Experience Brazil: A guide to vibrant cities for travel and cultural explorationDo you know this huge and colorful country in South America?
If you haven't yet, this article will tell you everything you need to know about the cities of Brazil, the South American giant.
Rio de Janeiro
Obviously, our list of Vibrant cities to travel to and experience Brazilian culture must be headed by the beautiful coastal city of Rio de Janeiro.
Between green peaks and extensive beaches lies the iconic city of Brazil, although not its capital (that is Brasilia). It is also known as the Wonderful City and if you visit it you will understand why.
Its main attraction, at first glance, may be its beaches, But its wide avenues and monuments, its history and its ever-present culture are not far behind.
Ipanema and Copacabana These are the most famous beaches, but if you take the time to go further, you will delight in other wonderful coasts such as Prainha, within a nature reserve, or the Grumari beach with its eternal dunes.
But we said that beaches are not the only thing that Rio has, the culture of the city sets the trend in this part of the world so you should visit the National Museum of Fine Arts or the National Museum of History.
You can also visit the exhibition of costumes and floats from the famous carnival or attend the carnivalhimself and live a fun experience.
San Pablo
In the list of cities in our article called Vive Brasil, it is the turn of Sao Paulo, the most populous city in the southern hemisphere, as she likes to call herself. And she has what it takes: she is inhabited by 20 million people
Moving away a little from the center you can see some of the suburbs. This is the case of Trash, with its multicultural population and famous nightlife with bars, clubs and shopping malls. It is followed by Baixa Augusta district, the most festive of all with places to eat and bars and clubs that don't close until late at night.
If you like Japanese culture, I tell you that San Pablo has one of the largest populations of Japanese origin outside of JapanThe city received a lot of immigration before and after the two world wars and today the majority is concentrated in the district of Freedom: Japanese restaurants, Japanese supermarkets…
In terms of museums, Sao Paulo offers us the MAM (Museum of Modern Art), the MASP, a museum dedicated to football, the Pinacoteca and the Afro-Brazilian Museum.
Manaos
Deep in the Amazon region is Manaus. The city is at the confluence of three rivers and fIt was built during the rubber trade boom. It's quite inaccessible, even more so at that time, but the truth is that it's very interesting if you like adventure.
El Amazonas Theater and Opera House They are icons of the city, both built in the times of wealth in a grandiose Renaissance style and with fine materials imported from Europe: Italian marble, French glass.
If you visit Manaus between March and May you can attend the biannual opera festival absolutely free. You can also visit the Municipal market, built with iron in the Art Nouveau style and similar to the Halles in Paris, where strolling and shopping is a pleasure of aromas and flavors.
Then, on the outskirts of Manaus you can know the confluence of the waters of the Negro River (dark), with the sandy waters of the river Solimoes. They don't finish mixing so the color contrast is a wonderful curiosity.
Salvador
Our article today is titled Experience Brazil: A guide to vibrant cities for travel and culture. The idea is to get to know the most interesting cities on your first adventurous trip to the South American giant.
Salvador It is the capital of the state of Bahia and has even been recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage. After all, he has known how to be colonial capital. The old house is beautiful. It is known as Pelourinho and it is on top of a cliff overlooking Todos Santos Bay, which you can take down with an elevator.
Salvador It is the city most connected to the African roots of a large part of the Brazilian population, the descendant of those slaves who arrived centuries ago. The Culture crucible It is wonderful and can be seen in gastronomy, art and music.
You can experience this in the Model market, at the port, which you reach by the elevator that goes up and down from the cliff to sea level. But you can also see it in the number and variety of festivals and cultural events that take place in the city throughout the year.
For example, the carnival in February, the January festivities (the New Year's procession with figures of the city's patron saints or the procession of sailboats, many of them, through the bay, following an old boat with the statues in it).
There is also the Lavagem do Bonfilm festival, the second Thursday in January, where you'll see a 12-kilometer procession through the city to Bonfim Church to clean and repair its facade.
Recife and Olinda
Recife It is one of the most touristic cities in Brazil. Coastal, with a beautiful and colorful historic center, many museums, and some of the best beaches in the state, it's a great destination.
El Recife's old town is known by the name of ancient reefIt's on an island and is truly picturesque: it has cobblestone streets, colonial-style buildings, and plenty of bars and restaurants perfect for socializing.
A few kilometers from Recif is Olinda, a colonial town that seems to be a smaller version of Recife, with white houses and a religious circuit composed of convents, churches and chapels in the Baroque style, among gardens and hills.
Black Gold
In the state of Minas Gerais This is a city that has a great mining legacy. Ouro Preto It was at one time the state capital, until it was replaced in 1897 by Belo Horizonte.
It was also one of the largest cities in this part of the American continent, in those years of the Golden fever where it continued to grow and expand, expanding its boundaries among the hills. That past is forever behind us, but its buildings remain as a great legacy.
I'm talking about buildings with pastel or white facades, tiles and woodThis city may not be the most touristy on our list today, but if you're adventurous, you won't be disappointed.
You can even visit some of the mines that are still open such as Chico Rei, Passagem or Veloso. In fact, Passagem is the largest mine in the world open to the public, So just for that reason it is super interesting to visit Ouro Preto.
That said, we hope to visit Brazil one of these days. And if you've already been, are any of these cities on our list still on your list?