from Atins is going to be long, and not necessarily comfy. First of all, you can enjoy a last morning at the beach (or back in the Lençois). After lunch, you’ll take a boat that will bring you - after an amazing navigation on a river surrounded by the jungle - from Atins to Barreirinhas. From Barreirinhas you’ll need a driver to São Luis (around 4 hours drive). We recommend you spend a night in São Luiz and take a flight to Fernando de Noronha the morning after. Unfortunately you won’t find a direct flight to the island, so you’ll need to stop over in Recife.
Welcome to Fernando de Noronha! This UNESCO World Heritage site will enchant you with its unspoiled beaches, where golden sands meet dramatic cliffs and the ocean shimmers in shades of turquoise. Book both your flight and hotel well in advance. The number of flights is capped and the pousadas - the hotels - on the island fill up quickly.
We recommend staying at Pousada Solar dos Ventos, by far the best one on the island. Recently renovated, with a great restaurant and view over the South side of the island. Otherwise an island classic would be the neighboring Pousada Maravilha.
Otherwise an island classic would be the neighboring Pousada Maravilha.
We also recommend renting a buggy - it allows you to be free and to roam through the island however and whenever you prefer. In a few days, you’ll be able to explore every corner of it. Plus, it’s honestly incredibly fun to drive it - you’ll need to drive stick! We rented it through Buggy em Noronha, who will deliver the buggy to your pousada directly before your arrival.
Once you’re all set, it’s probably time for a chill afternoon by the pool. If you’re staying at Solar dos Ventos, please don’t miss their incredible cocktails.
For aperitivo, head over to Bar do Meio, an evergreen hotspot in the island. Sip your Capirinha while witnessing another incredible Brazilian sunset.
After a good night’s sleep, the real adventure begins! Surely our favorite activity on the island is scuba diving - we have never seen anywhere the amount of life underwater comparable to the incredible show we witnessed in FdN. We dived with Sea Paradise and they were just great. They are conveniently located next to the port. Dive as much as possible, and certainly don’t miss the wreck dive next to the beach at the port - it was unbelievable!
Other than diving, make sure to explore as many beaches as you can - there are 14! Certainly start from the unique Praia do Sancho. In order to get to the beach, you’ll need to climb down a ladder, and there are times slots reserved for the descent, and others slated for the ascent. Make sure to check online what they are, so that you don’t have to waste precious time on the island. Before or after enjoying the beach, go to the Mirante with a vista of Morro Dois Irmãos, the two brother rocks, which you’ll reach through a wooden walkway.
After the beach, if you’re a fan of açaí (and let’s be real, how could you not be?), hit Açaí e Raizes. In the afternoon take your time to explore the island and its ridiculous beauty. Make sure to include the Nossa Senhora dos Remédios Church. Have an aperitivo at Lookout Forte Boldro, watching sunset from another perspective.
For dinner, try out the Cacimba Bistrô, next to the church - a colorful gem.
Besides this, Cacimba do Padre beach is a go-to for snorkeling and for watching the sunset while fishermen catch the evening dinner. Also, if you’re there during the day, swim to Praia do Americano, next to it, where you’ll be on your own.
And this is the end! We really hope that this guide will inspire you and take the trip. If you need help designing your itinerary, don’t hesitate to reach out to us - We are only one click away!
Our practical suggestions for you
How long: Not less than 2 weeks - Possibly 3 (or more of course)
Season: May to September, if you’re considering an itinerary similar to ours. Otherwise, if you’re planning to visit the South, between December to March
How to travel through the country: The distances are, of course, huge. Brazil is just massive - Be prepared to travel quite a lot both with planes and by car.
Practical advice: In terms of safety, just be a little cautious when you visit big cities, just like we wrote throughout the article. Don’t be afraid, though! Brazil is absolutely safe to travel through with just a little more attention than usual.
