[docdrops]

In your opinion, what is the best city outside of the Rio De Janeiro in Brazil. This can go for both game and lifestyle, Ideally a combination of the two.

I will be going to brazil in june for two weeks for copa america in Rio. I do want explore one more city as well though.

Here are the ones that I have gotten positives about.

Recife
Fortaleza

The top two are bonuses since they are on the coast, and offer a windsurfing lifestyle. Something I love to do. I have heard that the coastal cities are more dangerous than the other ones though unfortunately.

Goiânia
Belem
Belo Horizonte
Manaus

Feel free to add any others that you have had positive experiences in. Sao Paulo seems a little too large for me ( not saying that Rio is small), but feel free to change my mind.

[BraziLeo]

Hey,

I lived in Brazil for 4 years and traveled a lot for work and vacations there and have been to all the places that you listed.

First of all, my biggest advice since you have a few months before your travel is to learn Portuguese. Sorry but game with even basic Portuguese will take you A LOT further as most Brazilians have very little knowledge of English, are shy using it and all but most affluent can splurge on English classes or international travels. Your Portuguese doesn't have to be super advanced but you should really get basics to a very decent level, learn some slang etc cause cariocas (people of Rio) use it a lot. It'll also save you potentially a lot of money cause you'll be able to negotiate prices of almost anything and it very possibly might keep you safer (they won't think you're gringo FOB). Portuguese is paramount.

Rio de Janeiro- that's the place to be and to be honest two weeks there perhaps is just about right amount of time to get to see places, know some people, do some games etc. In Rio and Brazil generally everything takes time so if you cut short your stay you might just not get to see/do everything (including game). I would just stay there for two weeks cause: a) there are many, many cool sights, nature, parties to go to and you will not do everything during these two weeks b) june being a winter season in Brazil might mean that few of those two weeks will be raining or weather just won't be great to do much beach, sightseeing etc.

You should do some day trips in Rio after you've done all the typical touristy stuff in the city but further from tourist zones for example to Niteroi (Itacuara beach is amazing), Joatinga, Prainha, Praia do Abrico (only nudist beach in Rio but generally just older guys are going there), Ilha da Guaratiba, Pedra do Telegrafo. A little further is Ilha Grande or Paraty, old charming colonial town that has some festivals and is quiet fun for weekends (just don't expect much game as it's pretty small). In Rio you have many surfing spots.

Here shortly about other cities:
Recife- fun but sharks so I don't know how can you windsurf there. Maybe in porto de galinhas but that's a few hours from the city and there is not much to do over there beside the beach. June is a winter season in Brazil so the place could be very well abandoned. Not the best situation for game or fun generally.
Fortaleza- in one word: meh
Goiania- worst on the list, nothing to do.
Belem/Manaus- it's furthest from Rio. If you like/think about doing an amazon river excrusion but...you don't have many days for that so I guess it's a no.
Belo Horizonte- it's not bad but just nothing special.

[BraziLeo]

Regarding Sao Paulo: well, it's a concrete jungle. There are a lot of things happening there, many clubs, parties etc... but in this aspect Rio's nightlife is not much worse and during the day you have better options to spend your day.

I think you didn't mention Salvador which is an ok option, all considered. But as it comes to Brazil, Rio just might have it all. And 2 weeks is probably a perfect amount for this huge city. Those are my two cents.

[Gotti]

Fortaleza was the worst city I visited in Brazil. Dangerous and nothing impressive about it.

Florianapolis was really cool. More touristy than most spots but the nature is great and it felt the safest. It is more upscale but still has backpackers and other travelers. English was easy to get by with here and a lot of the visiting Brazilians spoke it too because it is higher end. That would be my recommendation.

[Cheetah]

Is kissing literally seconds after meeting a new girl the norm only in Rio or in other parts of Brazil too?

[felixio3232]

(12-31-2018 06:15 PM)Gotti Wrote:  

Fortaleza was the worst city I visited in Brazil. Dangerous and nothing impressive about it.

Florianapolis was really cool. More touristy than most spots but the nature is great and it felt the safest. It is more upscale but still has backpackers and other travelers. English was easy to get by with here and a lot of the visiting Brazilians spoke it too because it is higher end. That would be my recommendation.

