Brazil is the largest country in South America. In addition to big cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and miles and miles of fabulous beaches, Brazil is also home to the world’s largest rainforest and the largest river (by volume). The Amazon River basin has incredible biodiversity – perhaps 30% of the world’s plants and animals live there.
My lone trip to Brazil came in the mid-1990s. A colleague and I spent a week in São Paulo for the COMDEX Brasil computer trade show. She was from Brazil and served as the interpreter and tour guide. Although the days were really long and hot, the evenings were so much fun. This was my first introduction to feijoada, a wondrous a black bean stew that is cooked with a variety of salted and smoked pork and beef products and served with white rice and orange slices. It was also my first Brazilian steakhouse and meat coma, as well as my introduction to Brahma and Antarctica beers and the greatness of cachaça and the caipirinha.
🇧🇷 Top Things to See and Do in Brazil
Explore the Capital: São Paulo
- Attend a football match
- Visit the São Paulo Cathedral
- Check out the food scene at Mercado Municipal de São Paulo
- Stroll through Ibirapuera Park
Experience Rio de Janeiro
- Walk on Copacabana Beach
- Experience Carnival
- Take a cable car up Sugarloaf Mountain
- Marvel at Christ the Redeemer, the iconic 98-foot-high Art Deco sculpture at the top of Mount Corcovado
Iguazú Falls
A Unesco World Heritage site shared by Brazil and Argentina, these spectacular falls are the top attraction in both countries and the largest waterfall system in the world. Azul, GOL and Latam Brasil have flights from major cities to the airport at Foz do Iguaçu.
Amazon River and Rainforest
- Visit Manaus in the jungle
- Stay in a treehouse