Home › Hot Spots › Rio de Janeiro › Florianopolis
Direct comparison
Instead of Rio de Janeiro, try Florianopolis.
Florianopolis has 42 beaches, serious surf, excellent oysters, and a Brazilian beach culture that is entirely domestic — none of the international tourism overlay that Rio carries.
Similarity
65%
How comparable the experiences are
Crowd relief
78%
Estimated pressure reduction
Recommendation
77%
Overall editorial confidence
Skip (or time carefully)
Rio de Janeiro
Coastal City · Brazil
Copacabana and Ipanema are tourist-saturated. Carnival period sees the city at absolute capacity. Cristo Redentor queue can be 2+ hours in peak season.
Cost: $$
Consider instead
Florianopolis
Island City · Brazil
Extremely popular with Brazilian and Argentine holidaymakers in summer — not uncrowded, but a completely different crowd from international tourist circuits.
Cost: $$
Layers
Region
Best for
Surf travellers, beach lovers, and those wanting the authentic Brazilian summer holiday experience
The tradeoff
Not a cultural capital like Rio. English is rarely spoken. Most interesting in summer (November-March) only.
Rio de Janeiro and Florianopolis are approximately 1160 km apart. Both are in the same country.