Wouldn't recommend Florianopolis in winter though. Went this year and not many people around/parties on.

A mate went to Manaus and said it was very good for game.

[Borges]

(12-31-2018 08:14 PM)Cheetah Wrote:  

Is kissing literally seconds after meeting a new girl the norm only in Rio or in other parts of Brazil too?

If you're talking about the cheek kissing greeting, it's the norm in all of Brazil and most other countries in Latin America as well.

[Cheetah]

^^^^

I was more referring to easy make outs.

[BraziLeo]

@Cheetah It's largely a myth. But it depends really on place, time of the year, girl etc. Sorry to sound so ambiguous but if you're there during carnaval in Rio or Salvador if you start talking to a girl during a street party her friends might start cheering: Beija, beija, beija (kiss) and you'll make out almost right away. But then, everybody is probably drunk already so it's possible you won't even get a number of girl after making out or she might never answer your texts. I know, there is little logic there but that's the way they do things there.

But normally, it doesn't happen, it might actually be counter-productive pushing to make out with a girl at some party or public place cause kissing/making out in Brazil doesn't mean anything and might not lead to anything. Take your time, play your cards right and just invite her to your place because rarely (and I would say almost never) girl agrees to go to your place and nothing happens there. Gringos from outside Brazil are expected to kinda go slower (cause we're supposedly gentleman) but I never complained about end-results

About Florianopolis or generally brazilian south: I think there are many threads where everybody says Florianopolis is overrated. Because it is. During the summer when the heat is almost unbearable in Rio or northeast, it's nice to go and "cool" down in Florianopolis. Seafood is good there. They have some huge summer parties with more affluent, richer, whiter girls and those do speak English. But then chance of success with them is that much lower. Brazilian girl speaking ok english knows how rare she is and she either travels internationally on a yearly basis cause she's rich or she probably has been with other gringos and might even traveled/lived with them for some time outside Brazil (of course something that they'll not tell you that, maybe after weeks or months). So she knows the game and what you're after and your "exotic/cool" factor goes to zero.

Generally, coming back to my first advice: with decent Portuguese average looking guys can and normally end up ruling this place. Without it, it's...not easy.

[semibaron]

(12-31-2018 08:14 PM)Cheetah Wrote:  

Is kissing literally seconds after meeting a new girl the norm only in Rio or in other parts of Brazil too?

For me it worked in Belo Horizonte and Rio. However, usually it needs some practice in case you aren't accustomed to it.

[docdrops]

(12-31-2018 01:43 PM)BraziLeo Wrote:  

Hey,

I lived in Brazil for 4 years and traveled a lot for work and vacations there and have been to all the places that you listed.

First of all, my biggest advice since you have a few months before your travel is to learn Portuguese. Sorry but game with even basic Portuguese will take you A LOT further as most Brazilians have very little knowledge of English, are shy using it and all but most affluent can splurge on English classes or international travels. Your Portuguese doesn't have to be super advanced but you should really get basics to a very decent level, learn some slang etc cause cariocas (people of Rio) use it a lot. It'll also save you potentially a lot of money cause you'll be able to negotiate prices of almost anything and it very possibly might keep you safer (they won't think you're gringo FOB). Portuguese is paramount.

Rio de Janeiro- that's the place to be and to be honest two weeks there perhaps is just about right amount of time to get to see places, know some people, do some games etc. In Rio and Brazil generally everything takes time so if you cut short your stay you might just not get to see/do everything (including game). I would just stay there for two weeks cause: a) there are many, many cool sights, nature, parties to go to and you will not do everything during these two weeks b) june being a winter season in Brazil might mean that few of those two weeks will be raining or weather just won't be great to do much beach, sightseeing etc.

You should do some day trips in Rio after you've done all the typical touristy stuff in the city but further from tourist zones for example to Niteroi (Itacuara beach is amazing), Joatinga, Prainha, Praia do Abrico (only nudist beach in Rio but generally just older guys are going there), Ilha da Guaratiba, Pedra do Telegrafo. A little further is Ilha Grande or Paraty, old charming colonial town that has some festivals and is quiet fun for weekends (just don't expect much game as it's pretty small). In Rio you have many surfing spots.

