Anyone wishing to backpack his or her way throughout Brazil has several different options of destinations and itineraries. However, first of all it must be remembered that it shall be necessary to travel by air, rent a car, or spend endless hours on buses, as the distances can be enormous.
For this reason, the itinerary we propose can take days or months, or even a whole lifetime, to be completed. It all depends on how many cities you wish to include in your excursion, of course.
We shall consider an itinerary taking in the Brazilian coastline, passing through capital cities. However, if you have the time, do not abstain from seeing the region more closely and explore some tourist spots along the way –while in Recife, for example, why not spend some days in Fernando de Noronha?
Following this option, the order of visitation shall depend on your city of origin, and for this reason we shall simply follow the coastal map to make things simpler.
Thus, the cities that you should visit in the North-eastern part of your trip are the following:
- São Luís, Maranhão
- Fortaleza, Ceará
- Natal, Rio Grande do Norte
- João Pessoa, Paraíba
- Recife, Pernambuco
- Maceió, Alagoas
- Aracaju, Sergipe
- Salvador, Bahia
In the Southeast, it is time for you to visit the following capital cities:
- Vitória, Espírito Santo
- Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais
- Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro
- São Paulo, São Paulo
Finally, drop by in the Southern part of Brazil and visit:
- Curitiba, Paraná
- Florianópolis, Santa Catarina
- Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul
As you can see, this is an itinerary with 15 different cities, which means you shall spend at least 30 days travelling – but the ideal situation would be for you to spend at least 3 days in each of these capital cities, meaning that the trip would take 45 days, if you fly. If you decide to go by bus or drive, then the trip shall take even longer.
In terms of lodgings, the best idea is to stay in a hostel which is ready to welcome backpackers. Seek those which are registered in the Brazilian Youth Hostel Federation, where quality is usually better.
To know what to do in each of these cities, it is necessary to study the available attractions with care, depending on how much time you have available. Most of Brazil’s capital cities are right on the beach, and this is already one of the main tourist attractions of this location, for sure. In addition, they all tend to have excellent museums and architecture, so that you can return home with your backpack overflowing with knowledge of Brazilian history and culture.