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 Iguaçu, 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/