Brazil

[emilyinchile]

I am looking at a couple options in Brazil but open to others for a 9ish night vacation in Feb.

We're looking for:
- a beach
- relaxed vibe
- good enough tourist infrastructure to have stuff to do but not so much that it feels like DisneyBrazil
- decent travel time from the nearest airport
- not super luxe or expensive but still comfortable hotel/pousada

I'm considering:
- Jericoacoara (LOVED it when we went, but it's maybe more in-transit time than we want for this trip)
- Salvador de Bahía
- Pipa
- Florianopolis

Not interested in Rio for this trip because I've been several times and don't want such a city feel. Any other places you've been and loved or comments on the places I'm looking at?

[GilliC]

I’ve heard good things about Salvador (but that partly comes from living with someone born in Bahia)! But it does sound like a good option. Fantastic food, pretty architecture, convenient flight connections.

If you’re thinking of Jeri, what about one of the beach towns closer to Fortaleza like Combuco?

Out of curiosity, how long has it been since you went to Jeri? I’ve been wanting to go for a while, but in the past few years I’ve been hearing people brush it off saying that it’s changed, but I don’t know if it’s just grown up and better known (like Palolem in Goa) or if it’s been overdeveloped and spoiled (along the lines of Sihanoukville in Cambodia).

[GilliC]

After consulting my (literally) resident expert, he says that Salvador is better for history and architecture and maybe not so great for beaches. “The problem with Salvador is that it wouldn’t feel as much like the beach, because it’s definitely a city.”

Also “Pipa could be a good option. I’m not sure how much stuff to do, since when people go to the beach, that’s pretty much all they do. But there would be restaurants and stuff.”

[loira]

I loved Jericoacoara, but agree that it's a pain to get to. I've also heard amazing things about Fernando de Noronha, but that may be a bit more remote/expensive than you'd like.

I really liked Fortaleza as well, but I'm sure Salvador has more cultural things to see.

[GilliC]

Dec 28, 2019 18:54:09 GMT -5 loira said:

I really liked Fortaleza as well

Please tell me more!!! I enjoy spending the day at the beach restaurants over at Praia do Futuro, but I have trouble finding much else to do. I would LOVE any recommendations for our next visit! Otherwise I’ll be stuck with SO’s MO of staying home and watching YouTube videos all day! 😂

[loira]

Dec 28, 2019 19:07:39 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Dec 28, 2019 18:54:09 GMT -5 loira said:

I really liked Fortaleza as well

Please tell me more!!! I enjoy spending the day at the beach restaurants over at Praia do Futuro, but I have trouble finding much else to do. I would LOVE any recommendations for our next visit! Otherwise I’ll be stuck with SO’s MO of staying home and watching YouTube videos all day! 😂

Oh man, I'm not much help. Mostly I liked its laid back vibe and beaches. I think I went to the big market once, and my friend took us out for drinks... I was visiting my friend at the time (this was 13 years ago) so there seemed lots to do with him, but that could have also involved a lot of drinking caipirinhas (way more than I'd drink now).

Although Fortaleza was also the place I learned the unfortunate lesson that you can't flush a cockroach down the toilet because those fuckers can swim.

[emilyinchile]

GilliC we went to Jeri 2 years ago. It's definitely touristy in that essentially the entire town is either a restaurant, hotel, store or tour operator, but we went over Carnaval which is one of the busiest times and didn't find it overwhelming or overdeveloped. I think it's still remote enough and relatively unknown enough that it's not on most people's travel map yet. We loved it and found it really laid back and just so beautiful, so I would a) for sure go and b) go sooner rather than later in case it does start to blow up. I'll look at Combuco, thanks for that - I've never heard of it!

loira I very much appreciate your suggestions, buuuuut we spent a day in Fortaleza on the way back from Jeri and didn't like it. The cultural center was randomly closed, the market wasn't anything special, ditto the cathedral next door, and the horror in the eyes of our hotel receptionist that we planned to walk there (in full daylight) and the suggestion that we take a taxi instead didn't really inspire us with confidence to continue wandering around just to see things. The beach was fine (we'd just come from 11 days in paradise, but under other circumstances I'm sure it would have seemed pretty good!), and I'd gladly kill a day there again waiting for a flight, but the city itself isn't somewhere I need to visit again.

[wildrice]

So, I actually spent 5 weeks in Salvador in 2007! I did a study abroad project so I was there as a student, not just a tourist, but I did a lot of stuff while I was there. Long enough ago that things could have changed and a lot of details are fuzzy, but I loved it. I haven't been other places in Brazil so I can't compare it, but it was a really neat city - really beautiful historical area, pretty walkable, and I thought the beaches were nice. Are they the best in Brazil? Probably not. But I went to the beach almost daily and it was pretty laid back. I was there in June and it was still warm enough to lay out, dip in the water, etc. I imagine during warmer months it is even nicer.

It is also not terrible far from some other beaches I believe. We did a weekend trip to Morro Sao Paulo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morro_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo) and it was absolutely stunning and also really relaxed and nice.

I don't recall where the airport was, but I think it was in Salvador? We did have a short layover in one of the bigger cities (I think Sao Paulo?) on the way down, though I guess if you are still in Chile (are you?) that may not be a factor for you.

Disclaimer: I was 25 and this was my first big international adventure, and I haven't been anywhere else in South America. So my perceptions may be different than yours. My memories are wonderful though and I can't imagine you wouldn't like it. It did show up on one of the NY Times' best places to visit last year, too!

[emilyinchile]

wildrice thanks for mentioning Morro de Sao Paulo! We're going to spend a couple days in Salvador and then several days there in the end, and I can't wait.

[wildrice]

Jan 13, 2020 8:06:33 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

wildrice thanks for mentioning Morro de Sao Paulo! We're going to spend a couple days in Salvador and then several days there in the end, and I can't wait.

I'm so glad! I hope you love it!

[emilyinchile]

GilliC since I know you/your SO are familiar with Bahia I wanted to share that as a frame of reference re: your earlier question about Jeri and whether it's overdeveloped, I would say that Morro de Sao Paulo IS overdeveloped. We had a really good time, and the island is still beautiful, but objectively there are too many people crammed into a small space, and there was definitely some trash on the beaches. Jeri in comparison felt much more chill.