The Perfect 3 Week Brazil Travel Itinerary (Including Off The Beaten Path Locations)
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the perfect 3 week brazil itinerary
We absolutely loved Brazil, we had such an epic time in that wonderfully colourful country that we ended up staying almost 2 months! We liked it so much, in that time we also did 2 work exchanges just so we could stay longer. Whilst what we did see barely touched the surface of this mammoth South American country, one day we'll definitely be back to explore more of it, along with Colombia, it’s our favourite country in South America! It's a crazy melting pot of characters, nature, humidity, customs, food, animals and so much more. In this post we'll show you the perfect 3 week itinerary including off the beaten path locations so you can have a truly unique, authentic experience. We travelled the whole of it by bus, which is fairly comfortable but be prepared for some VERY long rides.
We entered from Argentina, through Iguazu Falls national park (another absolute MUST-DO), and then went largely on Lonely Planet and other travellers’ recommendations. As it’s such a big country, unless you have ample time, you’ll have to pick whether you want to include the North (such as Lençóis Maranhenses) and the Amazon/other national parks, or stick to the South and coast like we did. Personally, we’re extremely happy with what we saw of Brazil because of the variety of landscape, cityscape and cultures covered (and seriously Iguaçu Falls is one of the best things we’ve ever seen) but we do look forward to going back and exploring more one day!
Read on to see our ultimate travel tips for the perfect 3 weeks below:
where to visit
Armacao do Buzios (the St. Tropez of Brazil)
Cabo Frio + Arraial do Cabo (the Caribbean of Brazil)
starting off in Sao Paulo
This was our first stop in Brazil- it's a humongous city and impossible to truly see in just a few days, plus it rained pretty much the whole time we were there. There's some cool graffiti and interesting buildings and areas, but for the most part we had had enough of cities by this point and couldn't wait to move onto more tropical landscapes and typical Brazilian culture! We recommend 3 days here to get a feel for it.
There's a lovely (fairly fancy) area for shopping and restaurants on Rua Haddock Lobo. We walked the whole length of it then went down the main street Avenida Paulista. This is a long, busy and diverse main shopping area full of lots to look at. We ended up in a delicious street food-truck park at the end.
We really enjoyed the open-air street market that leads onto the indoor Mercado Municipal. This is São Paulo's biggest market, renowned for their delicious, colourful fruits and snacks.
We visited the Pinacoteca museum which is located in an interesting building and has some nice pieces- it's one of the most important museums in the whole of Brazil too. In the cafe nearby we got our first taste of delicious Brazillian snack food- Coxinhas, man we ate so many of these!
visiting little known Paraty
We loved sunny Paraty! After almost 2 months on the road, we were really glad to get to a warm, seaside town. Paraty has loads of typical beautiful Brazilian greenery around and the town itself is super cute. It's a tiny old colonial town with blue and white buildings. The beach directly along Paraty town, and just outside it where we were staying, are not the best ones on offer however. There's several within a bus ride away but our absolute favourite was the awesome Trinidade beach, about half an hour away.
Whilst here we had our first taste of the hospitality in Brazil too. All the local people were super sweet and chatty, and we had the most awesome host! Just over a 20-minute walk from the centre is the slightly less touristy Jabaquara, where we stayed at Simon's Guesthouse, Praia Serena which we highly recommend! Especially if you’re looking for a bit more nature, this is an awesome place to stay. Again, 3 days here is more than enough to explore.
One day, as we were trying to get to one of the beaches, we clearly went down a wrong road and a car pulled up and offered us a ride to the bus stop. Normally, this is not something we would do while travelling but we had a good feeling about the woman so hopped right on in. She did drive straight past the bus stop but only to take us to her house instead with a private pool and beach leading on from her front garden! She then introduced us to all her friends who we shared a beer and some food with, talk about friendly!
travel up to BUZIOS
We arrived in Buzios next because we had a Workaway lined up. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for as long as we had originally planned but we enjoyed our time here anyway! We'll go into the benefits and drawbacks of work exchanges in a little bit more detail in another post.
Originally made popular by celebrities such as Brigitte Bardo, Buzios is dubbed the St. Tropez of Brazil. It's very beautiful and picturesque, but because of this, it can also be quite expensive and touristy. They have loads of beautiful and diverse beaches all around, this is where we tried SUP for the first time too!
As we were trying to avoid the sometimes ludicrous hostel prices in the centre (over NYE no less), we came across an awesome hostel on the outskirts in Manguinhos. Getting into the centre is very easy from here with a short bus ride so this is an option if you want to save a bit of money. Unfortunately, this hostel is no longer there, but if you want to check out other options in this area then click this link.
Buzios is also where we got our first taste of the EPIC pay-per-weight self-service buffets of Brazil. Man, these are so delicious and great value for money, they're common all over and we highly recommend them! We ate these for lunch every. single. day. 2-3 days should suffice in Buzios to wander around the town and check out the beaches.
stop off at CABO FRIO + ARRAIAL DO CABO
We went here next because we had been told it was the Caribbean of Brazil haha, and it certainly is beautiful! Whilst some of the beaches and water are really nice and blue, we wouldn't exactly call it the Caribbean though. There's several to choose from and one that involves a small hike to get to, which makes it even more fun! This one, called Forno, was one of our favourites (although it's a very narrow beach and fills up quickly so get there early to save a spot). Our other favourite one was Prainha, where we even managed to swim with a turtle! 2 days will do here to see the nice beaches because other than that there wasn't much else to do.
