When I first visited Brazil in 2020, my destination choice was largely driven by tropical weather and affordable hotels. Since becoming a full-time resident, those parts of Brazilian life are undoubtedly still seductive, but I’ve also fallen deeper for the Brazil that stretches beyond Copacabana and the sounds of bossa nova. This is the country Brazilians affectionately call Brasil com S, a place with more than 70 national parks, more than 4,600 miles of coastline, and more local fruit stands than fast food chains. For the most part, it flies under the radar of most travelers.
I had already been in Rio de Janeiro for a few weeks when a waiter at Boteco Belmonte asked me if I’d ever heard of João Pessoa, the coastal city where he grew up. Later, a new friend named Rafael told me about his recent trip to Chapada Diamantina, which is filled with stunning hikes and cachoeiras (the Portuguese word for waterfalls). Both places, which would eventually transform how I saw the country, came up naturally in conversations; I likely would have never discovered them online.
Over the past few years, living and building a local community in Brazil, I’ve continued to seek out these lesser-known cities, experiences, and natural wonders that exist beyond the more frequented tourist spots. Below are seven of my favorites.
An Amazon River Cruise From Tabatinga to Manaus
A foggy view of the landscape along the Amazon river.
Rory Fuller/Travel + Leisure
The five-day boat trip from Tabatinga to Manaus along the Amazon River is a wild adventure that costs about $100, including tickets and snacks. (I purchased my ticket at the port in Tabatinga, but you can book a similar option online.) Expect the scent of diesel and rain, the hum of the engine, misty treetops, and pink dolphin sightings at dawn.
To make the journey, I flew into Leticia, Colombia, one of the closest airports to Tabatinga, then hopped in a taxi for the short ride across the border into Brazil. At the port, narrow wooden docks stretched over the river, lined with vendors selling hammocks, bottled water, sacks of rice, and mosquito repellent. After paying cash for my ticket at a small kiosk, I followed a stream of passengers carrying their bags toward a large boat, its metal hull marked by rust and chipped paint.
Three open-air decks stacked on top of each other made the vessel look like a floating parking garage, but instead of cars, rows of colorful hammocks hung between metal poles. This boat wasn’t just for travel; it would be home for the next few days, and every passenger, including me, brought their own hammock to sleep in.
On the fifth day of my journey, we arrived in Manaus just after dawn, nearly 84 hours after leaving Tabatinga. After so many days of uninterrupted green, the city skyline looked surreal. I stayed at Local Hostel Manaus, which had hot showers, curtained bunks, a good breakfast, and friendly people.
If you’re considering this type of travel, heed my advice: Your first task is to find a good hammock spot near a pole where you can lean your bags and charge your phone. The top deck is less crowded, breezy, and offers open views. Avoid noisy areas near the TV, bar, bathrooms, and exits; I found the middle of the deck is usually quieter. The decks are covered to keep you dry during rain, but there is some engine noise and dim lights at night. An eye mask and earplugs can help. Meals are served cafeteria-style on the middle deck with warm rice, beans, pasta, and a choice of beef, chicken, or fish. Portions are large, so bring containers if you want to save food for later. The views are stunning, with dense jungle lining the riverbanks and pink dolphins occasionally surfacing around dawn and dusk.
The Nightlife on Rio’s Morro do Pinto
Cityscape view of Morro do Pinto.
P@ulinho Souza/Adobe Stock
Part of the reason Morro do Pinto—morro means hill—remains undiscovered by most tourists is that it’s not easy to reach; you’ll need to consider the art of convincing a taxi driver or waiting for an Uber for 20 minutes as part of the adventure. As you ride up the narrow cobblestoned streets, the uniqueness of the nightlife becomes clear. It’s a small hill with nothing else nearby, so everyone who’s there intends to stay all night.
Morro do Pinto is home to two of my favorite bars in Rio de Janeiro: Bar do Omar and Bar do Molejão. At Bar do Omar, the standing area wraps around the bar to create a continuous veranda over the hillside. Below, the city lights of Rio sprawl out, giving way to a view of Guanabara Bay in the distance. Here, you’ll find a true roda de samba, where musicians gather in a circle to sing Brazil’s most well-loved anthems. These aren’t pop songs, but songs of freedom that carry the spirit of Brazil. Everyone on the veranda joins in to sing, blending the voices of the audience and the band.
A short walk from Bar do Omar leads to the hill’s highest point and Bar do Molejão, where people pack shoulder to shoulder beneath a ceiling of tropical foliage. Arrive early and you’ll catch the sun setting behind the band, turning the sky pink and orange over distant mountains. The stage, framed by an almond tree, typically hosts Rio’s up-and-coming DJs, jazz fusion bands, and Brazilian soul musicians.
