The Traveling Wellburys

Last year, we quit our jobs with the plan to meet our friends, Jorge and Paula, and complete a Brazil road trip. Brazil is a vast and beautiful country, so planning a road trip is no easy feat.

If you have been following our journey on our YouTube channel, Jake Welly, you might know that we did not start the road trip immediately, but spent time seeing the beautiful places near our friends’ homes in the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina. We also had the opportunity to travel through Uruguay, Puerto Rico, and Argentina before beginning this road trip.

Then the day finally arrived at the beginning of May! This gave us exactly two months of time remaining on our tourist visas. A great amount of time for an incredible road trip!

• Brazil Road Trip Destinations
• Start: Curitiba, Paraná
• State of São Paulo:
  1. Araras
  2. Campos do Jordão
  3. São Bento do Sapucaí
  4. Ubatuba
• State of Rio de Janeiro:
  1. Paraty
  2. Rio de Janeiro
  3. Petrópolis
• State of Minas Gerais:
  1. Tiradentes
  2. Ouro Preto
  3. Belo Horizante
  4. Capitólio
  5. São Roque de Minas
• Brasília, Brazil
  1. Brasília
• State of Goiás:
  1. Alto Paraíso de Goiás
  2. Cavalcante
  3. São João
• State of Tocantins:
  1. Aurora do Tocantins
  2. Rio da Conceição
  3. Almas
• The End
• Watch the Brazil Road Trip Series

If you know anything about Brazil, you probably know that it is an immense and diverse country! So there are endless things to experience. Together, we mapped out a route that would start in Curitiba, go north through the interior of the country, and then back south along the east coast to ultimately bring us back to Curitiba.

Originally, we thought two months would have been plenty of time to complete this route, but were we wrong! Between finding hidden gems that we didn’t know existed and increasing the amount of time at each of our destinations, we didn’t come close to completing the full road trip plan!

This is where we went on our two month road trip. All in all, still a remarkable journey!

While you are reading the blog below, be sure to check out the partner-podcast we recorded. Jake and I talk more in depth about our Brazil road trip travels, while also giving personal stories from our experiences.

Press play below to listen:

Brazil Road Trip Destinations

Start: Curitiba, Paraná

We departed for our road trip from Curitiba, Paraná. This beautiful city is where Jorge and Paula are from. It is one of the largest metropolitan cities in Brazil, and is rated one of the safest! If you are flying to Brazil for your own travels, it is probably easiest to start in the city of São Paulo, due to the massive international airport. There are connecting flights to every other location in Brazil.

State of São Paulo:

Araras

The first destination on the trip was Araras, São Paulo. In English, Araras translates to parrots, which is an indicator for the little green parrots that reside here. Paula has family in Araras, so we stayed here for a couple nights to visit. We did not do too much in terms of exploring, but we did walk around the town one morning to see the sights. It is a quiet community just north of the bustling big city of São Paulo.

Campos do Jordão

Next up was Campos do Jordão, São Paulo. This city is situated in the Mantiqueira Mountains at 5,341 ft. in elevation, and it is actually the highest elevation city in Brazil! This means, the higher we went up, the colder it got too. With only having an average high temperature of 66 F degrees within the month of May, it sure was cold for Brazil! It is a beautiful village with German and swiss-style architecture. We walked around the village, did some shopping, and ate great food.

São Bento do Sapucaí

Also situated in the Mantiqueira Mountains, São Bento do Sapucaí made the list for the impeccable hiking. It is home to the Pedra do Baú, a rock formation, which is popular among climbers and hikers. We took the Ana Chata trail, which rewarded us with beautiful views of the rock and of the valleys below. A truly spectacular view to be had!

Ubatuba

Then we headed towards the coast to Ubatuba, São Paulo. We were ready for some ocean swimming and beach relaxing! Ubatuba did not disappoint. We stayed right along the coast where Jorge and Jake could surf on the beautiful, and almost empty beaches. Itamambuca Beach is known for its strong surf. We enjoyed living the beach life for the few days.

Fun fact: There is actually a small feud amongst the locals of Brazil where they argue which state has the best surf, São Paulo vs. Rio de Janeiro. For us São Paulo won out.

