Búzios is located 105 miles NW of Rio de Janeiro. Formerly a fishing village, it is now an International tourist destination. The sea, beaches and the town are said to have a mystical atmosphere, combining ocean quietness to the bliss of tropical nature. That may explain the large number of foreigners that arrived as tourists, surrendered to local beauty and settled there. As a result, people of about 50 nationalities live in harmony in Búzios. Other things make Búzios special: the beauty of the peninsula’s 26 beaches, the old fishermen’s village charm, a dazzling variety of restaurants, the professional golf course, sophisticated boutiques, concerts and film festival, unique architecture, shopping at “Rua das Pedras”, the very ocean spot where Olympic champions practice.
Population: about 20,000.
Clothing: Casual summer clothes in natural fabrics like cotton are most appropriate. Try to avoid synthetic fabric and don't forget dress clothes (still casual) for nightlife and fine dining.
Best time to visit: There's no such thing as a bad time to visit Buzios. If you don't care much for partying, the best time to enjoy Buzios is off-season, especially from March to June and from September to November. In these periods, you will find great weather, lower rates and plenty of room for you to relax at the beach. The high season goes from mid-December through mid-Febraury, January being the peak month.
Tipping: As a general guideline, restaurants and bars include the usual 10% tip in the bill, often labeled as “service, It the customary tip to hotel porters is R$ 2 to R$ 5. Prices of goods and services already have taxes included.
Electrical Power in Búzios and Rio de Janeiro: 110 volts, 60 Hz.
Exchange: The monetary unit of Brazil is the Real (R$). It can be exchanged at Airports, Banks, Travel Agencies and authorized Hotels. International credit cards are accepted at hotels and in most restaurants and stores.
Exchange in Búzios:
Banco do Brasil, (Estrada José Bento Ribeiro Dantas, Shopping Praia do Canto, phone #: 55-22-2623-2009 / 2623-2302), local exchange and tour agencies, usually located in downtown Búzios.
Geography & climate
The Búzios peninsula has an extension of about 8 km (5 mi) and ocean currents from Antarctica and Brazil influence its climate. North Búzios has beaches with calm and warm water, like Tartaruga, Azeda and João Fernandes, while the southern beaches are mostly open ocean with a bit colder water, like Geribá and Tucuns. Some bays like Ferradura and Forno have very peculiar geography, looking like islands.
The wind blowing from the east and its particular combination of temperature, speed and moisture keep rain away, making for pleasant temperatures in the area.
Pink curve: temperature; Blue bars: rain.
- Annual average temperature: 26º C (80 ºF).
- Temperature of the water: between 18º and 21º C (64 to 68ºF)
- Average number of sunny days in a year: 254
Language
Portuguese is the national language, but Portuguese spoken in Brazil is different, in accent and intonation, than the language spoken in Portugal and Portuguese colonies. English and Spanish are also spoken in some hotels, Inns, restaurants and tourist spots. Portuguese speakers usually understand Spanish, though the contrary is not necessarily the case.
With more than 26 beaches with remarkable diversity and beauty, this small peninsula resembles a small island. Buzios began to become an upscale resort in the early sixties, when the then-top movie star Brigitte Bardot started to go there very often. In Buzios you can find:
- More than 100 inns and hotels for all tastes and budgets, from luxurious and exclusive to inexpensive but comfortable economic lodgings.
- Sophisticated restaurants for those who appreciate good food. International cuisine offerings include Japanese, French, Italian, Moroccan, Thai and many others.
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- Nature hiking,
- Windsurfing, scuba diving, snorkeling, surfing, fishing and many other water sports.
- International 18 hole golf course and show jumping club.
- Boat, car and beach buggy rentals. Boat tours around the islands and beaches of Buzios.
- A fishermen village - way of life, the "Buzios Brazil Mood".
- Very exciting night life featuring live music shows, nightclubs, pancake parlors, bars of all kinds and the fascinating Rua das Pedras (Street of Stones), in downtown Buzios.
- Local and international boutiques along with art galleries selling conventional and not-so-conventional art plus local craftsmanship.
A word on Food & Drinks
Most of the restaurants are on Rua das Pedras or along the Bardot Beachfront, the waterfront street that connects Rua das Pedras to Ossos Beach. The Cigalon is in the same house on Rua das Pedras where Brigitte Bardot chose to spend her days in Buzios in the 60's. There is a French touch to their dishes. Here are some of the delights offered by Chef Sonia Persiani: Honey chicken breast with ginger, melon and spices or large shrimp with "coffee mignonette", sweet mashed potatoes and vanilla,
Just a few steps away, you find Chez Brigitte, where you enter through a small, well-hidden door leading right to the action. This place captures what Buzios really is: charming, easy going and with subtle sophistication. The restaurant faces the ocean and is part of Brigitta's Guest House. Brigitta, the owner, is a pleasant Czech lady who speaks four languages, as advertised by the sign at the entrance. Seafood is their specialty (try the grilled fish), but they also serve sliced sirloin or sausages with baked potato and sauces.
