DAZZLING BRAZIL Under 40s favourite

Welcome to Brazil! You’ll be picked up at São Paulo International Airport (GRU) and transferred to our hotel for the evening. Depending on your time of arrival, you’ll have some time to explore São Paulo before meeting the group and our Local Insider for dinner and drinks.

Today is dedicated to exploring Brazil’s most populous city, from its trendiest areas to Oscar Niemeyer’s architectural masterpieces. We’ll start off in Vila Madalena, a bohemian neighbourhood known for its artistic flair, expressed via galleries, fashion stores and a street art-adorned set of alleyways known as Batman's Alley. We’ll go on to explore leafy Jardins en route to Ibirapuera Park, a spectacular city greenspace that locals and tourists alike use to escape the urban jungle. It’s also home to a number of architectural masterpieces, including the Museum of Modern Art and Ibirapuera Auditorium. We’ll continue to the city’s historical centre, where you’ll get to see São Paulo Cathedral, Teatro Municipal and Pátio do Colégio. Finally we head to Paulista Avenue, home to the Museum of Art and Trianon Park. The tour ends around 5pm, so if you have a favourite neighbourhood you can return there for the evening!

It’s an early start this morning as we transfer to Paraty, a coastal town spectacularly located in the countryside between São Paulo and Rio. We’ll check-in to our hotel early in the afternoon, with a little time to refresh and stretch your legs before a late afternoon historical tour of Paraty Village. Our Local Insider will show you the most beautiful nooks and crannies of this Unesco World Heritage Site, as we wander along quaint cobblestone streets, lined with a charmingly multicoloured array of colonial architecture – beautiful remnants of the area’s difficult past, and a testament to the rich contemporary culture that has survived. The evening is yours to explore further – we recommend finding the most unassuming seafood restaurant imaginable and gorging on delicious local delicacies.

Top tip – wear a swimsuit under your clothes today, and bring a towel too, because you’re going to want to spend some time in the crystalline waters of Paraty Bay, which you’ll get to explore on a half-day boat tour. Paraty is surrounded by an abundance of rainforest vegetation, and the water is ideal for swimming and snorkeling (there’ll be equipment onboard). We’ll make island stops along the way, including one stop for a traditional Brazilian barbecued lunch. Spend the rest of the day chilling in the pool garden of our cosy accommodation, or get to know Paraty further.

You can swap the boat for a Jeep this morning, on an optional tour that will help us explore Paraty’s vast Atlantic Forest, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Most of the journey will be on paved road, but the Jeep comes into its own on the final stretch, a dirt track perfect for a bit of off-road excitement. Discover cascading waterfalls, natural pools and an array of wildlife, before our afternoon transfer to Rio de Janeiro. Our hotel is in the Arpoador area, near Ipanema beach, so we won’t have to walk far to enjoy the most iconic sunset view in all of Rio – the Arpoador stones, jutting out from the beach to provide panoramic views of the cities coast – there really isn’t a better introduction to this beautiful, beachy metropolis.

This morning is all about making the most of Rio’s famous stretches of sand. Enjoy Ipanema and the Copacabana at your own leisure – chill on the beach, go for a swim or join in on the chance to improve your beach volleyball skills. In the afternoon we’ll head on a tour of Sugarloaf Mountain, starting in the laid-back neighbourhood of Urca and taking a moment to soak it all in at Mureta da Urca, a waterside wall where locals convene for a beer and a chat as the sun goes down, before heading to our sunset spot, Clássico Beach Club, which sits high atop the mountain, boasting some of the best views in all of Rio. Enjoy a cocktail or two as we watch the sun go down over Christ the Redeemer and Guanabara Bay. Can you think of a better way to spend an evening?

Fill up on breakfast, because we have a full day of exploring Rio ahead. First we’ll head to Corcovado Mountain to visit the city’s most famous landmark, Christ the Redeemer. Next up is a walking tour of Olympic Boulevard, the reinvigorated port district now lined with food trucks and epic works of street art, covering whole warehouses with explosions of Brazilian colour. The Carnaval Experience tour will dive deep into the iconic event that brings thousands of musicians, choreographers and samba dancers together. You’ll go backstage at one of the leading samba schools, where you’ll learn more about samba history, try on a traditional costume yourself and have a caipirinha, Brazil’s national cocktail. The rest of the evening will be free time – perhaps a few more caipirinha’s are on the cards?

Our last full day starts with a visit to Tijuca Forest, the largest urban forest on Earth. Here we’ll stop at Taunay Falls and head, either by car or on foot, to Pedra Bonita, for breathless views of the city, and of adrenaline-chasing hang gliders jumping from the rocks. After lunch we’ll continue with a visit to Rio’s nearby Botanical Garden, one of the finest of its kind in the world. It’s a huge space at the foot of Corcovado Mountain, with rare flora, tropical birds, fish and mammals from Brazil and around the world calling it home. Return to the hotel via São Conrado neighborhood and gather one last time for a farewell dinner, to raise a glass to Brazil and look back at eight days of shared memory-making.

And so our time in Brazil has come to an end. Make the most of one last breakfast at the hotel and, depending on your flight time, either take our transfer straight to the airport or spend a little extra time in Rio first.