State of Rio de Janeiro:

Paraty

Paraty, was the first stop in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and it was a beautiful one at that. This city is known for its 17th century historical, colonial-Portugeuse style streets and buildings, as it was a major port during the Brazilian gold rush. Today, the cobble stone streets are packed full of amazing restaurants, shops, and it is even known for some of the best snorkeling and diving in the state! Paraty was also our first stop on following the Portuguese gold route.

Rio de Janeiro

A trip to Brazil would not be complete without visiting the famous city of Rio de Janeiro! This vibrant city is the heart of the state of Rio de Janeiro, having a rich nightlife, spectacular sightseeing, and more incredible food. Of course we had to visit the famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, and we can’t forget about Sugarloaf Mountain too! This city is simply breathtaking.

One of our favorite experiences from the entire road trip was when we hiked the famous Pedra da Gávea trail, which is known to be the largest sea rock in the world! You end the hike with marvelous views of the beautiful city. However, if you are not a fan of heights, you may want to stay clear of this hike. If you have time for it all, you can also add in the Christ Redeemer statue to your list of things to do!

Petrópolis

Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro is where Brazil’s Imperial family once called home. The city is situated in the mountains just northwest of Rio, and borders the Serra dos Órgãos National Park. With its forested peaks and waterfalls, it’s known as a mountain retreat for Rio residents.

We had planned to do a multi-day hike from Petrópolis to Teresópolis, which did not end up happening due to not being able to get the overnight permit. Instead, we decided to drive to Teresópolis to see the beautiful views within the National Park, that we had planned to hike. This was a little bit of an easier route!

State of Minas Gerais:

Tiradentes

Tiradentes, Minas Gerais was another incredible 17th century, Portuguese-colonial style city. Complete with cobblestone streets, historical churches, and amazing restaurants, it really is a must see! You feel like you are taking a step back in time when walking among the streets of this city.

Ouro Preto

Similar to Tiradentes, but a little larger, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais is another colonial gold mining town with cobblestone streets, historical churches, museums, and amazing food. Ouro Preto also has endless abandoned gold mines that you are now able to tour.

To learn more about the historical cities, Tiradentes and Ouro Preto, read my blog post: The Fascinating Cities of Minas Gerais.

Belo Horizante

We stopped in Belo Horizante after hearing that the band Seu Jorge was going to be in town. We secured some tickets to the show and spent the night singing, dancing, and drinking… After a much needed coffee the next morning, we went to Latin America’s largest outdoor art center, Inhotim. This beautiful art center lies within the metropolitan area of Belo Horizante, in Brumadinho. We could have spent three days exploring everything that Inhotim had to offer, but nevertheless, one day was still a lot of fun.

Capitólio

Capitólio, Minas Gerais is home to a large lake, with parts of it having towering canyon walls and waterfalls. We decided to do a boat day trip on the lake, which stops at many beautiful spots along the lake, including restaurants and waterfalls. The water was the most glass-looking water that we have ever seen, with not a single ripple!

São Roque de Minas

São Roque de Minas is the town outside of the beautiful Serra da Canastra National Park. This national park is full of beautiful waterfalls and landscapes. There are literally hundreds of waterfalls in this park! However, if you do not have a four wheel drive vehicle, plan carefully before entering the park because it is also full of dirt roads, some of which have very bad washouts. We hiked the Cachoeira do Fundão and Casca D’anta, two of the most mesmerizing waterfall trails the park has to offer.

We also drove the lesser-known route from Vargem Bonita to Delfinopolis (pictured above). It is made completely of dirt roads, and is not even illustrated on the park map, so some extra research should be done before going. It was one of the most beautiful roads we have ever driven. Perched at the top of a ridge with a valley and mountain range on each side of the road, it has some truly breath-taking views.

However… When using Google Maps on the route, we took a wrong turn that had terrible washouts, which also made for the most treacherous road we have ever been on. If the correct route is taken, this can be avoided!

