Itinerary Help Brazil 10 days
 

Hi! We are planning a trip to Brazil in December for 10 days. I'm not even sure where to start. So far, we know we want to go to Rio for a few days and also since we love the beach, we were thinking of choosing a beach destination as part of the trip. What would you recommend? I've heard good things about Florianopolis and someone also suggested Fortaleza. I was also thinking about adding one more destination and someone told me to check out Salvador. My boyfriend and I are both in our early 40s and love music and are from NYC so definitely want to experience the culture of Rio, but don't want to spend our whole trip in a city as that's what we are used to. I'm thinking about Iguazu but not sure we really want to do it as it seems like a lot of travel. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

If you're into music, Salvador is THE place! Unique.
Rio is great, but the music culture arrived there with immigrants from Bahia long ago.

So Rio, Salvador and maybe some beaches in between, some of the best in the country. You could fly Rio to Porto Seguro, explore the area (Arraial D'Ajuda, Trancoso, Caraiva), bus up to the Marau peninsula, or Boipeba, or Morro do São Paulo, and on to Salvador. Fly back from Salvador to Rio. That would take up 10 days, at least.
Both Salvador and Rio have a lively urban beach scene too.

(Florianopolis is full of Argentine tourists and Fortaleza is best known perhaps as a gateway to Jericoacoara, not for its own beaches. and you don't have enough time.

If you want to do Iguacu, plan two or three days flying from Rio, to see both sides of the park, including flight times. Check flights on GOL and TAM for early morning departure day one and late afternoon return day 2 or 3.

The other area I'd recommend is the Colonial mountain gold-rush towns in Minas Gerais (Ouro Preto, Tiradentes, Congonhas, etc.) but perhaps not time this trip.

Great advice. Thank you!

If you decide to visit Salvador, you should think about to visit some of the cities in the Recôncavo Baiano region. There are many cities near to Salvador which are relevant in the music scene. A good example is Santo Amaro da Purificação birthplace of important musicians as Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethânia. You can see some pictures from Sto. Amaro on the link below:

Thoughtful of you to post. However, they have 10 days for all of Brazil and certainly Colonial towns like Ouro Preto are much more impressive than quiet little Santo Amaro (which IMO resembles very little what is shown in the video). They may not even know who Bethania is, and would probably not find Dona Cano's house interesting if they don't know the history. If there were to be time to go into the interior of Bahia, Cachoeira/ Sao Felix might have more to do/see, but the bus schedule makes it difficult to stop in Santo Amaro on the way. I do like to shop for food at the feira there though, when we are on the way to visit nearby.

If you're into music and beaches and only have 10 days, then I would split between Rio and Salvador. I've lived in both Rio and Bahia, and Salvador is a must for the music and culture. That being said, 2 days is enough in the ciy, and from there I would head to Barra Grande or anywhere on the Marau Peninsula. You can check out this new site I'm starting, totally in English. www.marautour.com You need at least 3 days here on the Peninsula, and this site will tell you the best way to get here.

If you can do an open leg flight, arrive in Salvador, stay in the Pelourinho for 2 days, then make your way down down to Barra Grande by bus. It's not that hard even for a gringo... :) Check out this page... www.marautour.com/travel-guide/how-to-get-there/
Then from here, you can catch a flight back to Rio from Ilheus which is only 2 hours away.

Trying to do any more than this would be too much... most people underestimate the size of Brazil, as well as the fact that traveling is always a little more difficult here. If there's any way I can help, drop me a line. I'm currently the only gringo taxi driver in the region, by the way! :)

Hi
I can recommend to go and visit Iguassu Falls, it is one of the natural wonders, and you will be so close to it.
From Rio you can get a day tour to see the brazilian side of the Falls, it seeing you want to spend your time in the beach.
I do recommend to hire a driver guide to assist you, with 3 hour they can show you the highlights of the Iguassu falls, of course if you will have more time do the boat ride in the falls, bring spare clothes, you will get wet.
Have a nice vacation.
Pleasure to help you!