http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/20042
I loved staying at this place. It's beautiful, cozy and very close to Lapa, where there are lots of nightclubs and bars full of cool people!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/20042 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19989
I don’t know what I miss most in Brazil - the country or the hostel I stayed in. I don’t even remember the last time I had so much fun as I did at Stone of a Beach.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19989 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19335
The house is located on the Santa Teresa neighborhood, a place of poets, writers, musicians and painters which all are attracted by the rural landscape that is surrounded by the nice traditional architecture and the lovely climate.

It is a unique quarter in Rio de Janeiro that preserves the "bondinho" (the tram).]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19335 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19247 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19247 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16824
This B&B is an old historic mansion with funky rooms and has monkeys and turtles roaming around the gardens. The owners were a really nice couple who made us feel right at home and gave us lots of us advice for places to check out.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16824 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14485 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14485 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12616
This guesthouse has a peaceful and unique vibe, I felt at peace as soon as I arrived there! The owner and all the staff were super friendly and helpful. While I was there I also attended yoga and pilates classes.

The best thing though was the view, that was just incredible!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12616 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12615
There is a big terrace where they serve breakfast and you have a double view: the city of Rio in its splendour and then a green, peaceful hill.

I had a very good time there, the service is great, everyone that worked there was really nice and helpful! The bedrooms are huge and airy, you couldn't ask for anything better!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12615 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10408 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10408 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10335
Take a walk around the grounds on the signposted trails. Or go out on one of the many varied trips they do to different sites to see the many diverse birds the area has to offer.

The food was superb with breakfast, lunch and dinner included in the price, they do packed lunches when going out on trips. Even if you were not particularly interested in the birds it would make a good place to chill-out and enjoy lazing by their outdoor pool. Andy and Cristina who own and run the lodge are two wonderful people who will make your stay very enjoyable.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10335 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/9143 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/9143 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1558
Unfortunately for the good burghers of Paraty, but happily for the modern traveller, by 1720 a much shorter trail had been blazed from the prospecting towns of Minas to Rio de Janeiro. Despite a brief disturbance during the coffee and sugar booms of the 19th Century, this historical accident, and the fact that Paraty only became accessible by motor vehicle in the 1950s, left the region in its own development-free time bubble.

Today Paraty is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and its former wealth is reflected in some of the most beautiful and assiduously preserved colonial architecture in the whole of Brazil. The Centro Histórico is a masterpiece, with its baroque churches, roughly cobbled streets that flood with the rising tide and graceful merchants’ mansions. Set all this man-made elegance in a heart-stopping setting of rainforest-clad escarpments, the dramatic Costa Verde coastline, dozens of near deserted beaches and the tropical islands of the Baía and you have a combination of sophistication and natural exuberance that is hard to beat anywhere in Brazil.

It has to be said that, as a popular weekend retreat for the well-heeled of São Paulo and Rio, Paraty is not cheap by Brazilian standards but if anywhere around Rio is worth a bit of a splurge, this is it. One lower priced accommodation option is the Cigarras Pouso Familiar near the bus station. It is a popular location for makers of period movies and novellas and has en suite rooms including breakfast at R$100 and small self catering apartments for around R$150. My personal favourite, however, is the gorgeous Mercado de Pouso, Paraty’s former coffee market, on the old quayside beside the Santa Rita church, where a double room with air conditioning, ceiling fan and bathroom with breakfast included will set you back around R$250. The hotel also has its own 80 foot schooner and organises dolphin spotting, diving and beach cruises to the islands. For the truly budget minded, camping is available at the Camping Club do Brasil a short distance out of town beside the Praia do Pontal.

One of the real pleasures of Paraty is its bewildering profusion of excellent restaurants. In a high class field there are two that really stand out. The Restaurante da Matriz is situated in a colonial house on the main square, Praça da Matriz. It is rightly famous throughout Brazil for its deliciously authentic Caiçara dishes, named after the natives of this coastal region. Try the mouthwatering sea bass and shrimp moqueca, a traditional fish stew spiced with ferociously piquant dendê oil, or the prawns fried in batter with ginger and mango sauce.

If that doesn’t take your fancy, on Rua do Comercio you will find Merlin o Mago, an award winning establishment with an idiosyncratic fusion style that incorporates the best of Europe, Asia and Brazil. The restaurant is aptly named as its chef, the German-born former restaurant critic, Hado Steinbrecher, is truly a magician. His onion ice cream (yes, that’s onion ice cream) dumplings on tomato with grilled goat’s cheese are a sensation and you’ll have to go a long way to find anything to beat the lobster in orange sauce.

