HomeBrazil Like a Native: 10-Day Rio Tours, Búzios & Salvador
Most visitors see Brazil from a bus window. You won't.
Brazil Like a Native is a 10-day journey through three cities that each tell a different
story — and we hand you to locals in every one of them.
It starts in Rio de Janeiro. Our Rio tours go past the postcard shots: yes, you'll
stand under Christ the Redeemer and watch the light drop over Sugarloaf, but you'll
also climb the tiled steps of Santa Teresa, eat where the Cariocas eat, and end up in
a Lapa botequim when the samba starts around midnight. Copacabana and Ipanema are a
walk away when you want the sand.
Then the pace drops. Búzios sits two and a half hours up the coast — a former fishing
village turned peninsula of twenty-odd beaches, where the day's biggest decision is
Geribá or Ferradura. Rua das Pedras handles the evenings.
You finish in Salvador, and Brazil changes character completely. This is the country's
Afro-Brazilian heart: Pelourinho's painted colonial facades, capoeira rodas in the
square, acarajé from a baiana in white lace, Bahian cuisine built on dendê oil and
coconut milk. The rhythm here is older and louder than anywhere else you'll have been.
Ten days. Three cities. Local guides who live there, small groups, and an itinerary
built around how Brazilians actually spend their time.
Book your spot — departures fill early for the coastal season.
- Accommodation for 03 nights in Rio de Janeiro, including breakfast
- Accommodation for 03 nights in Búzios including breakfast
- Accommodation for 03 nights in Salvador, including breakfast
- Meals: Daily breakfast at hotels, plus specified lunches or dinners mentioned in the detailed itinerary (e.g., Dinner on Day 1 in Rio and Day 7 in Salvador).
- Transfers: All airport transfers and inter-city ground transportation in private air-conditioned vehicles.
- Guided Tours & Sightseeing: Fully guided tours with local English-speaking expert guides.
- Entrance Fees: Entrance fees for visits mentioned in the itinerary.
- Support: 24/7 local operational support throughout the trip.
- International and domestic flights.
- Entry visa and Travel Insurance.
- Drinks during meals, optional tours, and extras not mentioned in the itinerary.
- Tips for local drivers, tour guides, hotel staff, and restaurant waiters.
- Personal Expenses.
Set between mountain and sea, Rio served as Brazil's capital from 1763 to 1961 and remains the capital of its own state. The coastline is the draw: sheltered bays, wide beaches, and islands scattered along the shore. Whether you arrive by daylight or after dark, the descent into the city explains its nickname — the Wonderful City — before you've even landed. Rio is also one of Latin America's leading centers for art and fashion.
Transfer to your hotel, with the rest of the day free.
This evening: Samba Night in Lapa. Nowhere captures Brazilian alegria quite like Lapa after sunset. The quiet daytime neighborhood transforms into a dense stretch of bars, restaurants and clubs, filling with cariocas and visitors chasing the same thing — a good night out. The soundtrack ranges from northeastern forró to Bahian reggae to Rio's own samba.
Dinner is traditional Brazilian barbecue, then your local guide takes you into the heart of it at Rio Scenarium — part antique shop, part auction house, part music venue, and one of the city's finest spots for live samba and Brazilian jazz.
Overnight: Hotel Rio Othon Palace
Morning: A guided tour of the city, ending at Sugarloaf Mountain. Rising straight out of Guanabara Bay, the granite peak delivers what many consider the finest view in Rio — the bay, the beaches, and the mountains laid out in a single sweep. Cable cars carry you up in two stages, with the second climb opening onto the panorama the city is famous for.
Overnight: Hotel Rio Othon Palace
Day at Leisure. Overnight at Hotel Rio Othon Palace.
Meals: Breakfast
Morning: Transfer north along the coast to Búzios, a peninsula roughly 180km from Rio.
Búzios draws Brazilians and international visitors alike for its natural beauty and a climate that pairs easygoing simplicity with genuine sophistication. The former fishing village found global fame after 1964, when French actress Brigitte Bardot chose it for her holidays — and it has never quite gone back to being a secret.
The peninsula holds more than 27 beaches, each with its own character, many lined with charming pousadas and restaurants serving elaborate Brazilian and international menus. After dark, Rua das Pedras — the pedestrian spine of the town center — fills with people out for dinner, shopping, or a long night.
The next three nights are yours: slow days by the water and evenings in town.
Overnight: Pousada Vila d'Este
Meals: Breakfast
Day at leisure. Overnight at Pousada Vila D´Este.
Meals: Breakfast
Day at leisure. Overnight at Pousada Vila D´Este.
Meals: Breakfast
Morning: Transfer back to Rio de Janeiro airport for your flight to Salvador. On arrival, transfer to your hotel.
Salvador is the capital of Bahia and served as Brazil's capital until 1763. The city splits into two levels. The Lower City, at sea level, holds the old port and the commercial district, where the Modelo Market offers a full spread of Brazilian arts and crafts. It's also the best place to catch capoeira — the martial art developed by enslaved Africans in Brazil, first as combat, later as dance and folk tradition. The Upper City is reached by stone staircases, narrow alleyways, or the landmark Lacerda Elevator, and contains the old government buildings, residential quarters, museums, churches, and most of the city's newer architecture.
Evening: Rio Vermelho by night. Bahians call it the Bairro Boêmio — the bohemian quarter — and it keeps its doors open well into the small hours. This is where locals go for a night out, among a dense mix of bars, restaurants and botecos, the tapas-style bars that give the district its character.
Bahian street food is famous across Brazil. Acarajé and abará, sold from the colorful stalls of the baianas de acarajé in their white lace, are a daily ritual here — and Rio Vermelho is home to three of the city's most celebrated baianas. Live music fills out the rest, traditional and contemporary, in bars scattered through the neighborhood.
Your evening starts with acarajé and a cold drink (the first round is on us), moves to a busy boteco for local delicacies, and ends with a live music performance.
Note: Attractions vary by night of the week and time of year. Food, drinks and music cover charges are paid individually.
Overnight: Selected hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Morning: A half-day historical tour that traces the city's growth from new to old. You'll begin in the modern seaside suburb of Barra and gradually work your way toward the historic center — Pelourinho, home to the largest and best-preserved complex of colonial architecture in the Americas.
Stops include the Church of São Francisco, whose Baroque interior is covered almost entirely in gold leaf, and Pelourinho Square itself, the heart of the old town and still its social center. The route is built to show both faces of Salvador side by side, with a focus on how the city first expanded.
Afternoon at leisure.
Overnight: Selected hotel
Meals: Breakfast
Day at Leisure. Overnight at a selected hotel.
Meals: Breakfast
Transfer out to Salvador airport for a flight to São Paulo to connect for an international flight.
Meals: Breakfast
$
2995
