Lontras

Day Trips

Arrive in Lontras and settle into a cozy pousada nestled among eucalyptus trees. Meet your host family over fresh pão de queijo and strong café. Listen as they share stories about the town's founding and daily rhythms.

Stroll through the central plaza and visit the local church with its simple architecture and serene atmosphere. Chat with market vendors selling homemade cheeses, corn cakes, and seasonal fruits. Feel the warmth of community as children play and neighbors gather under the jacaranda trees.

Join a communal dinner featuring feijoada with slow-cooked beans and pork accompanied by lively forró melodies. Share laughter around a wooden table under string lights, sampling cachaça-infused desserts. End the night with stargazing on the pousada terrace, breathing in the cool mountain air.

Visit the unique blacksmith museum where age-worn tools and iron sculptures tell tales of Lontras’s industrial past. Watch a demonstration of traditional forging techniques and feel the heat of the forge on your face. Handle raw metal with the guidance of a skilled blacksmith, creating a small souvenir nail to take home.

Head to a nearby workshop specializing in leathercraft to learn how local artisans hand-stitch belts and wallets from rawhide. Select your own piece of leather and mark it with simple patterns inspired by regional flora. Discover how sustainable production methods honor both craft and environment.

Return to town for a tapas-style dinner featuring cassava chips, smoked queijo coalho, and honey-drizzled banana. Listen to an artisan-led story circle, where elders recount legends of the Blacksmith of Lontras. Sip herbal tea infused with lemongrass under the soft glow of lanterns.

Journey to a coffee hacienda perched on a green hillside overlooking the valley below. Participate in the harvest, carefully picking ripe red cherries and learning to distinguish quality beans by color and aroma. Feel the sun warm your back as you work alongside local farmers sharing centuries-old secrets.

Head to the processing mill to watch beans washed, dried, and hulled under expert supervision. Try your hand at roasting small batches of green beans over an open flame, inhaling the rising fragrance. Cup several brews in a tasting session that highlights subtle notes of chocolate, citrus, and spice.

Gather on a wooden deck as twilight settles, sipping freshly brewed coffee while the sky transforms in shades of pink and purple. Share stories with your hosts about the history of coffee cultivation in southern Brazil. Enjoy a simple dinner of homemade pão italiano and locally churned butter.

Set out early on a guided hike through Atlantic Forest trails rich with ferns and bromeliads. Listen to the calls of toucans and woodpeckers echoing in the canopy above. Reach a secluded waterfall where mist cools your skin and you dip into crystal-clear pools.

Enjoy a riverside picnic of empadas, fresh fruit, and homemade juices before swimming in the shaded river bends. Wade upstream to explore hidden rock pools, feeling the smooth stones underfoot. Learn about the region’s flora from a naturalist who points out medicinal plants along the riverbanks.

Return to your lodge to freshen up before a laid-back barbecue featuring locally sourced trout from the nearby streams. Gather around a fire pit as the stars emerge, roasting marshmallows and listening to the distant roar of night insects. Drift to sleep to the gentle chorus of frogs and cicadas.

Stroll through the bustling weekend market, where stalls overflow with heirloom tomatoes, tropical fruits, and artisanal cheeses. Sample caldo de cana pressed from fresh sugarcane and pastel filled with creamy catupiry. Engage in friendly haggling with vendors proud to share their family recipes.

Join a cooking class led by a local chef in a restored colonial house kitchen. Learn to prepare traditional receitas such as arroz carreteiro and bolo de fubá from scratch, using ingredients purchased at the market. Feast on your creations paired with a glass of guaraná soda or local craft beer.

Attend a communal dining experience in an open-air courtyard adorned with hanging lights. Watch a folk dance troupe perform while enjoying small plates of pamonha and savory pork ragu. End the evening with a tasting of artisanal chocolates infused with regional fruits and spices.

Paddle along the gentle currents of the Furnas River as mist rises from the glassy surface at dawn. Navigate through flowering water lilies and past ancient araucaria pines lining the banks. Spot kingfishers diving for breakfast fish in the clear water.

Beached on a sandy shore, unpack a lunch of smoked fish, crunchy cassava chips, and homemade lemonade. Rest beneath a canopy of native trees and listen to the soothing flow of water. Join your guide for a short forest walk to discover hidden bird nests and rare orchids.

Return your kayak to the rustic boathouse and head to a nearby farm where a wood-fired pizza is waiting. Share stories of the day’s adventures around a long communal table lit by candle lanterns. Taste a dessert of grilled pineapple drizzled with local honey as fireflies dance in the dark.

Rise before the sun to explore a private conservation reserve famed for its endemic bird populations. Traverse soft trails in silence, binoculars in hand, as you watch colorful tanagers, toucanets, and the elusive vina fritillary. Your naturalist guide points out subtle behaviors and nesting sites.

Take a break at a forest observation tower, enjoying a snack of freshly made tapioca crepes and berry jam. Scan the treetops for raptors riding thermal currents overhead. Learn about community-led efforts to protect migratory routes and replant native species.

Enjoy a quiet dinner in a glass-walled treehouse overlooking the forest canopy at dusk. Sample dishes prepared with foraged mushrooms and wild herbs, paired with a tart jabuticaba wine. Drift to sleep to the distant hoot of owls and the rustle of nocturnal creatures.

Visit an organic farm practicing agroecology principles to cultivate papaya, avocado, and citrus without chemical inputs. Walk through terraced gardens alive with compost worms and pollinator-friendly flowers. Engage in hands-on planting of native seedlings under the guidance of a local agronomist.

Help harvest ripe fruits in the orchard, sampling passionfruit and guava directly from the branches. Participate in a juice-pressing workshop, mixing flavors and learning preservation techniques. Discuss sustainable land management strategies that benefit both the environment and the rural economy.

Dine family-style under an open-air pavilion, enjoying a vibrant salad of orchard greens tossed with fresh fruit vinaigrette. Sip hibiscus iced tea as you exchange ideas about supporting community-supported agriculture. Leave with a small basket of freshly picked organic produce.

Awaken before dawn to a yoga session on a hilltop overlooking the misty valleys of Lontras. Flow through sun salutations as the horizon blazes with orange and gold. Savor the tranquility and connect your breath to the rhythm of nature.

Reward your practice with a nourishing brunch of smoothie bowls, granola, and local honey served in a wooden pavilion. Spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing with a guided meditation or enjoying a restorative massage infused with regional essential oils. Take time to journal while seated on a sunlit deck.

Gather for a light dinner of soup de legumes and wholegrain bread as the sky darkens into deep indigo. Share reflections on the day’s inner journey around a crackling fire pit. Conclude with a silent star-gazing circle, soaking in the galaxy above.

Travel to a traditional fazenda (ranch) where generations of one family have raised cattle and grown crops. Join the morning chores feeding poultry and collecting fresh eggs before breakfast. Enjoy a hearty country meal of scrambled eggs, cornmeal cakes, and local coffee.

Take part in a friendly gaucho demonstration: learn the basics of lasso handling, saddling a horse, and riding across rolling pastures. End with a picnic of cheese bread and homemade dulce de leite by a tranquil pond. Share laughs with your hosts as you swap travel tales.

Celebrate your final night with a festive barbecue featuring churrasco-style grilled meats and fresh vegetable skewers. Dance barefoot under the stars to live folk music performed by the ranch family. Seal your visit with a group toast of sweet cachaça and promises to return.