Brasília, Brazil

Brasília

Brasília is the capital of the country, designed in 1960, by the famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, to look just like an airplane! The city is now home to over 4.5 million people, including all of the countries government officials. It is quite an incredible place to see. It is not often you get to experience a completely planned city. We spent some time Hawaii canoeing on Lago Paranoá which offers plenty of water sport activities. The picture taken above, is a view looking towards the “cockpit of the plane.”

State of Goiás:

Alto Paraíso de Goiás

Alto Paraíso de Goiás is where you will find Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park. Again, there are many great waterfall hikes in and around the national park, and the views are just amazing! We did a very unique hike called the Vale da Lua (Moon Valley), which is a formation of gray rocks that have been carved out by the river, and it really does resemble what it would look like to be on the moon. There is a part that you are able to swim in, and it is just so cool!

Another one of our favorite hikes was the Catarata dos Couros, which is a complex of waterfalls. You hike down a valley, and end up seeing multiple beautiful waterfalls, breathtaking canyon views, and can even experience some intense cliff jumping!

Cavalcante

Lying on the other side of Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, there are even more amazing waterfalls with some of the clearest freshwater that we have ever seen! Just north of Cavalcante, you will find the small community, Kalunga, that is made up entirely of descendants from run away slaves. This particular village had gone undiscovered until the 1970’s! Today, the locals have opened their land for tourism. They offer guides for trekking the numerous waterfalls that spread throughout their village.

We hiked an amazing trek called the Complexo da Canjica. There were multiple waterfalls on the trail, with the most beautiful, clear water for swimming. The Canjica waterfall, pictured above, opened up to a magnificent valley view as we were able to swim on the top of the waterfall. It was simply incredible.

São João

This lesser-known village was added to the trip after speaking with some locals in Cavalcante. They said that we had to come here. This area is home to the magnificent caves of Terra Ronca State Park, but it has not yet caught on as much of a tourist destination. I am not sure how it hasn’t because the caves are just incredible! We hired a local guide to take us into a couple of the caves. A guide is highly recommended because it is very dangerous to go into a dark cave on your own and lose your bearings. Let’s just say that you don’t want to wind up lost in a cave.

Anyways, these caves had some of the most spectacular formations of stalactites and stalagmites that we have ever seen!

State of Tocantins:

Aurora do Tocantins

Aurora do Tocantins is also just starting to catch on as a tourist destination, but the rivers here have some of the most beautiful and clear water we have ever swam in, maybe even more clear than the water in Cavalcante. The Rio Azuis is North of the town and it is an aquifer that connects to the river of Rio Sobrado. Here, there is a restaurant where you will pay a small entrance fee to access the water and swim. Make sure to take some goggles!

We also went to Praia do Puçá (puddle beach), which is south of the town and is like a big, clear water swimming hole. You have to get a tour guide to take you there, but it is totally worth it to swim in the refreshing water.

Rio da Conceição

Rio da Conceição, Tocantins is seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but you end up driving up to a beautiful, blue water lagoon, with palm trees and mountain backdrops. It made for a beautiful sunrise spot, morning swim and paddle board.

Almas

Almas, Tocantins was our final stop on the road trip. We stayed off the grid with a wonderful couple named Davi and Antonia Mendes. They host rooms in a very simple, wooden, barn-style home. Here, we hired a guide to take us through Cânion Encantado. A beautiful canyon hike, where you hike down into the canyon, through the river, and are met by some incredible waterfalls pouring down the canyon walls.

There are large snakes in the canyon, which they give you snake shields for. Luckily we did not see any of the said snakes, but our guide was happy to show us some pictures of the one that had eaten an alligator the week before…

The End

That’s it, that’s our 2 month road trip in Brazil! The next day, we flew out of Palmas, Tocantins as we ran out of time on our tourist visas.

So, we didn’t get to finish the entire road trip that was planned, but we had an incredible time in all of the places that we experienced, and met so many beautiful people along the way!

We still plan to return to Brazil and adventure to the places that we did not make it to this time around. Until next time Brazil! Thank you.

-Morgan

Watch the Brazil Road Trip Series

Please consider subscribing to the Traveling Wellburys Blog for content delivered directly to your inbox: