stonewall49

Hi
We are planning on flying into Rio De Janeiro early November & flying out of Buenos Aires 2weeks later. We are starting our research now with our only must see so far being iguazu falls. Has anyone any advise on where to go & what to see & the best mode if transport whilst there
Thanks

SambaChula

With two weeks, those three destinations are probably sufficient
Iguazu might take one full and two half days, depending on flight schedules.
In Rio, you could probably find at least a week's worth of places to explore. You could take a couple do days for Buzios or Ilha Grande, both fairly nearby by bus.
You will not have time for any of my must-sees in Brazil which include Salvador and some tropical beaches in Bahia, the Colonial towns in Minas Gerais state, the Pantanal, the Lencois Matahenses, afernando de Noronha, among others.

gn63

The two major cities in Brazil are Rio and São Paulo. To define a route just with this two use these sites:
http://cidadedesaopaulo.com/download/
http://www.rio.com/

If you´re interested to visit some places near Rio, you can choose to see Angra dos Reis and Petrópolis. The first is a beach and second is a historical city in the country hills.

To check some activities in Iguassu Falls and Florianopolis you can visit these sites:
http://www.visitefloripa.com.br/
http://www.cataratasdoiguacu.com.br/...ssu-falls.aspx

Every link has an english version. I hope you enjoy your trip
~g

thursdaysd

I started my SA trip with something similar - Rio to Iguazu (by plane) to Montevideo (by plane) to Colonia (by bus) to BsAs by ferry - see http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...-patagonia.cfm

I recommend two full days (three nights) for Iguazu. It's absolutely spectacular, and you need one day for the Brazilian side and one for the Argentinian. If you decide to visit Uruguay you could see Colonia on the way from Montevideo to BsAs, it doesn't warrant as much time as I gave it, but with only two weeks you might be better off with just three places.

stonewall49

thanks for your advise and links folks. we're heading in two weeks with Rio, two full days (three nights) around Iguazu and onto Buenos Aires the only must sees for us. We're looking into visiting Manaus to do an Amazon Tour?
thursdaysd wow to your blog its fantastic, i've spent the last hour reading it and my itchy feet have started again! your an inspiration and i plan on reading more of your blog

thursdaysd

@stonewall - thanks for the kind words! Stay tuned, I'm traveling right now, and new material should be up soon.

SambaChula

@stonewall49--an Amazon visit requires an entire day to travel to Manaus and an entire day out as well. Most short Amazon tours are pretty superficial. Save it for another trip, maybe combined with some other destinations further in the north like Santarem, Parintins, São Luis, Parque Lencois, etc, in a June/July timeframe to catch the colorful celebrations.

stonewall49

thanks SambaChula, what do you think about a trip to Pantanal?

I'm now looking at Rio, then onto Ciuaba or Campo Grande to do a tour in the Pantanal and then onto Iguazu? Not too sure about transport though, I cannot seem to get any direct flights & I don't really want to backtrack

stonewall49

SambaChula I think I'll take your earlier advise & stick to the 3 locations. Maybe try to get squeeze in Montevideo or Colonia. Theres way to much to do with the Amazon, Pantanal and Patagonia. I'll have to take a year out to get around them.

We're looking to visit to a farm while there. Can anyone advise of farm visits around rio/iguazu falls or buenos aires

SambaChula

Any Pantanal trip requires at least 5 days (2 for travel in/out and at least 3 days of tours to make it worthwhile), so I think it wise on your part to save that for another trip. You'll be back.
You could go from Rio, down the coast by bus to Angra dos Reis to ferry across to Ilha Grande for a couple of days, on to São Paulo (with a stop in Paraty/Trindade if wanted), and fly from SP to Foz.

SambaChula

Many fazendas (farms/ranches) in Brazil are small holdings, a working class owner with a few acres of bananas or coconuts. You would have to know and contact an individual owner. There are, however, those that have facilities for guests (comparable perhaps to the idea of a dude ranch in the US), which you could locate by Googling "pousada fazenda" and the location.

Francis974

By plane go to Costa do Sauípe (near Bahia).
Fantastic place i've stayed.
See more at: http://www.costadosauipe.com.br/

SambaChula

Not worth going specifically for that, IMO. Could be combined with some time in Salvador and other nice and interesting day and/or overnight trips from there. Guarajuba is, IMO, the nicest beach on that general stretch of the Linha Verde coast, though. But again, with only two weeks, and plans for BsAs, the falls and Rio, not enough time for any of the above.