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Brazil Travel Guide

Brazil’s Top 12 Experiences

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Brazil offers terrific experiences that should be on every traveler’s list. Here are Fodor’s top picks for a memorable trip.

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Postcard-Perfect Beaches

Slip into your beachwear for a day of sunbathing and people watching on Brazil’s most beautiful beaches, including Copacabana, Ipanema, and Búzios.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s Brazil Travel Guide

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Carnival

Brazilians can throw a party like no one else, and Carnival is the biggest party of the year—a raucous bacchanal of music, drink, and flesh.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s Brazil Travel Guide

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Brasília’s Architecture

Built from scratch in less than five years in the late 1950s, Brasília, the country’s planned capital, is an architecture buff’s dream.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s Brasilia and the West Travel Guide

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Brazilian Beats

Music is woven into the fabric of Brazilian life, and no trip here is complete without catching a live show, whether samba, bossa nova, axé, or forró.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s Brazil Travel Guide

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Brazilian Wildlife

The biodiversity in Brazil is astonishing. With any luck, you’ll spot capybaras and anteaters in the Pantanal and toucans and pink dolphins in the Amazon.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s Brazil Travel Guide

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Food and Drink

From black bean stews to Amazonian fish dishes, Brazil’s cuisines will delight your taste buds. Start your meal with a caipirinha, the national cocktail.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s Brazil Travel Guide

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Iguaçu Falls

Iguaçu’s raging, jungle-fringed waterfalls will leave you speechless, especially on a spray-soaked boat tour.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s The South Travel Guide

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Christ the Redeemer

Don’t leave Rio without making a trip to the statue of Christ the Redeemer, arms outstretched to embrace the city from its perch on Corcovado Mountain.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s Rio de Janeiro Travel Guide

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Ouro Preto

This former gold-rush town is nestled in the Minas Gerais mountains, with cobblestoned streets and red-roofed buildings that climb the hills.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s Minas Gerais Travel Guide

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Soccer Matches

Soccer is a national passion and an art form in Brazil. It’s a blast to sit among thousands of cheering, chanting fans in one of the country’s iconic stadiums.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s Brazil Travel Guide

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São Paulo Nightlife

São Paulo’s nightlife options are seemingly endless, and the numerous bars and nightclubs prove worthy venues for even the feistiest nighthawk.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s Sao Paulo Travel Guide

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Jungle Lodges

There’s no better way to explore the Amazon rain forest than by staying right in the middle of it in an all-inclusive riverside lodge.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s The Amazon Travel Guide