Right next door, you find "S´Essa Rua Fosse Minha", which opened in 2004 and is filled with good taste. This building, halfway down Rua das Pedras, formerly housed the art gallery of Abigail Schelmm. The tables are set in a very pleasant country atmosphere and the menu offers good variety of choices. You can also sit at the delightful verandah overlooking the ocean and Canto Beach. They specialize in seafood. A prime example is their grilled cracknel with caper sauce and grated potatoes.
Another great tip is the popular Bar do Zé (Joe’s joint), which despite the name, is an authentic restaurant. The dishes are served on candle lit engraved tables. The kitchen serves delicious seafood, like shrimp with brie, asparagus and truffle oil or snowy grouper served with a combination of mushrooms and fresh pasta.
For the more adventurous and seekers of the exotic, the answer may be Sawasdee, the Thai restaurant. This place can surely be included amongst the best in the country Thai food and there are always interesting people there. Chef Marcos Sodré runs the place and creates the menu. Some of the highlights are grilled salmon medallion with sliced mango in sweet and sour sauce, mint and pink peppers. As an appetizer, you can order spring rolls filled with crab meat or mango salad with fresh shrimp.
The architecture and decoration at Pátio Havana, signed by Hélio Pelegrino and Sig Bergamin (top Brazilian interior designers), are quite impressive, offering five different settings: whisky bar, wine cellar, cigar parlor, verandah and bistro. There is always quality music and at the back, several tables face the ocean. Estância Don Juan, which belongs to the same owners, serves meat brought from Cabana Las Lilas (Argentina) and wine selected from the Trapiche Cellar.
Another good option is Pizzaria Caprichosa. Their pizzas, famous in Rio, follow Italian DOC style (tightly regulated standard originated in Naples) are made using fresh and selected ingredients and baked in a wood-burning oven. Talking about pizza, another more economical option is the Massaroca Pizza Drink. The bar-restaurant, shaped like a boat, has tables outdoors with a view to the Bardot Beachfront and serves several pizza varieties.
Their crepes, with a huge variety of fillings, have made it a success for over twenty years. On the menu is the very Brazilian jerked beef and catupiry cream cheese crepe or the classic Alessandro (cheese, ham, tomato and oregano). For dessert, try out the banana with chocolate crunchy bits and vanilla ice cream crepe: unbeatable. And since we're talking about desserts, don't miss out on Café Maré Mansa's pies, like the famous banana with chocolate pie. Brazil’s arguably foremost ice cream parlor, the Mil Frutas, has a branch in Búzios and among their many, many highlights you can find the cheesecake ice cream or the guava paste and cheese ice cream.
After all that, you will have to walk a lot during the day after to burn all the calories...
At Rua das Pedras, every 20 steps bring you a new surprise. If you want to just sit, have a drink and enjoy the beautiful people roaming around, we can suggest two good places: Ponto Bar and the small Captains Bar. They serve a good variety of drinks and offer a front row view of all the action in the street. The traditional Zapata is a great action-filled Mexican spot, usually packed to the rafters on weekends.
Further down the road the Anexo's Bar caters to a different style, with lounge style chairs facing the ocean. Order the house draft beer or drinks and caipirinhas (vodka or local cachaça plus a variety of fruits, the classic one being lemon). To dance, don't miss Privilege nightclub: During holidays, the party goes all night long, guaranteed.
If you are into live shows, Pátio Havana houses jazz, blues and fine Brazilian music shows...
Surrounded by hills with brisk plant life, Buzios is a place where you can enjoy nature. At the Emerências Reserve, you'll find untouched rainforest, with exotic plants, bromeliads and even the last golden tamarin monkeys in the area.
At the Tauá Reserve, you can see over 300 species of butterflies and 60 types of birds.
Búzios now has two APAs (Environmental Protection Areas) in its territory. Azeda Beach was recently committed as an APA and its entire region can only have, at most, 3% of the area as buildings. The Pau Brasil APA is a larger area that goes from Tucuns Beach in Búzios all the way to Cabo Frio. The area is the largest and most important pau-brasil (Brazil hardwood) reserve in the state.
Shopping
Strolling down Rua das Pedras, you can enjoy the looks of the passers-by and why not, do some shopping. Shopping in Búzios is fun. From small traditional art shops to sophisticated larger shops, all carry a variety of products. The stores show beautiful, original and attractively priced items from the Brazilian Northeast, crafts from other places in Brazil and from foreign countries. You can also order products specially.
Art in Búzios
Buzios has several galleries where local and foreign artists show their work, thanks in part to strong tax incentives. The foreigners are in larger number – like many others, they love the town’s environment and end up moving in. At Rua das Pedras, there is a small gallery called Galeria das Artes (Arts Gallery), which features several artists and permanent displays. You can look at (and eventually buy) oil paintings, bronze sculptures and several other types of art.