Brazil's capital.
Written: Dec 05 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clean, modern, fun, and breathing with excitement.
Cons: Too young (less than 40 yrs), some major construction is always at sight.
The Bottom Line: The beautiful capital of Brazil has it all, entertainment, shopping, cultural events, etc. All within a safe, clean and educated city.
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| abhorrent's Full Review: Brasília |
Seeing from above, Brasilia looks like a butterfly, crushed in the Savannah vegetation of the Central Plains of Brazil. The shape of the city creates debates; its citizens will happily tell you that it resembles an enormous airplane.
But what Brasilia is in fact, is a segmented city, or as some might say, an obvious city. Buildings in the buildings districts, Industries in the industry sector, and of course, hotels in the hotel center. All within reach of the main avenue (wide enough for 10 cars - rumors says it's because in an event of taking over the city, the military would have access with its tanks, if needed), which allows visitors to check on shopping malls, sights and events in a blink of an eye. Tourists have special discounts in the hotels during the weekends, something the general population frowns at. One of the best hotels down there is the Naoum Plaza, where the most expensive and luxurious suite in Brasilia is. Naoum's Real Suite has hosted among others Lady Di and even Fidel Castro and his buddies. It's a huge suite, but the rate price is also huge, ranging around U$1,000 - 1,500 a night. More simple, cheaper bedrooms are easily found for around U$100-150. For example, The Hotel Nacional, lacking some of its former glory that captivated artists such as Yoko Ono (booked herself in the presidential suite) still retains some of its charms and style. Their rooms are easily found for U$75-100 dollars. Politicians and high level executives seem to prefer the San Marco Hotel, where its prices ranging around U$90-300 dollars seems to be irrelevant to the proximity it provides to the Palacio do Planalto (the Brazilian White House) and the Congress, in fact, San Marco Hotel is within a 5 minutes walking distance from these 2 sights.
Slighter cheaper hotels, such as the Alvorada and the Hotel das Nacoes, offer reasonable comfort to its guests and more than decent room services. Their prices range around U$50-70 dollars a night. Obviously, there are many more hotels in the city, but a full list of the options and the services would render a special review section just on the hotel subject.
Every single major city in Brazil has a flight to Brasilia; a round trip ticket is about U$185 dollars from Sao Paulo, U$190 dollars from Rio, and U$280 dollars from Porto Alegre. If you rather drive and enjoy the diverse and incredible Brazilian ecosystem, Brasilia is about 125 miles from Goiania, 620 miles from Sao Paulo, 460 miles from Belo Horizonte and about 1260 miles from Porto Alegre.
Some cool things to do once down there is to visit the national forest of the Agua Mineral, which has great waterfalls and great natural swimming pools open to the public, public barbeques and picnics areas. Also make sure you visit the National Bank (Banco Central), which has a cool museum about world currencies (you might even be able to get a tour around the money "factory", where they are constantly making the Brazilian currency, the "real"). You should also go for a walk, or bike rides in the wide huge main avenue on Sundays (they completely close it down every Sunday, so you have about 10 miles of an immensely wide street just for you), also, make sure you visit the Catholic churches such as the Cathedral, and the Dom Bosco church (which are one of the most beautiful churches in the whole planet.)
But to really get to know the city, one weekend is usually not enough. The ideal Brasilia trip would take about 4 days, or even a bit more in the case you might want to venture around the wilderness of the Savannah, and check some other cool places nearby such as Pirenopolis and the National Park of the Chapada dos Veadeiros.
The best time of the year to plan your trip to Brasilia would be in the summer, more specifically in May or June, that's when the temperature is around 77F (25 C) and during the night it might even get around 50F(10C). It rains a LOT around November and March, and I mean heavy pouring down, like big time, it's huge. But at the other hand, the city is greener than everything else in the world. From August to October, there comes a deep drought, and even breathing might be difficult for non-used lungs. So, bring a sweater if you come between June and August. Don't forget the sunscreens and the moisturizing lotions if you're coming between September and October during the drought' season. Bring an umbrella between November and March, and in all seasons, bring your sunglasses.
The best way to get around the city is by taxis, or by the recently built subway. I would recommend walking along the great avenues as well; it's good exercise also. Renting a car might be tricky, because the city has many traps one can easily fall if not used to its geography.
