Natural features
Anavilhanas Archipelago, Rio Negro
Amazonas
One of the largest river archipelagos in the world, with around 400 forested islands in the dark waters of the Rio Negro, protected as a national park.
Travel tips in Brazil
Natural features
Baía do Sancho, Fernando de Noronha
Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco
Often voted the most beautiful beach in the world: a cove of golden sand at the foot of green cliffs, with clear turquoise water full of fish, turtle…
Natural features
Baía dos Porcos and the Atalaia natural pool, Noronha
Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco
Baía dos Porcos is a tiny cove next to Sancho, with rock pools and views of the Dois Irmãos ('two brothers') rock peaks rising from the sea, one of t…
Attractions
Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
The 30 m Art Deco statue of Christ with open arms on top of Corcovado mountain, completed in 1931, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, with sw…
Natural features
Iguaçu Falls (Brazilian side)
Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná
One of the world's great waterfalls, about 275 drops along nearly 3 km on the Brazil-Argentina border, a UNESCO site.
Natural features
Lençóis Maranhenses
Santo Amaro do Maranhão, Maranhão
A vast expanse of white sand dunes dotted with turquoise and green lagoons that fill with rainwater, best from June to September.
Natural features
Meeting of the Waters, Manaus
Manaus, Amazonas
Just outside Manaus, the dark, warm Rio Negro meets the cooler, sandy-coloured Rio Solimões, and the two rivers run side by side without mixing for a…
Natural features
Sugarloaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
A granite peak rising 396 m at the mouth of Guanabara Bay, reached by two cable cars via Morro da Urca, with views of Copacabana and Christ the Redee…
Natural features
Transpantaneira and Porto Jofre, Pantanal
Poconé, Mato Grosso
The Pantanal is the world's largest tropical wetland, about the size of France, and much better than the Amazon for seeing wildlife.
Tours and activities
Bonito
Bonito, Mato Grosso do Sul
A small town known for ecotourism, with crystal-clear rivers where you float among fish, the Gruta do Lago Azul blue cave lake, and the Abismo Anhuma…
Places to stay
CabanaCopa Hostel, Copacabana
Rio de Janeiro
CabanaCopa is a hostel in a big renovated colonial house on a quiet lane in Copacabana, three blocks from the beach and next to the green slopes of t…
Walks and treks
Chapada Diamantina
Lençóis, Bahia
A national park of table mountains, caves, waterfalls and rivers in Bahia.
Natural features
Copacabana and Ipanema beaches
Rio de Janeiro
Rio's famous beaches: Copacabana with its wave-patterned promenade, and Ipanema, with views of the Dois Irmãos peaks, where locals applaud the sunset…
Natural features
Jericoacoara
Jijoca de Jericoacoara, Ceará
A remote beach village of sand streets inside a national park, with dunes, lagoons such as Lagoa do Paraíso with hammocks in the water, and some of t…
Natural features
Mirante dos Golfinhos, Fernando de Noronha
Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco
A clifftop viewpoint over the Baía dos Golfinhos, where hundreds of spinner dolphins rest in the calm, protected bay early each morning, spinning and…
Historic sites
Ouro Preto
Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais
A gold-rush colonial town in the hills of Minas Gerais, a UNESCO site, with steep cobbled streets and baroque churches decorated by the sculptor Alei…
Historic sites
Paraty and Ilha Grande
Paraty, Rio de Janeiro
Paraty is a colonial town of whitewashed houses and cobbled streets that flood at high tide, a UNESCO site with the surrounding Atlantic Forest.
Historic sites
Pelourinho, Salvador
Salvador, Bahia
The colonial heart of Salvador, a UNESCO site, with pastel houses, cobbled streets and baroque churches such as São Francisco, covered in gold.
Buildings
Brasília modernist architecture
Brasília, Distrito Federal
Brazil's planned capital, built in the late 1950s, with buildings by Oscar Niemeyer: the crown-shaped Cathedral, the National Congress and the Paláci…