"Gramado" State of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil

[rgmd11]

Myself and my wife recently spent a week in a lonely AirBnb in in the small town of "Gramado" in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, (elavation of 850m) situated about a 2 hour drive from Porto Alegre (nearest Airport with great connections), whilst a major tourist destination for Brazilians, you do see a fair few international visitors as well (heard quite a few Italians and French along with an American couple), Its really quite removed from the rest of Brazil which is often chaotic and disorganised (I should know, I live there), first colonised by the indigenous Caingangues Indians, Europeans arrived in the late 1800's first with Portuguese from the Azore Islands and then shortly followed by big waves of Germans and Italians (the town and it's buildings really reminded me of being in Bavaria Germany)....

There are many attractions to visit, including just a few we visited :

"Space Adventure" in Canela a close town and one of a few places licensed by Nasa outside of the US, quite a few original Nasa spacecraft parts and more.

There is a very nice glass blowing museum called "Cristais de Gramado" which was fascinating with live glass blowing demonstrations, reminded me very much of my trip to Murano in Venice, though I ended up putting a dent in my wallet in the shop on the way out.

"Snowland", an indoor skiing and skating facility, which was a funny experience after last skiing in both the Swiss and Austrian alps over 35 years ago, ended up with a very wet backside, "again"...

"MiniMundo", miniture models of notable places from around the world and Brazil, very well detailed and elaborately constructed.

"Skyglass" an extended cantilevered viewing platform with a glass bottom 350m above the Ferradura valley....afforded some spectacular views.

"Caracol" national park, a stunning location with various trails and the star atractionbeing the beautiful "caracol" waterfall, with a sheer drop of 131m (431'), when we went it was not crowdded and very peaceful and tranquil...highlight of our trip.

The are many restaurants in Gramado that are of a high quality (though some distant from being Michelin starred) and very friendly and service oriented and reasonably priced by American or european standards.

 

[joaovieira]

Great place to visit. I visited Gramado many times. Great food and nice views.
Glenn let me know when you come to Fortaleza so we can meet.

 

[rgmd11]

Hello Joao

For sure I will let you know if we plan on any trips to Fortaleza......will be a pleasure to finally meet you...