At a glance
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Don't forget that all of our itineraries are totally customized and so this is just an idea of what we can build for you.
Brazil is one of those countries that demands more than a single stop. The contrasts are too sharp, the landscapes too varied, the culture too distinct from one city to the next.
This itinerary brings together three of its most compelling destinations and gives each one the time it deserves.
Rio de Janeiro is where you begin: one of the great cities of the world, with a coastline, a nightlife, and a queer scene that have few equals anywhere.
Iguazu Falls is where the trip shifts register entirely, a natural wonder of genuine, almost overwhelming scale that sits on the border of Brazil and Argentina and needs to be seen to make sense.
And Trancoso, on the southern Bahia coast, is where it all slows down: a quietly glamorous small town that has become one of South America’s most sought-after addresses, with empty beaches, exceptional boutique hotels, and very little reason to do anything in a hurry.
Ten nights. Three destinations. Brazil at its best.
In detail
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Don't forget that most of our itineraries can be totally customized. Our expert team will be able to talk you through all the options.
Days 1 to 4: Rio de Janeiro
Rio has one of the great urban settings on earth. Mountains, rainforest and ocean, with a city built in whatever space was left between them.
You will stay in one of Ipanema’s finest five-star hotels, steps from the beach and the heart of the neighborhood. From here, spend a day with a private guide covering the city’s landmarks. Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain justify every photograph taken of them. A helicopter flight over the city adds a perspective that ground level cannot give you.
Posto 9, the stretch of sand where rainbow flags mark the community’s natural gathering point, is the social heart of gay Rio and a short walk from your hotel.
The remaining days are best left unscheduled. Long lunches in Leblon. An afternoon in Santa Teresa. An evening in Lapa, where the nightlife starts late and runs later.
Days 5 and 6: Iguazu Falls
Nothing in the preceding days prepares you for Iguazu. The scale of it lands differently in person, a wall of falling water wider than any single viewpoint can contain.
You will stay at the only hotel within the national park on the Brazilian side, meaning access to the falls before the day crowds arrive and again after they leave. These early-morning windows are when Iguazu is at its best.
With a private guide, cover both the Brazilian and Argentine sides in a single day. The Brazilian side delivers the panoramic view. The Argentine side puts you on walkways directly above the water. Both are necessary.
Two nights is the ideal length of stay.
Days 7 to 11: Trancoso
Trancoso is where the well-traveled come when they are done with the obvious. A small, unhurried town on the southern Bahia coast that has quietly become one of South America’s most coveted addresses, known less for what it offers and more for what it withholds.
No big resorts. No beach clubs pumping music at noon. Just extraordinary boutique hotels, long empty beaches, and the kind of stillness that is increasingly hard to find anywhere with a five-star kitchen.
You will stay in one of the area’s finest properties, either a collection of individually designed casas set around the famous Quadrado, or a beachfront retreat with direct access to the coast.
The Quadrado, the town’s open central square lined with low-lit restaurants and bars, comes alive slowly at dusk and stays that way until late. Nearby beaches, most reachable only by dirt road or boat, are as close to empty as anywhere on Brazil’s coast.
Why book with us?
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