The island of Florianópolis, object of desire of Argentinians, Uruguayans, Paraguayans as well as thousands of Brazilians (mainly from Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo), is a well-rounded holiday destination that touches on the heavenly in some places. The combination of an excellent quality of life with beautiful beaches and hills make of Floripa, as it is known familiarly, the guarantee of a succesful holiday.

The island is roughly divided in three main regions: the north, where the beaches popular among Argentinians are; the centre, where the capital of the state is found as well as the Lagoa da Conceição; and the south, with beautiful beaches that attract less visitors than their northern counterparts.

WE LIKE THE MOST: the beaches, the gentle nature of the natives, food, landscapes, affordable prices, safety.

WE LIKE THE LEAST: poor infrastructures; it seems hard to believe that a tourist destination that generates so much revenue should have a road network in such a precarious state. Going places during the high season is torture. Getting to some of the beaches, hell. We also profoundly disliked all the building work completed and in progress in environmentally protected areas.

HOW TO GET THERE: by car, bus or plane. The first option is chosen by many Argentinians, Uruguayans and Paraguayans. There are regular bus services from Porto Alegre, Curitiba and São Paulo. GOL, TAM and Varig airlines all fly to Florianópolis airport. As well as numerous charter flights from Argentina and Chile.

CAREFUL WITH: the high season: a sizeable part of the island becomes a gigantic traffic jam; water supply to the northern part of the island becomes a problem too.

FAVORITE PLACES: Campeche island, Campeche beach, the Joaquina dunes, the Lagoa da Conceição

PIECE OF ADVICE:

• around the Lagoa da Conceição, and especially in the part known as Canto da Lagoa, there are numerous restaurants popular among Brazilians where few foreign tourists venture.
• one of the traditional dishes of the island is the seqüência de camarâo, several servings of prawns [shrimps] cooked in different ways, accompanied by fish and crab. It is found all throughout the island, but the most traditional place to eat the seqüência is the Lagoa da Conceição.
• although it is not impossible to travel by public bus throughout the island, it is an exercise that demands quite a lot of patience. If you are in Florianópolis for a short stay, our advice is for you to rent a car. For longer stays, when you will only be visiting one beach per day, you can use the public transportation system.
• crime rates in Florianópolis are lower than in other big Brazilian cities; it doesn’t mean crime doesn’t exist but, in this regard, Florianópolis is much safer than São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro or Recife.
• during the coming weeks we will publish detailed information on the blog on the beaches and places of interest of Florianópolis. Links to the new material will appear here as the entries are published.

ACCOMMODATION: We have full listings of accommodation for Campeche, Canasvieiras and Praia dos Ingleses.

LINKS: Guia Floripa, Visite Floripa.

WEATHER FORECAST: The weather in Florianópolis for the next 10 days

WEATHER: Average temperatures and rainfall in Florianópolis across the year

GOOGLE MAPS: Florianópolis

PHOTO ALBUMS: North (Santo Antônio de Lisboa, Jurerê, Canasvieiras, Brava, Ingleses, Santinho, Barra da Lagoa), Center (Mercado Municipal, Lagoa da Conceição, Praia Mole), South (Armação, Ribeirão da Ilha, Pântano do Sul), Campeche and Campeche island and sandboard in the Joaquina dunes.

OTHER BLOG ENTRIES ON FLORIANÓPOLIS:
- Map of Florianópolis
- Brazil in pictures: Florianópolis
- Florianópolis North: what to do and where to go
- Florianópolis Centre-Lagoa: what to do and where to go
- Florianópolis South: what to do and where to go
- Ilha do Campeche
- bar do Arante, Florianópolis

[Don’t forget to check out the list of other destinations already covered in this blog, here]

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