Best of Southern Brazil
This morning, before leaving Florianopolis, the capital of the state of Santa Catarina, we took a little tour of the beautiful island where the city is located, we stopped in the small village of Santo Antonio de Lisboa for a coffee. This place is famous for its beautiful position and for the well preserved typical Azorean architecture. Back on our motorcycles, crossing the bridge, we finally arrived on the "continent" and entered the Serra Catarinense, a plateau about 100 km from the coast, where today we will sleep surrounded by the beautiful araucaria trees, typical of the region!
Our first rest day, so no need to pack! Today we went for an easy ride to Lages, the biggest town in the region. We reached there quite quickly using the main road and stopped there for a coffee break (it was not easy to find a parking spot for our motorcycles!) in the city centre. To come back we used some backroads but they were perfectly paved and we had a lot of fun in the many twisties and with almost zero traffic. Lunch in the small town of Urupema and by early afternoon we reached our hotel. Tonight dinner out with live music!
A beautiful sunny morning, the day was promising! The road from Bom Retiro to Urubici is very beautiful, perfectly paved and full of curves. Urubici is the most important tourist center of the Serra Catarinense and we stayed in this area until lunchtime, to go see the famous "perforated stone" from Morro de la Igreja (one of the highest points of the mountain range) and then, taking advantage of the beautiful day, we also went up to the Serra del Corvo Branco to admire this impressive and extremely steep road and the beautiful landscape around. After lunch we finally set off again and, after many more curves, we arrived at Bom Jardim da Serra, from where we admired the breathtaking view of the Serra do Rio do Rastro before reaching the beautiful "Eco Resort" where we will spend the night.
The longest route of this tour started with one of its highlights, the most famous road in Brazil, the Serra do Rio do Rastro, with its countless curves that connect the plateau and the coast. Right after we went to visit a little piece of Italy in Brazil, the town of Nova Veneza (New Venice, there is even a real gondola in the central square!) where we couldn't help but try the coffee and a good homemade ice cream! When we arrived in the plain, the temperature had become very hot and we already missed the Serra, but luckily when we arrived in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in Torres (where we had lunch on the beach) a pleasant sea breeze coming from the ocean kept us quite cool! And after lunch, we went back up towards the plateau which now, since we are in another state, is called Serra Gaucha and we arrived in Cambará do Sul, known as the capital of the Canyons. Tomorrow we will find out why this nickname!
Cambará is located in an area of extraordinary natural beauty and some of the most impressive canyons on the continent are located a short distance from this town. Unfortunately today the weather did not help us and a thick fog obscured our view of the Itaimbezinho canyon, but we made up for it in the afternoon by going to visit the beautiful Venâncios waterfall, formed by the Camisas River. Tomorrow morning we hope that the visibility will be better, so we can see the Fortaleza canyon, fingers crossed!
After so much nature, today we reached one of the trendiest cities in Brazil! Before leaving Cambará do Sul, we went to the Fortaleza canyon to see if we would have better luck than yesterday with the fog, but unfortunately even the view of this wonder of Nature was partially obstructed. Very beautiful anyway! After leaving the canyon, we stopped for a coffee and then went to Sao Francisco de Paula for lunch. After that the road became much more winding and fun to drive, except for the last kilometers before Gramado when the traffic became heavier. Tonight dinner in an Italian restaurant!
Just a short tour today, but full of activities! First of all (this is a must!) we had to visit the Parque do Caracol in Canela and admire its beautiful waterfall. After a short walk in the park, we headed to the "Skyglass", a very modern glass platform with a magnificent view of the canyon below and finally we passed through Canela, where we visited the cathedral and then had lunch in the center. We returned to Gramado just in time before it started raining! The weather forecast for tomorrow is not the best, but we remain optimistic!
You won't see many pictures today, unfortunately the weather forecast was accurate and we spent the day with incessant rain (and sometimes quite a bit of fog!) But we had quite a good time. From Gramado we went to Nova Petropolis, a city with clear German origins, where we stopped for a coffee. Then, continuing towards Novo Hamburgo, we stopped in Ivoti for lunch and finally, using many secondary roads, we passed through Garibaldi before arriving in the valley of the vineyards. In this region you can clearly see the European origin of the inhabitants, especially Germans and Italians. The Germans settled in the valleys, the Italians higher up on the hills, many of which have become vineyards, which is why the city of Bento Goncalves, where we will sleep tonight, is considered the Brazilian capital of wine!
Last day of this tour! Today, fortunately, despite the many clouds, the weather was mild and the temperature was cool but ideal for riding a motorbike. We rode through the "valley of the vineyards" and then stopped for a coffee in the "caminhos de pedra", another wine area nearby with beautiful old houses. Right after, we went to visit the church of Caravaggio, an important pilgrimage site in Brazil. While yesterday we crossed the area where German immigration prevails, today we were in the Italian area. A beautiful winding road through mountains vineyards took us to Antonio Prado (the most Italian city in Brazil) where we had lunch, and then continuing through beautiful valleys and vineyards we finally arrived in Caxias do Sul. To end our tour in Brazil, we couldn't miss having dinner in a typical churrascaria! Goodbye to everybody, the first Edelweiss tour in Brazil is completed and hopefully there will be many others!