kqc

My wife and I are heading to Brazil in early May for about 12 days, and would welcome any itinerary thoughts. We're tentatively planning to get one of the air passes so that we can hit several different areas.
Day 1-3 Buzios -- stay in Casas Brancas
Day 4-5 Rio -- stay in Le Meridien?
Day 6-7 Iguacu Falls
Day 8-10 ???
Day 11-12 Rio, and then fly home

We know that these are a lot of stops, but we want to see lots of different places. We have read that Iguacu Falls are amazing, but that there's no need to be there for very long. Then we're looking for another good place to see for a few days. Any thoughts? We'd also welcome ideas for upscale lodging options. Thanks in advance.

Dondiega

The only thing I would suggest is since you are staying on Copacabana then take a look at the Marriott, brand new and nice location. For your 8 - 10 days I think most people throw something in like in the north east like Salvador Bahia or just extend your Rio and Buzios time keeping in mind Casas Brancas is not on a beach.

locomotion

would recommend a tour of the Lagamar area, on coast. Itīs an envoiromental protection area part of Unescoīs Biosphere Reserve of the Atlantic Rainforest. A friend recommended it to me and I went last December. You can trek in the rainforest, visit mangroves and deserted beaches by small boats, canoeing, go bird watching or fishing with the locals. It was great.
The difficulty in access the right places is the main problem, so should consider to join an organised tour. I did it with Brazil Ecojourneys, starting from Curitiba (I think tyou can start from Paranagua or after the train in Morretes too). I think itīs not in their website yet (www.brazilecojourneys.com) but they will send you the itinerary by email and you can book that way or by phone.
Donīt miss it, you wonīt see many tourists there, but this is the most remote and beautiful part of Brazil I have visited. there is a flight from iguacu to curitiba. and many flights from curitiba to rio. it was very easy

cecisard

Hi there! If you want a longer trip, you might want to come to Salvador, Bahia. It was the first colonial capital of Brazil, so there are a lot of historical places to visit, marvelous colonial churches, plus delicious Afro-Brazilian food, not to forget miles and miles of gorgeous beaches with warm ocean water.

kqc

Thanks to everyone for their ideas.

kqc

A couple of related questions: We've read some about the "air passes" from various carriers, and they seem like a pretty good deal. Do you have to buy those passes before getting to Brazil? How do you reserve seats with the passes?

quiUK

Hi Kqc,
Yes, I do belive you have to buy the internal 'airpasses' and book your flights BEFORE you get to Brazil. I think the idea is, if you fly into Brazil on Varig, you can buy one of their airpasses, but if you fly in on another carrier (Star alliance etc), then you can buy a TAM airpass.

We leave London for Rio in about 10 days, and we are flying British Airways to Rio, but we have a TAM airpass for our pre-booked flights (rio - iguacu - manaus - salvador - rio). It definately is a good deal as I looked online as to how much it would cost me had I booked the flights individually and the airpass has really saved us money. Online booking through airline websites would have cost about GBP1000 for the 2 of us, but we have spent GBP425 (however we have been lucky due to the exchange rate. the aiprpass is sold in US$ and I was paying in GBP - sorry ;-) )

Hope that helps, but let me know if you need more info. Looks like we'll be going to similar places - we will be at Casas Brancas at the end of our stay for some R&R!

quiUK

Sorry, just realised that I hadn't answered another part of your question. We haven't reserved specific seats on the internal flights. They are all quite short, so we didn't feel the need to specify window, aisle etc, but there may be options to do so with e-ticketing. We have not been given the option to do so however.

geo007

Hi.Here are the suggestions of a brazilian guy:
You're arriving in Rio,so stay the first 4 nights there,in Ipanema beach,at Caesar Park hotel(5 stars).Don't stay in Copacabana.If you really want to go to Buzios I suggest that you extend the duration of your trip.
Days 5-7 in Buzios.Gallapagos Inn(4 stars) is a good suggestion.Very close to Joao Fernandes beach.
Days 8-10 in Amazon forest.Check Ariau Jungle towers hotel.
If you can't extend your hollydays fly back to Rio and then home.But I strongely suggest you to go to Salvador in Bahia,for 2 or 3 days.Have a nice trip.

Graziella5b

I have been in Buzios ages ago. We stayed in the Casas Blancas, I believe that the recommendation of the Brazilian guy Geo must be the right one. The Casas Blancas is up a hill, far from nice beaches. The view though is fantastic, but I woudl like to be closer to a beautiful beach we used to drive everyday from Buzios.
This year we stayed a couple of days at a lovely place called Para Ti this is a colonial tiny city by the water. Beaches have to reached either by car or boat, but it can easily done.