There's a Tourist Center, but while I don't know their phone number, it' good to have that, just in case some major question pops out. Another useful number would be the Tourism Secretary, where they'll provide you with free maps and guides about the city.
Some cool traditional events in the city are the Moon Walk (Caminhada da Lua), which happens every first full moon of each month in the City Park (which by the way is a Brazilian version of the Central Park, in size and beauty). Also, another big event is the city's birthday in April, usually with concerts, fireworks and plenty of fun. The Nations Fest, which shows and sells crafts and products from national and international artists, in May/June, and the States Fest, similar to the Nations fest only with national products only are also, good events to check out and to buy quality stuff for very cheap. And obviously, the Micarecandanga, an out of season Carnaval party in August, which literally drives the whole city nut, with parties, and dances and everything else going on during the time.
Things you want to avoid while in Brasilia are, for example, to check in the hotels during the weekdays (when the rates are more expensive) or to wonder around the city without knowing where you're going. Brasilia has a very low criminality rate and the city is pretty safe, but it's wise to avoid walking alone in the areas around the hotels or in places where you haven't been before and that are completely unknown to you.
The nightlife in Brasilia is not as wild as in other Brazilian cities like Sao Paulo or Rio, but the bar, the pubs and the clubs literally explode during the weekends. A good place to go is the Gilberto Salomao, where there's a plenitude of close and open bars, private and public clubs, many pubs and LOTS of interesting people. More already traditional and established bars and clubs are the Beirute, which opened in 1966 (six years after the city was inaugurated), and which has great beer (a huge glass for less than a buck) and a very diverse crowd, intellectuals, artists, politicians, and even some suspicious girls are easily found in the Beirute bar, and the Gates Pub opened about 20 years ago. Gates Pub goers range to people from 18 to 50 years old, it has a very diverse environment. For live music, especially MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) the place to go is the Feitico Mineiro bar. Some other nice pubs, clubs and bars are the Universal Diner, the Inside Club, the Fashion Club, the Boomerang and the Press. Any other club around the Pier 21 area (A real pier transformed into movie complexes, bars and clubs, very, very nice) is also recommended.
As far as eating out goes, Brasilia doesn't have a very wide variety of restaurants, but it has some fine ones. The best one is the Convento Restaurant, the waiters are dressed as monks and the furniture was brought from a real convent (therefore, rendering the restaurant's name), if you find yourself in that delicious place, order the "Picadinho a franciscano", which is awesome, and it costs about U$9.00 dollars. The restaurant serves appetizers such as small maniocs sliced in very thin pieces and deserts such as baked ambrosias. After you have eaten enough, have the tea with the queijadinhas, which is great stuff. A couple would spend around U$30.00 dollars there. In Alice restaurant, you'll have to make reservations before going, but they have some pretty fancy food if you like it. At Francisco restaurant, you'll find politicians, technocrats and good food. Make sure you order the Shrimp with the basil sauce, which costs something around U$10.00 dollars. There are some other fine restaurants such as the Carpe Diem, the Sagres, and the Patisserie and Chocolatier Daniel Briand (from a Frenchmen who has chosen Brasilia over Paris!!!) which are all very good and with a nice atmosphere.
Brasilia is one of the most illuminated cities in Brazil, tourists will watch more than they'll buy. But if you feel like the buying bug has bit you, the medicine is to go to the traditional crafts market by the TV Tower where about 3000 craftsmen sell furniture, jewelry, fabrics, sculptures, ceramics, savannah flowers, etc. There's also an Antique Market, where they sell furniture, crystals, jewelry, etc. And of course, there are many shopping malls around the city, such as the Park Shopping, the Alameda Shopping, the Brasilia Shopping, the Liberty Mall, the Fashion Center, and many other new ones that I don't even know about.
Finally, apart from the many political and geographical sights that it offers, The Brasilia citizens are very polite and in general treat tourist with respect and even a certain kind of pride for being there. If you get to know some of them, you'll have a very big chance of being invited for dinners, soccer games (a national passion) or even just to plainly hang out with them. It seems like the Brazilians get very excited about treating tourist right.
I would definitely recommend Brasilia to travelers. It's a good city to check out in case you're in Brazil; it's safe for kids, adults and all, yet it's very modern, it's very interesting, yet it carries an aura of politics that make it look serious. It's clean; it's a young city, yet it's very nice indeed.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug
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Epinions.com ID:
abhorrent
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Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 3 members
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