Brazil: top attractions

Amazing beaches, a vast array of wildlife, historical colonial towns and a calendar of festivals that would be hard to beat anywhere in the world... here are our top recommendations of things to see in Brazil.

1. Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro

Recently voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, you can’t go to Rio, or Brazil, without taking the train to the top of Corcovado, from where the views are phenomenal. Read more about Corcovado...

2. World Cup 2014 / Olympic Games 2016

Brazil’s attention will be focused as it prepares to host the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016. 

3. The Pantanal

The Pantanal is home to 650 bird species. Lots of mammals, too, including the capybara, caiman, marsh deer, and armadillos. Read more about the Pantanal...

4. Iguaçu Falls

 “Poor Niagara!” Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed upon first seeing the magnificent falls at Iguaçu. The world’s greatest collection of waterfalls is simply breathtaking. Read more about Iguaçu Falls...

5. Amazon

Amazonia, the lungs of the world, supports 30 percent of all known plant and animal species, including 2,500 fish species, 50,000 higher plant species, and millions of insects. Read more about the Amazon...

6. Pelhourinho, Salvador

According to Unesco, the Pelourinho is the most important grouping of 17th- and 18th-century colonial architecture in the Americas. Read more about the Pelourinho...

7. Carnival 

Brazil is justifiably famous for its huge, exuberant pre-Lent Carnival, the biggest and brashest in the world. Like the beaches, it would seem unfair just to highlight one, as Brazil has an embarrassment of riches that start with Rio, Salvador, Recife and Olinda. Read more about Carnival...

8. Historic Towns of Minas Gerais

Gold and diamonds made Ouro Preto rich, and financed the Baroque architecture and sculpture that led Unesco to declare it a World Cultural Monument. But the historic town is much more than just Ouro Preto: equally memorable is Congonhas do Campo, site of the two greatest works of the 18th-century sculptor Aleijadinho.

9. Sugar Loaf, Rio de Janeiro

There are those who claim the views of Rio and the bay are even better from the top of Sugar Loaf mountain than from Corcovado. It’s a hard one to decide, so go see for yourself. Read more about Sugar Loaf...

10. Parati

A masterpiece of colonial architecture and charm that is also home to one of the world’s newest and most prestigious literary festivals. Read more about Parati...