Wednesday, January 28, 2015

websites I like from Gramado

I really liked some websites that give ideas of what to do in Gramado and Canela:
http://www.gramado.com.br/
http://www.gramadosite.com.br/noticias/autor:gramadosite/id:25776/xcoluna:1/xautor:1
http://www.pousadabelluno.com.br/site/gramado.php

http://viajargramado.com.br/estabelecimento/passaporte-dreams-2
http://www.canelaturismo.com.br/roteiros-e-atrativos/castelinho-caracol/

Sunday, January 25, 2015

driving in Brazil

I was deciding whether or not to drive.
What did I have to consider:
  • traffic volume
  • parking
  • documentation
  • easiness of getting around in public transportation or chartered vans
  • independence
For the traffic volume, I figured, since we will be arriving in one airport and getting on the highway to another city, how bad could traffic be? I did some reading, and there seems to be a consensus that if you are going to gramado and canela, driving is a good bet because of the distances.
You could take a bus from POA airport to Gramado for about R$30, but that could affect your independence once you get there. I am sure there is public transportation, which I have not investigated yet. Gramado major attrations are mostly within walking distance, but not Canela, or the places on the way to Canela.


Parking in a Gramado can be a problem. I found a website that says they are now using parking meters. http://www.gramadosite.com.br/noticias/autor:gramadosite/id:25776/xcoluna:1/xautor:1
and http://www.destinogramado.com.br/2010/07/estacionamento-rotativo.html
But if you just leave your car at the hotel lot, you can mostly walk to most of the major points in Gramado.

Anyway, I went ahead and booked a car. My next concern was the documentation. Well, thanks to this site http://gobrazil.about.com/od/practicaltips/qt/Driver-License-For-Brazil-Travelers.htm I found out that today all you need to drive in Brazil for up to 180 days is your driver's license and your passport.

We chose to rent a car in gramado mostly because of the distance to airport.

I am still investigating public transportation, and depending on what I find, I will look into canceling my car rental.

For Foz do IguaƧu, we chose to not rent a car. Our hotel will be really close to the airport and the falls, and it seems as public transportation is easily available, even to argentina.
http://www.viajenaviagem.com/2010/05/foz-do-iguacu-carro-alugado-taxi-ou-onibus/

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

best place to buy flights to Brazil

The best website to buy flights to Brazil is not Kayak, Expedia, or even the airlines themselves.
The best place to buy flights to Brazil is BACC travel. They have the best deals. You can also work with them to combine specific flights that are not coming together in the website search.
They also have decent costumer service in Portuguese and in English. As with most costumer service, it greatly depends on who you get on the other end of the line. I had much better experiences in previous years, but this time it was not bad.
They canceled my troubled flight free of charge because of that crazy connection in different airports.

Now if you are flying inside Brazil, try going straight to the airlines - voegol.com.br, voeazul.com.br and tam.com.br - or even kayak.
The reason for that is that bacc doesn't show all the airlines that do flights in Brazil.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

careful - different connecting airports

My agency booked my return flight with a connection.
So far, nothing new.
Problem was - the connection was booked leaving from a different airport, located in a different city, 2 hours away from each other.
Between one flight and the other there are only 6 1/2. Since you have to be at the airport 3hours before an international flight, that leaves was only 3 hours to get to the airport, if there are no delays.

Worst thing - the agency didn't even bother alerting me that this flight had connection in different airports. I only found out because I was reading the itinerary to my mom to check if my brother could come see us.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

ideas of itinerary

I found this awesome itinerary that can give me some ideas:

http://www.transferroturismo.com.br/index.php/turismo/50-pacote-sul-maravilhoso-2015.pdf

but there are also some websites that gives me sightseeing and activities.

http://www.canelaturismo.com.br/
http://www.gramado.com.br/turismo/pontos-turisticos
http://www.gramadoecanela.com.br/index.html
http://gramadocanela.com.br
http://gramadosite.com.br
http://viajargramado.com.br/

http://viajeaqui.abril.com.br/cidades/br-pr-foz-do-iguacu/o-que-fazer?pw=2

This last one is the Quatro Rodas guide, which also helps in the choice of routes.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

transportation

trying to figure out how to get from Porto Alegre to Foz.
plain, or bus? or car?
http://www.viajenaviagem.com/2010/05/foz-do-iguacu-carro-alugado-taxi-ou-onibus/

http://www.transferroturismo.com.br/index.php/nossa-frota.html

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Northeast or southwest

Natal or Foz?
Here are websites about each:

http://www.natalpasseiodebuggy.com.br/roteiros-tarifas
http://bocaberta.org/2014/03/baia-do-sancho-em-fernando-de-noronha-e-a-praia-mais-bonita-do-mundo.html
http://www.viagemdeferias.com/natal/

http://www.viagemdeferias.com/noronha/passeios/roteiro-dois-dias.php
http://demochila.com.br/brasil/fernando-de-noronha/
http://www.viajaretudodebom.com.br/2012/07/24/roteiro-de-3-dias-em-fernando-de-noronha/


http://www.turistaprofissional.com/2011/10/08/roteiro-em-foz-do-iguacu/
http://www.dicasroteirosviagens.com/2010/03/foz-do-iguacu.html
http://www.feriasbrasil.com.br/