This is also where we had our first, awesome, Airbnb experience in Brazil. We were hosted by an amazing woman, Maristela, who was so welcoming and accommodating and made us breakfast every morning! Her flat is a little far out however but buses need to be taken to get to most of the beaches regardless of where you stay anyway. Even though she spoke no English, we managed to form a bond with pidgin Portuguese, she also took care of me one day when I was feeling ill! Click here to receive £23 off your next booking!
off the beaten path: BOICUCANGA + BORRACEIA
We came here because we had a Workaway organised, it's a really tiny village but we absolutely loved our time here! For about a month we painted murals and taught English in our amazing host's school. There was only 4000 people living there but it had everything we needed- the beach was lovely, the food was DELICIOUS and we made some great friends. There was also some cool surf beaches nearby and a larger town which you're probably more likely to come across on your travels, Maresias.
Camburi is a really cool surf village nearby with a couple of super cool cafes and restaurants too.
Borraceia is even smaller, although we preferred Boicucanga because it felt a bit more complete, both are good if you want to experience real, untouched Brazil. There are absolutely no tourists here and you’ll get a very authentic experience! We really loved Boicucanga and long to find somewhere like it in Europe to call home one day! As this is really off the beaten path, it would be totally up to you whether you come here, or somewhere else local on your way to other places, so the time you spend can just vary on what you feel like and have available.
visiting must-see RIO DE JANEIRO
Well, what to say about Rio! It really is as crazy, colourful, beautiful, energetic and impressive as we thought it would be! Now, the fact that we arrived and stayed for Carnaval definitely will have given us a different viewpoint on the city than if we had come at another time. Copacabana beach, for example, was totally packed side to side, whereas at other times we've seen pictures of it fairly empty. Also, the level of crime we saw definitely would have been very different had we gone at another time.
Exactly because we went at carnival, we decided to leave our phones and camera at home most of the time so we don't actually have any pictures! If you’re also going during carnival and want to keep your stuff safe, we strongly recommend you do the same. You may think you're street-smart because you grew up in a big city and have done loads of travelling (as did we haha) but the level of theft/petty crime we saw was something else. Whilst we did feel safe, it’s always worth having your wits about you in any large city (and taking out travel insurance before you go)!
Still, this doesn't take away from how awesomely vibrant this city is! We stayed in the Tijuca region which is pretty far out as everything else was fully booked and/or outrageously priced (of course). But it was a lovely green, peaceful area and we had a mini pool on the roof overlooking the hills which is always a plus! We only learnt when we got there that the typical parade you see is actually only in the Hippodrome and tickets can cost hundreds of pounds. What the rest of carnival is is an EPIC street party.
Be warned though- it's not for the faint-hearted! All the roads and beaches are absolutely crammed and there are several well-known blocos that circulate around. These are essentially lively, non-stop music floats, our favourites were the jazz one in Flamengo, the gay area (which is extremely crowded), and the lesser-known, local blocos in Santa Teresa. So get yourself a caipirinha or five and be prepared for some SERIOUS partying!
We did of course also see the big man himself, Cristo Redentore. Personally, we thought it would be a lot bigger! The views up there are absolutely stunning, but, as you would expect, it gets very full so arrive early if you want an empty shot. You’ll probably be flying into Brazil here so 3 days minimum would be good to properly enjoy everything without rushing. If you have more time, you can also travel off the mainland to visit beautiful Ilha Grande.
relaxing in the super vibey ITACARE
We just looooooved Itacaré! It had everything we look for in a place - good beaches, chilled vibes, cute indie bars and shops, friendly locals, and plenty of nature. We probably could've stayed here indefinitely! It was one of our favourite places on our whole travels. We recommend spending at least 3 days here to chill out and enjoy.
We stayed in a really nice eco-lodge just off the main road, called Casa Blanka. The small street with all the cafes and bars is super cute, and the beaches are about a 20-minute walk away. There's four main ones to pick from, moving up in level of surf skill required (the first one being beginner’s and the last one being advanced). Along this line, bear in mind that that also means the fourth beach along is more dangerous for a normal swimmer. We spent most of our time on the first beach (aka the family one) and found it good for both surfing and swimming. Even so, the currents were still strong and almost pulled us onto the rocks one day! There was always someone doing yoga or capoeira, selling coconuts or vegan chocolate balls there too, it had such great vibes.
Close by is also Boipeba, which we didn't visit but is supposed to have amazingly clear water pools.
finish off by visiting colourful SALVADOR
Our final stop in Brazil was the adorably colourful Salvador. Fun fact: This was where Michael Jackson filmed his video for "They Don't Really Care About Us", which we didn't know until we arrived in our hostel facing the main square and saw a cardboard cutout of him on the balcony opposite haha. Salvador is a cool little town full of colour, charm and culture. The food is really delicious and you'll see lots of women walking around in traditional dress. We stayed in the historic bit most of the time because we were told the rest is too dangerous to visit and doesn't have much to offer. We didn't verify this for ourselves because we were short on time but if we were to go back would probably check it out. 2 days here is more than enough to wander around.
We flew from here to Colombia (for an insane price so plan accordingly if you decide to go this route!), and were glad for this place to be our last goodbye to an epic two months in Brazil. We could see the culture start to shift up here and we really look forward to coming back one day and exploring the north of Brazil too!
So that's our perfect 3 week Brazil travel itinerary! We thoroughly enjoyed our trip here, everything from the scenery to the food to the people will forever hold a special place in our hearts and cemented it as one of our favourite countries in the whole world. We hope this guide has been of some use to you, if you have any questions at all regarding travelling in Brazil feel free to ask away in the comments section below! We'd be more than happy to try and help.
If you've been to Brazil before, what else would add?