Jericoacoara
A quiet beach scene in Jericoacoara.
Nicole Athayde/Travel + Leisure
On Brazil’s northeastern coast sits Jericoacoara, an isolated beach town. When I went, I flew into Fortaleza, where a driver I booked met me in a 4×4 SUV, a sign of things to come. After leaving the city behind, we followed rural roads and eventually found ourselves traversing sand dunes. Tufts of dry grass pushed through the dunes, palm trees stood in scattered clusters, and cows grazed nearby with the Atlantic occasionally visible in the distance.
My hotel, Samba do Kite Pousada, had a pool, palm-thatched roofs, and open-air verandas. I was pleased to see the town shares this aesthetic; there are no paved roads, just cobblestoned footpaths and sand streets. On my first morning, I checked the waves and surfed at Praia Principal de Jeri, where swimmers share space with fishing boats anchored offshore.
Although I visited near Christmas, most people go there in July, when the weather is perfect and the sun sets right behind the Pedra Furada rock arch. Besides the beach, the landscape has natural rock formations, sand dunes, and mandacaru cacti. You’ll see people renting dune buggies, ziplining into lagoons, kitesurfing, and lounging in hammocks suspended over shallow ocean water.
One final thing: despite its being far from any major city, Jericoacoara has a surprisingly lively social scene, and the narrow alleyways are lined with small restaurants and shops. One of my favorite meals was at Bar do Alexandre, where I had fried chicken served with deep-fried manioc root. At night, capoeira circles pop up on the beach, forró music fills the air, and locals mingle with travelers over beers in the streets.
João Pessoa
Steep cliffs on a beach in Jaoa Pessoa.
Nicole Athayde/Travel + Leisure
João Pessoa, the capital of the state of Paraíba, is an enigmatic coastal metropolis. From the city’s beaches, you’ll see rows of high-rise buildings resembling the Miami skyline. It’s a striking sight, especially when you consider the population is less than 1 million.
But this collection of towering buildings isn’t a coincidence. The city’s relaxed building regulations and abundance of oceanfront lots have fueled a boom in construction, and that vertical growth has led João Pessoa to host some of Brazil’s most impressive rooftop bars and pools.
As a result, many hotels take full advantage of the views overlooking the teal waters of Cabo Branco and Praia de Manaíra. Cocktail bars like Skybar, perched high above the city, serve signature cocktails with views of lights glowing along the beach. Similarly, the rooftop at Hotel Cabo Branco Atlântico has a stylish pool and an upscale restaurant blocks from the ocean.
What’s more, all of this remains surprisingly affordable. With so many hotels, the supply is high and demand remains low, keeping prices down. You can find seaside hotel rooms for as little as $40 per night; higher-end options are often less than $100.
While the city has modern roadways and a system of trains connecting its neighborhoods, it hasn’t lost touch with its roots. In the historic center, churches, libraries, and museums date back to colonial times, reflecting João Pessoa’s 1585 founding; it’s also one of Brazil’s oldest cities. Pastel greens, pinks, and yellows, terra-cotta roofs, antique churches, and cobblestoned streets showcase colonial architecture shaped by Portuguese and Dutch influences.
Though João Pessoa seems made for urban explorers, it also offers plenty of outdoor activities. If you can only do one thing, book a boat at low tide to the coral reefs near Ponta do Seixas. There, you can snorkel among schools of yellow- and black-striped sergeant majors and blue-green parrotfish weaving through coral glowing in shades of lavender, pink, and cream. Beaches like Tambaú and Manaíra attract windsurfers and paddleboarders, and bird-watchers and casual hikers flock to the 1,200-plus-acre Jardim Botânico Benjamin Maranhão.
Jalapāo State Park
The landscape of Jalapao State Park.
Nicole Athayde/Travel + Leisure
Jalapão State Park is one of Brazil’s most striking natural treasures, but it’s not a place you stumble upon by accident. Deep in Tocantins, a remote state in north-central Brazil, the park’s rugged terrain keeps visitor numbers low. When I visited from Rio, I flew into the city of Palmas and joined a small tour group. It took about five hours by 4×4 to reach the park, and the journey was mostly along red dirt roads. There was virtually no cell signal.
After arriving in the town of Mateiros, we began to explore, starting with Jalapão’s famous fervedouros, crystal-clear springs where water surges up through soft pink sand and curiously keeps you afloat. The name comes from the Portuguese word for “boiler,” a nod to the bubbling surface, but the water is surprisingly cool. These pools are visually striking as they stand out against the dense, leafy landscape around them. The perfectly transparent water looks light turquoise and is completely free of plants because roots can’t take hold in the bubbling flow.