A good, if expensive, time to visit Paraty is during the low season months of July and August when two events draw visitors from all over the world. Every August since 1972 the town has organised the Festival da Pinga. Time was when the town and surrounding area had over 200 distilleries, or “alambiques”, producing Brazil’s sugar cane spirit, cachaça, the principal ingredient of the ubiquitous caipirinha. Whilst the alambiques are somewhat less numerous today, Paraty is still a major producer and the festival attracts some 20,000 aficionados who take their cachaça as seriously as any single malt whisky drinker.

For those of a less bacchanalian disposition, for four days every July Paraty becomes a sort of tropical Hay-on-Wye as it presents the annual Festa Literária Internacional de Paraty. Run by Bloomsbury Publishing founder, Liz Calder, the festival has played host to the likes of Martin Amis, Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie and, after only three years, is already established as one of the world’s premier literary events.

Do bear in mind that accommodation prices can double and even triple during these busy periods and hotel bookings should be made weeks, if not months, in advance.

As far as activities are concerned, clearly the sea plays a major role. A number of companies offer skippered sailing and motor yacht charters in modern, well equipped boats and Paraty is also one of Brazil’s scuba diving meccas with a host of companies to choose from. On the other hand, if just lazing on a palm-fringed beach is your thing, the boat ride to Praia do Sono is an absolute must. Quite simply, they don’t make beaches any lovelier. Praia do Sono and the larger, busier beach at Trindade can also be reached by bus.

Paraty’s other major attraction is the Parque Nacional da Serra da Bocaina, which straddles the border of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and is home to endangered species such as spider and howler monkeys, harpy eagles, tree porcupines and giant anteaters. Four wheel drive and horseback tours of the Park and the Trilha de Ouro (gold trail), with English speaking guides, can be arranged at the Centro de Informações Turisticas on Avenida Roberto Silveira.

Paraty is a magical, almost unreal place with a delight round every corner. From the moment you arrive your senses will be overwhelmed by a heady confection of sights, sounds, smells and tastes that few places in the world can equal. Don’t take my word for it, though. While anchored in the Baía da Ilha Grande during his second South American voyage of 1501, Amerigo Vespucci wrote in a letter home, “Oh God! If there was a paradise on earth, it would not be very far from here!” He was not wrong.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1558 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1431 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1431 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1426 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1426 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1130
Recently though, some of a more enterprising nature have begun to open up the Serra Fluminense above the oil boom town of Macaé in the north of Rio State. The centerpiece of this area is the sleepy hill town of Sana, a bridging point across the crystalline, cascading waters of the Sana River, guarded by the majestic 3,700 foot Pedra do Peito do Pombo (Pigeon Breast Rock).

The best choices for accommodation in Sana are the town’s charming and inexpensive pousadas. Highly recommended is the pretty Repousa da Sana, with its mature gardens, restaurant serving tasty local dishes cooked in a wood burning oven (ask for the baked trout), shop selling local crafts and its comfy, tastefully decorated riverside chalets.

A big bonus here is that the owner, Antenor Sousa, speaks passable English, a rarity in this part of the world. He is a keen photographer and has spent the last 20 years documenting the town and its surroundings so there isn’t a lot he doesn’t know about the place.

For travelers with an eye on their budget, many pousadas also offer a camping option with bathroom and laundry facilities. From your base in town you can take guided walks to the dozens of waterfalls and natural swimming pools that dot the region, trek up some of Sana’s steepling granite peaks or enjoy a very agreeable couple of days’ pony trekking. There’s also enough rock climbing, abseiling, mountain biking, kayaking and white water rafting to keep the adventure sports enthusiast absorbed for days.

And after these strenuous calisthenics, what better way to wind down than in a hammock on your chalet deck, caipirinha strategically placed at arm’s length, with the calls of roosting flocks of parrots and the chattering of the river lulling you to sleep? Keep a weather eye on your drink though, as the local Micou monkeys, emboldened by human contact, are rather partial to those cachaça-impregnated lemons.

I should point out one small inconvenience. The nearest bank is 12 miles away in Casimiro de Abreu and, as telephones are a relatively new phenomenon in Sana, many of the town’s pousadas, bars and restaurants don’t accept credit cards.

However, carrying cash does not present the safety risks that it does in Rio. You are less likely to be mugged than savaged by a member of the town’s bovine community which outnumbers the human population by some distance, in other words, not very likely at all.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1130 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/409 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/409 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/6469 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/6469 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1551 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1551 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1504 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1504 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1428 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1428