Here shortly about other cities:
Recife- fun but sharks so I don't know how can you windsurf there. Maybe in porto de galinhas but that's a few hours from the city and there is not much to do over there beside the beach. June is a winter season in Brazil so the place could be very well abandoned. Not the best situation for game or fun generally.
Fortaleza- in one word: meh
Goiania- worst on the list, nothing to do.
Belem/Manaus- it's furthest from Rio. If you like/think about doing an amazon river excrusion but...you don't have many days for that so I guess it's a no.
Belo Horizonte- it's not bad but just nothing special.

What did you do as a career in brazil for 4 years? If you don't mind me asking.

[BraziLeo]

Energy/Oil like 90% of expats living there. Well, maybe now it's less because of economic crisis and low oil prices.

But any questions you have feel free to ask. I think throughout these years I got a pretty good grasp on Brazil and especially Rio both from the perspective of newcomer and expat living there full time. There is learning curve to Brazil, nothing is given (but hey, it applies to life generally), but there is a way to crack this place and have some really fun memories I think what's really the best about Brazil it's also the worst: unpredictability. You really can go out on a Monday night to some place, which ends up being a total dump and totally dead and just when you're leaving you see a girl who in any other place would be a super model. And sometimes things can go really, really fast from there. And generally if your looks are ok, if you can have a decent conversation (in Portuguese, be somewhat funny but not ironic, don't complain on their country even if they do etc) you can probably suggest after few beers/drinks to come back to your place. It might very well happen. If not you just get her number and if she meets with you again, well, this time you basically won. And very often it's not even that the Brazilian girls are too prudent to go to your place on a first night. I heard this from many, many of my Brazilian friends that especially if they've been single for some time they simply didn't shave down there and believe me, they would rather see their Brazilian soccer team loose to Argentina then for a guy to see some even mild bush over there. They declared an all out war on pubic hair a long time ago, shaving/waxing is just serious thing there. Generally, you just have to play it cool but not in a some "cold" way, just think it's a fun game that both sides enjoy to play and even if it doesn't happen this time, there are literally millions other options.

Of course on the other hand you might go out on Friday night to the best spot and just get few "hell no" looks even with some nice, gentle approaches. Don't take it too personally, if girl is cute, the guys will be trying to talk to her literally hundreds times a day. Cute girls hate it cause it's constant and Brazilians guys are particularly annoying, persistent and clingy with these things. Don't waste your time, just move on. I've had experiences on entire scale of this spectrum, there is just no way to know in Brazil what's gonna happen or what you're going to get (yes, I know very philosophical again).

But then again, next day you might go to the beach, see an incredible beauty, chat and have few beers with her and she might come back to your place to wash off the sand and sea-salt [wink, wink].

All of it happened to me, and often when you least expect it. Once I stayed (on my way to work project) in a tiny but charming colonial town in a middle of nowhere where mostly couple went and only for a weekend. I took a stroll around those few streets just enjoying the vibe and saw an absolutely gorgeous girl with two friends who were naturally a couple (and slightly older then her). So I came over to talk to her and they were in that very moment going back to their shared car to travel back to their city. So we start chatting, the couple-friends of this girl go to get the car and we start making out almost right away. Few minutes later when her friends came back with the car we told them that before they all go back I was going to show the girl something in my hotel or some super bullshit like that. Her friends being Brazilians and totally knowing what was happening pretend that sure, that's not a problem and that they'll wait for us for 20min. They didn't even do any silly remarks, totally played it cool like it was the most normal thing ever for a 19y old girl to go to some stranger's hotel room after knowing him for literally minutes. So we go back to my room and directly from the entrance of the door we fuck like animals for entire 20min. Crazy, intense and fun. We finished and she suggested that I go with their friends and her to her city to stay in her apt for a couple of days but I declined because of work. If I drank just a bit I might have gone (I had still two days before my work). Instead, I just came back to my room and thought: wow, that happened. And before somebody judges that she must have been a hooker, later I found out that she was a university student, pretty typical college girl with model looks and she told me that she just felt attraction to me from the moment she saw me.

This is Brazil. You just never know.

