Brazil Travel Guide

Sugarloaf Mountain is Rio de Janeiro's iconic granite peak rising at the mouth of Guanabara Bay, named for the loaf shape of sprinkled sugar. Two cable-car stages first reach Morro da Urca then the summit, where Copacabana beach, the Christ statue and the whole bay unfold below, most romantic at sunset. The foot of the hill in Urca is lined with restaurants, making it Rio's best lookout for the 'mountain-sea-city' trio and a classic postcard silhouette. The beach and Urca pier restaurants at the foot keep the Rio ease alive before and after the ascent.

The São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) is among Latin America's most important art museums, and its building is a São Paulo landmark—designed by Lina Bo Bardi, red pillars lift the glass galleries about 8 m in the air, forming an open plaza below, bold and avant-garde. Inside are many Western masterpieces from the Renaissance to modern times—Raphael, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir—the Southern Hemisphere's most important European art collection. Its signature glass-frame display makes paintings seem to float in space. With both architecture and collection superb, it is the core of a São Paulo art trip.

The Brazilian side of Iguaçu Falls lies in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, joining the Argentine side to form the majestic World Heritage panorama. A walkway reaching into the canyon faces the most spectacular Devil's Throat head-on, with the drenching 'Macuco Safari' boat ride as a thrill. The park also offers bird and ecology trails, letting you feel the mist and roar of 275 drops from the other shore, a natural wonder no Brazil trip should miss. Park shuttle carts link the main decks, so even limited-mobility visitors enjoy the full panorama.

Christ the Redeemer stands atop Corcovado mountain, 710 metres high inside Rio de Janeiro's Tijuca National Park. The Art Deco figure of reinforced concrete — 30 metres tall with a 28-metre arm span — was completed in 1931 and named one of the New Seven Wonders in 2007. A cogwheel train climbs through Tijuca rainforest, monkeys glimpsed between the trees, to a 360-degree terrace over Rio: Sugarloaf, Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, Guanabara Bay and Maracana stadium all in one sweep. Cloud seas drifting below the statue at dawn, or golden sunset light on the outstretched arms, are equally breathtaking. The summit is always busy and the weather changes fast — buy tickets online and take the earliest train up.

The Amazon rainforest is Earth's largest tropical rainforest, called the "lungs of the Earth," harboring the planet's richest biodiversity, and Manaus is the gateway deep into Brazil's Amazon. From here, visitors take boats into the river-laced forest, stay at riverside or forest lodges, and with guides experience jungle treks, canoe trips, night caiman spotting, piranha fishing, indigenous village visits and sunrise/sunset viewing. In the dense primal forest, sloths, pink river dolphins, monkeys and colorful birds await. Deep in this vast, mysterious green world is a soul-stirring natural adventure.

The Itaipu Hydroelectric Plant spans the Paraná River on the Brazil–Paraguay border and was for decades the world's largest hydropower station. Built jointly by the two nations, its massive dam and powerhouse supply tens of millions of people, and the visitor centre runs tours deep inside the plant to explain turbines and generators. At dusk the 'Itaipu Illuminated' light-and-water show narrates the engineering saga. Only half an hour from Iguazú Falls, it pairs engineering with nature.From the crest you see human engineering meet nature's raw force.