jb04

It's not too early to start thinking about this!!! My husband (huge soccer fan) myself and then to be 15 year old son are hoping to go to Brazil for World Cup 2014 for 10-14 days. We're trying to figure out the best (for us) areas to focus on that have soccer venues. This will probably be a once in a lifetime trip to Brazil so heading to Manaus for an Amazon experience for part of the trip is a must. I've heard that Manaus is not the most attractive city so would be interested in opinion on how to best combine the soccer/amazon experience in Manaus in terms of lodging location.
For second part of trip, we don't really want to go to the bigger cities like Rio, Brasilia, Sao Paolo. There are several venue areas in the Northeast Brazil area on or near the coast. We would love to be in a nice beach area. Which areas with soccer venues might be a fit?
I know there's so much more to learn and figure out but if I can narrow down some possible target areas, that is a good starting point for me to plan.
I appreciate any input.

Equestrian

"It's not too early to start thinking about this!!!" for you, maybe, as a tourist/visitor, but some stadiums are not yet ready, still under renovation or being rebuilt, and some may not be ready. On the whole, the Brazilian tourist infrastructure is not yet prepared to take reservations.

"There are several venue areas in the Northeast Brazil area on or near the coast. We would love to be in a nice beach area. Which areas with soccer venues might be a fit?"
Until it's known if there are going to be competitions is stadiums that are ready, not worth even planning. Salvador might be good, but....

"heading to Manaus for an Amazon experience for part of the trip is" likely to be very superficial. Think about going to the Pantanal to see wildlife.

qwovadis

brazil.nets
brazilforless.com

Best folks to help venues will be spread out good to start looking and booking now.Iberostar Grand Amazon good for
upscale in Manaus might think about that.Pretty dodgy place
lots of rain. Florianopolis nexussurf.com Iguazu Panatal combo
might be better that time of year.

qwovadis

www.brazilnuts.com oopsie

jb04

Thanks for the replies...I don't think it's too early for some plans...they said the same thing about South Africa in terms of readiness and it seemed to work out for them..it would not make sense to not be ready in terms of the tourism and money this will bring to Brazil

Equestrian

You are clearly not very familiar with Brazil, Brazilians, and the jeito brasileiro.

colduphere

We have been to two World Cups but have not looked at going to Brazil. I know with Germany in particular it was very difficult to get tickets. Of course we had to plan where we wanted to go but until the tickets were awarded we didn't know where we would be going. And the bigger cities usually have bigger stadiums, possibly giving you a better chance of seeing games there.

colduphere

Sorry we are stuck in a hotel in Lima so I am randomly tossing off thoughts at you. But I will say that there is such an incredible atmosphere in world cup cities. Everyone we spoke to in Germany thought they were rushing from city to city too much instead of planting themselves in 1-2 places and soaking in the atmosphere. The sense of festivity is unparalleled IMO.

jb04

Please keep tossing out thoughts, random or otherwise. You have a good point about bigger cities-bigger stadiums. For a 10-14 day trip, we really want to stick to 2 different places and take in as much as we can and put us in the best position to see games. I know we really need to wait until we at least see what the draws are but I like to consider my possible destinations well in advance. My husband is Costa Rican and I am American. If CR makes World Cup, we're thinking and kind of hoping that this country would not being a huge draw for many.

colduphere

Yes that is what happened to us in 2006. We saw Paraguay versus Trinidad in one of the smaller stadiums. The woman beside us was from Trinidad. She was so nervous she couldn't watch the game. Then at one point she looked up and screamed "kick the f..king ball". There is nothing like a World Cup.

You can probably apply to follow a team like Costa Rica. But that could mean a lot of travel. If they put up large screens in city squares to watch the games, that is where you want to be. So much fun. They had 600000 in Berlin one day.

goldenboy2014

Hi,

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