Rio de Janeiro State – About Búzios, Ilha Grande and Lots More

Around Rio de Janeiro State There is So Much to Do

The list of possibilities on what to do in the Rio de Janeiro State practically never ends, well you can’t go skiing but that’s about it. You have beautiful mountain villages, historical towns, paradise islands, long beaches, jungles, waterfalls, surfing, diving, climbing, hiking… On this page I have put a few links to some places I think are of special interest. Just click on them and you’ll come to a page about that or those particular places.

Just Across The Bridge

To start with I have written about the twin city to Rio Niterói, there you have the famous museum MAC designed by Oscar Niemayer. Beaches like Itacoatiara and Camboinhas are also well worth a visit.

The Lake District

East of Rio you have a dry region full of lakes and beautiful ocean beaches. I will start with Saquarema. Considered to be the surf capital of the state beacuse of its good waves. Aside from surfing there is not much to do. Arraial do Cabo is a small town famous for the best diving in the state, you also have some stunning beaches there. Advantages to going here is that you don’t need a car to get around and that it is quite affordable. Cabo Frio is bigger and with more options for the night. The beaches are really nice, to reach most of them you need a car. Last but not least is Búzios with more than 20 beaches, exclusive restaurants and good nightlife. The St-Tropez of Brazil.

Mountains

Up in the mountains north of Rio you have Petrópolis, Itaipava and Teresópolis, the first the former summer residence of the Brazilian royal family, the second the rich peoples favourite mountain resort and the third a rock climbers paradise. North east of Rio you have Penedo and Visconde de Mauá. They are close to the national park Mantiqueira. Penedo is a former Finnish settlement. Both offer great possibilities for adventure sports and nature experiences. The waterfalls are incredible!

The Green Coast

West of Rio the climate is humid and the many hills are covered with rainforest. The almost untouched island Ilha Grande offer amazing hiking and some really nice beaches. Opened only in the early 1990’s for tourism it is truly an experience to visit. Parati is a colonial towns located almost inside a nature reserve and one of the major tourist destinations of Brazil. Interesting architecture, a rich cultural scene and beautiful nature are main attractions. Trindade is a small village with amazing beaches, embedded in lush rainforest it is the perfect place to chill out.

Well I could go on for a while because it doesn’t stop here. There are a lot more things to do, the ones I picked out are in my view the highlights in the Rio de Janeiro state.