[docdrops]

(01-02-2019 01:01 AM)BraziLeo Wrote:  

Energy/Oil like 90% of expats living there. Well, maybe now it's less because of economic crisis and low oil prices.

But any questions you have feel free to ask. I think throughout these years I got a pretty good grasp on Brazil and especially Rio both from the perspective of newcomer and expat living there full time. There is learning curve to Brazil, nothing is given (but hey, it applies to life generally), but there is a way to crack this place and have some really fun memories I think what's really the best about Brazil it's also the worst: unpredictability. You really can go out on a Monday night to some place, which ends up being a total dump and totally dead and just when you're leaving you see a girl who in any other place would be a super model. And sometimes things can go really, really fast from there. And generally if your looks are ok, if you can have a decent conversation (in Portuguese, be somewhat funny but not ironic, don't complain on their country even if they do etc) you can probably suggest after few beers/drinks to come back to your place. It might very well happen. If not you just get her number and if she meets with you again, well, this time you basically won. And very often it's not even that the Brazilian girls are too prudent to go to your place on a first night. I heard this from many, many of my Brazilian friends that especially if they've been single for some time they simply didn't shave down there and believe me, they would rather see their Brazilian soccer team loose to Argentina then for a guy to see some even mild bush over there. They declared an all out war on pubic hair a long time ago, shaving/waxing is just serious thing there. Generally, you just have to play it cool but not in a some "cold" way, just think it's a fun game that both sides enjoy to play and even if it doesn't happen this time, there are literally millions other options.

Of course on the other hand you might go out on Friday night to the best spot and just get few "hell no" looks even with some nice, gentle approaches. Don't take it too personally, if girl is cute, the guys will be trying to talk to her literally hundreds times a day. Cute girls hate it cause it's constant and Brazilians guys are particularly annoying, persistent and clingy with these things. Don't waste your time, just move on. I've had experiences on entire scale of this spectrum, there is just no way to know in Brazil what's gonna happen or what you're going to get (yes, I know very philosophical again).

But then again, next day you might go to the beach, see an incredible beauty, chat and have few beers with her and she might come back to your place to wash off the sand and sea-salt [wink, wink].

All of it happened to me, and often when you least expect it. Once I stayed (on my way to work project) in a tiny but charming colonial town in a middle of nowhere where mostly couple went and only for a weekend. I took a stroll around those few streets just enjoying the vibe and saw an absolutely gorgeous girl with two friends who were naturally a couple (and slightly older then her). So I came over to talk to her and they were in that very moment going back to their shared car to travel back to their city. So we start chatting, the couple-friends of this girl go to get the car and we start making out almost right away. Few minutes later when her friends came back with the car we told them that before they all go back I was going to show the girl something in my hotel or some super bullshit like that. Her friends being Brazilians and totally knowing what was happening pretend that sure, that's not a problem and that they'll wait for us for 20min. They didn't even do any silly remarks, totally played it cool like it was the most normal thing ever for a 19y old girl to go to some stranger's hotel room after knowing him for literally minutes. So we go back to my room and directly from the entrance of the door we fuck like animals for entire 20min. Crazy, intense and fun. We finished and she suggested that I go with their friends and her to her city to stay in her apt for a couple of days but I declined because of work. If I drank just a bit I might have gone (I had still two days before my work). Instead, I just came back to my room and thought: wow, that happened. And before somebody judges that she must have been a hooker, later I found out that she was a university student, pretty typical college girl with model looks and she told me that she just felt attraction to me from the moment she saw me.

This is Brazil. You just never know.

Was it an oversees/international company that sent you to brazil in the energy/ oil industry? Or were you able to find that job while already living in Brazil?

Don't know how hard it is to break into energy/oil. I'm working as a Civil Engineer, so I do not know how hard it is to break into a civil engineering firm in Brazil. Civil Engineers don't do much international relocating, unless it is for a very large company.

[The Good Life]

(01-02-2019 01:01 AM)BraziLeo Wrote:  

Energy/Oil like 90% of expats living there. Well, maybe now it's less because of economic crisis and low oil prices.

