Who knows me knows that I’m obsessed with travelling. I just love visiting new places, meeting new people, food and cultures. Of course I’m not the biggest traveller, there’s a lot of places that I haven’t visit yet, but this is my life goal: to travel all around this incredible world!
While this isn’t happening, I share some of my favorites trips with you. Here in Brazil there’s a lot of wonderful, incredible and famous places, like Fernando de Noronha, Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza, Bahia and a lot more. But in this post I want to share 03 of the not so known places in the country that are as wonderful as the others. Let’s go!
CHAPADA DOS VEADEIROS (GOIÁS)
Let’s start with one of my favorite places in the whole world: Chapada dos Veadeiros! I guess there isn’t a place so incredible and calm like this one. Chapada dos Veadeiros is only a few hours from Brasília (where I live), and the road is as beautiful as the place itself. The first time I went there, it was in 2013, and we went to Sítio Histórico Kalunga, a huge community of quilombolas (afro-brazilian slaves and descendents who escaped during the slavery in Brazil, until abolition in 1888).
Besides the quiet life and the customs of the Kalunga community, the main attractions of the place are the beautiful trails and waterfalls. To go to any waterfall from the region you have to pay a guide (the price depends on where you wanna go). The famous one is the Santa Bárbara Waterfall. Its clean and blue waters makes you feel in paradise.
There are others beautiful waterfalls to visit, like The Capivara Waterfall (wich has a incredible view, and a trail that is a little difficult, due to the enormous rocks and the cliff located there); the São Félix Waterfall (the photo above), wich is located an hour and a few minutes from the Kalunga community, and it’s like you’re in a beautiful private beach, due to the clear sand in there. It’s a beautiful, relaxing, and wonderful waterfall to swim!!
Another place you must go is Alto Paraíso, a beautiful, little and peacefull city in Chapada. My family and I use to say that the hippie people are born in there. Is the kind of place you wanna live when you get older (actually, at any age). The famous waterfall in there is Loquinhas, wich is, actually, two trails (Loquinhas and Violeta) with seven and six water wells, respectively. Our favorite one is Poço do Xamã (the photo below), located in the Loquinhas trail. It has a beautiful, blue and clear water, and is perfect to relax and swim.
No matter where you go, you gotta have in mind that you will visit a marvelous place so you need to have respect and conscience, ok? There’s a lot o people that go there and don’t respect the nature in the way that it need to be respected. A tip: carry a plastic bag everywhere you go to put your trash in it, deal?
SÃO JOÃO DEL REI (MINAS GERAIS)
This little place is located in Minas Gerais, 3 hours from Belo Horizonte, and is the most cutest place I’ve ever visited. São João Del Rei is one of the cities through which the royal route (Estrada Real) passes. Estrada Real is the largest tourist route in the country, with more than 1,630km longer, and it was built in the 17th century by the portuguese crown.
The city is famous by its bells and churches, and all the local people knows exactly wich bell is ringing, and the reason why it’s ringing. As in almost every historical citys in Minas, São João has a lot of baroque constructions, and it has a very calm and peaceful ambient.
I already made a post here where I shared every place we went in São João, if you wanna check it out, just click here (the post is in portuguese). We stayed at Morada do Sol (a kind of hostel), and we just loved it. If you wanna a tip of a place to stay there, the hostel is a good choice.
São João is not a huge place, so you can go anywhere by foot. The main attractions in the city is the churches. The famous one is Igreja São Francisco de Assis, wich is a huge and beautiful construction considered a historical patrimony. We didn’t enter the church because it was near christmas, but the construction itself is magnificient.
Besides the churches, São João is full of great places to eat. We visit a chocolate house/coffee shop called Beco da Arte & Feito por mim – Brigaderia. It has a lot of hand made design stuff and brigadeiros – a brazilian delicious chocolate dessert.
Another great place to eat is Dedo de Moça Restaurant. It’s a confortable place to have dinner, or lunch, and has amazing plates to taste. I remember trying a incredible pasta with steak and it was delicious.
You can make a quick visit to Tiradentes (another historical city), by train. The experience is great due to the fact that the train line was made years ago, in the XIX century by Dom Pedro II. The train station is located in the center of the city, and the tickets cost around R$60 (one way ticket) and R$70 (round ticket trip). Students, child and old-aged pay half entrance.
ILHA DO MEL (PARANÁ)
Last but not least, one of our little paradises: Ilha do Mel. It’s located in the south of Brazil, in the state of Paraná, so if you wanna go there, you have to travel to Curitiba, rent a car or a taxi to take you to Pontal do Sul or Paranaguá, and then take a boat. The boat from Pontal do Sul takes half an hour, and from Paranaguá one hour and a half.
The island is divided in two villages: Nova Brasília and Encantadas, where you can find restaurants, local stores, hostel and camping spaces. There’s no asphalt road, so there’s no cars and you can walk trough the island without problems. The only transport in there are the boats, wich alows you to meet the other side of the island, and have a great ride or swimming in the sea.
You can have a nice walk to meet Farol das Conchas, the lighthouse of the island. Is half an hour by foot if you are in Nova Brasília, or two hours if you are in Encantadas. No matter the distance, the walking is incredible and you’ll have beautiful views and the nature by your side making the walking super easy. At the lighthouse you can have a great view of the island. Althought you can’t enter the lighthouse, it’s really worth it to climb the stairs at the top of the hill. You’ll have amazing photos in there.
Another place to visit is the famous Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres (first photo from the island in the post), a fort constructed in 1770. To get there you can walk about an hour from Nova Brasilia, or take a boat (about 10 min long). If you’re in Encantadas the walking lasts two hours and a half. I really suggest the boat ride, is great and you can have another point of view of the island (if you’re lucky, you can see some dolphins too). At the fort, there are cannons from the 18th and 19th centuries, not to mention the gazebo where you can see the islands of Superagui and das Partes.
At Encantadas, there’s the famous Gruta das Encantadas, a cave located in Praia de Fora, where you can take great pictures and enjoy the beautiful beach. The trail to get there is really easy, about 15 min from the pier from Encantadas, and the access to the cave takes place between 8am and 1pm due to the low tide.
Beyond the main spots, the greatest thing to do at the island is to meet and enjoy all the incredible beaches. The famous are Praia de Fora, located in Encantadas, Praia do Miguel, an amazing paradisyachal beach, and Praia Grande, great for those who loves surf. You can have a good walk around the island too, that have around 20km of extension.
One thing I can tell is that Brazil has a lot of wonderful places to meet and enjoy. Tell me at the comment section: where you wanna go? Which places have you met before? I’ll love to know ❤
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