Quote: (02-19-2012 07:34 AM)TheBear Wrote:
Great replies, thanks InternationalPlayboy and choche. I thought about both BH and Brasilia, but having been in SP, I wanted to check out somewhere a little more low key. I've had as much megalopolis as I can take for a little while.
Even having read your warnings, I think I'll try and give Vitoria a shot. I know a month isn't a long time, but at this point I think I would prefer 1 or 2 quality notches over a bunch of lower quality ones.
Thanks for the info on Guarapari, I'll check it out at least one weekend for sure.
Do you have a recommendation for where to stay in Vitoria? Ideally I wanted somewhere both close to the good night life areas and within walking distance of the beach. It sounds like that's not very feasible though.
And choche, what's the deal with the NE. Living in SP, everyone just shit talked the NE, so I never got a good impression of it. How are the girls and general life style? Part of my reason for going to Vitoria is to do a little scouting for my next trip to Brazil. I want to set up for about 6 months somewhere other than SP/Rio and would definitely consider somewhere like Natal if the reports were good.
If you're looking for the high quality notches Vitoria is def. the spot. I highly recomend visiting. It was my favorite place in Brazil, but that said I had "ins" as well. I can def. see it being a little harder to adjust going down there without any local help. But if you go down with a couple gringo friends, that definitely helps.
The good spots to stay are Jardim Cambori and Jardim Da Penha. Neither are far from the good nightlife and both have chill nightlife themselves. More bar scenes though, which I really liked out there. Some parts of Vitoria can be very dangerous. The thing about Vitoria though is most of the dangerous parts of VIX are seperate from the nice parts, unlike lots of places in Rio. If you live in those two neighborhoods you should be pretty safe. There are some nice Samba parties though in the ghetto. Vila Velha can be pretty grimmy in spots, and don't venture into the neighboring city of Serra. The state VIX is in, Espirito Santo, has the #2 highest murder rate in Brazil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bra...rder_rate. But don't let that stop you from visiting.
Like I said though, Guarapari could be dissapointing in March, but it's always worth a shot if you're spending a month in VIX, may as well check out Guarapari for a weekend. Even if the party isn't popping, the beaches are still awesome and you can rent hotels for pretty cheap out there. New Years Eve me and my chick rented a nice bed and breakfast spot and it was maybe a little over $100, but that's NYE when everything is fully booked out there. On an average week in low season you should be able to find something much cheaper.