But any questions you have feel free to ask. I think throughout these years I got a pretty good grasp on Brazil and especially Rio both from the perspective of newcomer and expat living there full time. There is learning curve to Brazil, nothing is given (but hey, it applies to life generally), but there is a way to crack this place and have some really fun memories I think what's really the best about Brazil it's also the worst: unpredictability. You really can go out on a Monday night to some place, which ends up being a total dump and totally dead and just when you're leaving you see a girl who in any other place would be a super model. And sometimes things can go really, really fast from there. And generally if your looks are ok, if you can have a decent conversation (in Portuguese, be somewhat funny but not ironic, don't complain on their country even if they do etc) you can probably suggest after few beers/drinks to come back to your place. It might very well happen. If not you just get her number and if she meets with you again, well, this time you basically won. And very often it's not even that the Brazilian girls are too prudent to go to your place on a first night. I heard this from many, many of my Brazilian friends that especially if they've been single for some time they simply didn't shave down there and believe me, they would rather see their Brazilian soccer team loose to Argentina then for a guy to see some even mild bush over there. They declared an all out war on pubic hair a long time ago, shaving/waxing is just serious thing there. Generally, you just have to play it cool but not in a some "cold" way, just think it's a fun game that both sides enjoy to play and even if it doesn't happen this time, there are literally millions other options.

Of course on the other hand you might go out on Friday night to the best spot and just get few "hell no" looks even with some nice, gentle approaches. Don't take it too personally, if girl is cute, the guys will be trying to talk to her literally hundreds times a day. Cute girls hate it cause it's constant and Brazilians guys are particularly annoying, persistent and clingy with these things. Don't waste your time, just move on. I've had experiences on entire scale of this spectrum, there is just no way to know in Brazil what's gonna happen or what you're going to get (yes, I know very philosophical again).

But then again, next day you might go to the beach, see an incredible beauty, chat and have few beers with her and she might come back to your place to wash off the sand and sea-salt [wink, wink].

All of it happened to me, and often when you least expect it. Once I stayed (on my way to work project) in a tiny but charming colonial town in a middle of nowhere where mostly couple went and only for a weekend. I took a stroll around those few streets just enjoying the vibe and saw an absolutely gorgeous girl with two friends who were naturally a couple (and slightly older then her). So I came over to talk to her and they were in that very moment going back to their shared car to travel back to their city. So we start chatting, the couple-friends of this girl go to get the car and we start making out almost right away. Few minutes later when her friends came back with the car we told them that before they all go back I was going to show the girl something in my hotel or some super bullshit like that. Her friends being Brazilians and totally knowing what was happening pretend that sure, that's not a problem and that they'll wait for us for 20min. They didn't even do any silly remarks, totally played it cool like it was the most normal thing ever for a 19y old girl to go to some stranger's hotel room after knowing him for literally minutes. So we go back to my room and directly from the entrance of the door we fuck like animals for entire 20min. Crazy, intense and fun. We finished and she suggested that I go with their friends and her to her city to stay in her apt for a couple of days but I declined because of work. If I drank just a bit I might have gone (I had still two days before my work). Instead, I just came back to my room and thought: wow, that happened. And before somebody judges that she must have been a hooker, later I found out that she was a university student, pretty typical college girl with model looks and she told me that she just felt attraction to me from the moment she saw me.

This is Brazil. You just never know.

Totally agree, you really just never know in Brazil. The randomness and novelty of that place is a thing of beauty, and IMO is what makes it. As a foreigner living there, you will have the highest highs and the lowest lows. It's a trip.

[Krabbypatty]

I was in São Paulo for one week recently and I enjoyed the city. I have a month vacation from June to July and is planning to return to Brazil. Where is the best place if I want to hook up with white girls in Brazil during this winter time? I’m thinkng South. But where would u guys go? Curitiba? Porto Alegre? Goiás? Skip Florianopolis? I’m also thinking of crossing the border to Uruguay although it may not be worth it gaming wise so it may be unlikely. I also went out with a girl who invited me to see her in Minhas Gerais so I might check it out for a couple days or so sightseeing. All these are just options and I’d appreciate if someone could help give me idea on how many days is ideal for these cities given I only have a month vacation.

Where and how long would you stay in each city? I would probably start or end my trip in SP. Thanks in advance.