While the pools are the park’s highlight, there are several waterfalls worth seeing as well. First, I visited Cachoeira da Velha on the west side, where water rushes over orange rocks that share the same color as the dirt. My favorite, however, was Cachoeira do Formiga on the park’s eastern side. There, a dock sits almost level with the crystal-blue water—the same color as the fervedouros—and wooden steps descend into the cool water.
Visitors should also seek out the golden sand dunes on the southern side of the park. Rising out of a desert of winding rivers, palm trees, and reeds, the orange dunes stand tall with striated lines reminiscent of the Sahara, and they’re surrounded by distant flat-topped plateaus in every direction.
Lençóis Maranhenses National Park
White sand dunes and blue lagoons in Lencois Maranhenses.
Nicole Athayde/Travel + Leisure
Lençóis Maranhenses is the sort of place you know nothing about, yet the moment you see a photo, you wonder, “How have I never heard of this before?” But images still can’t quite prepare you for the real thing. Thousands of towering dunes stretch across the horizon, some reaching 100 feet high, with pools of crystal-clear water between them.
The name Lençóis Maranhenses translates to “sheets of Maranhão,” referring to the vast, white dunes resembling sheets spread across the landscape of the Brazilian state of Maranhão. The sand comes from the Parnaíba and Preguiças rivers, which carry sediment from inland Brazil to the coast. Over thousands of years, northeast trade winds pushed this sand inland, gradually forming the massive dune fields. Every year, seasonal rains from January to June fill the valleys between the dunes, creating a surreal network of freshwater lagoons.
When visiting, most people stay in Barreirinhas, a small city that serves as the gateway to the park. From town, you’ll need a guided tour in a 4×4 vehicle to handle the sandy trails and occasional river crossing before reaching the dunes. Travelers aren’t supposed to visit the park without a guide, but luckily, several companies offer trips.
I booked mine with CW Turismo, and a guide picked me up at my hotel in Barreirinhas. After a three-minute ferry across the Preguiças River, we bumped along sandy trails for about an hour and a half. Once at the park, I left my shoes in the truck and stepped onto the sand; the bright white sand doesn’t absorb sunlight, so it was surprisingly cool. We spent the next few hours exploring around Lagoa Bonita on foot, meandering through steep, rippled dunes and shallow valleys dotted with pools in shades of emerald green and cyan.
Of course, the highlight is floating in the freshwater lagoons, where the water is rarely deeper than five feet and small fish flicker around your feet. If you’re hoping to find your own private lagoon, there are thousands of them.
Lençóis Maranhenses is a protected national park with no infrastructure, so everything you bring must be taken out. Tours run daily, and it’s best to join one early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid the heat and to catch the sunrise or sunset.
Chapada Diamantina
A waterfall in Chapada Diamantina.
Alessandro Piers De Souza/Travel + Leisure
Beloved by Brazilians, but still unknown to most international travelers, Chapada Diamantina covers nearly 15,000 square miles. With its valleys, table-top plateaus, waterfalls, and limestone caves, it’s often compared to Yosemite or Zion.
My journey to Chapada Diamantina began in the city of Salvador, where I rented a car and drove roughly five hours inland to reach the park. There are buses, but if you want to explore waterfalls, caves, and archaeological sites on your own schedule, a car is the best option. No matter how you travel, ATMs are hard to come by, so bring cash.
There are many waterfalls in the park, but I have a fondness for Cachoeira da Fumacinha. The challenging five-hour round-trip hike follows the Rio Una upstream, and as the canyon narrows, steep rock walls rise on all sides to create a stone corridor where only a sliver of sunlight is visible. At the end of the trail, enclosed by mossy rock walls, you arrive at the 328-foot waterfall rumbling over the cliff.
From there, I made my way to Lençóis and took the short trek up Morro do Pai Inácio, one of the most iconic viewpoints in Chapada Diamantina. The trail is steep in parts, but manageable, and it takes only about 30 minutes to reach the summit. At the top, the view stretches across flat-topped mountains and deep valleys reminiscent of a miniature Grand Canyon. Late afternoon through sunset is the best time to go if you want good light for photos.
To get the most out of your stay in Lençois, you can also see the ancient indigenous rock art at Serra das Paridas. Only about 15 miles outside of Lençois and a short walk from the parking area, you’ll encounter hundreds of paintings and etchings in the sandstone, some believed to be more than 8,000 years old. The drawings include human figures, animals, and mysterious geometric patterns, offering a glimpse into the symbolism and daily life of early inhabitants.
I’ve recommended only three places in Chapada Diamantina; there are many more to explore. If you make the trip, you’ll likely be charmed by the park’s waterfalls, swimming holes, underground rivers, and cliffside vistas—and chances are, you’ll stumble on a few of your own favorite spots, too.
