Located on the region with of most dynamic economy on Brazil, distant only one hour by airplane from major Brazilian cities – like São Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Brasilia - the city Rio de Janeiro has ports, airports, roads and railroads connecting it to all country – to South America and to the world.

Known as its natural beauties and its intense cultural movement, the tourist activity on Rio de Janeiro is supported by a great number of hotels, convention centers and fairs that every year hosts a greater number of visitors.

Going by the coast, the tourist on Rio de Janeiro can proceed to the south or to the northeast of the country. Going to the South by car, the access is by the road Rio-Santos – a road with 550 kilometers that connects Rio de Janeiro to the Santos city, on the São Paulo State. The road has a landscape that mixes plains, mountains and valleys near to a splendorous coast.

Proceeding by the road, soon you get to the São Paulo State and the beaches on Ubatuba, Caraguatatuba, Ilhabela and São Sebastião. On this leg, is one of the most beautiful parts of the northern coastline of São Paulo. Going to the south, you get to a region with long preserved areas of Atlantic Forest. There is the Lagamar, a great strip all long the coast, where is one of the most important conservation units of the Atlantic Forest, including the Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins (Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station) and the Ilha do Cardoso (Cardoso Island).

Among the beaches on the South, one of the most important attractions is on the Santa Catarina State. Florianópolis, its capital, is divided into two parts – one continental part and the other one on the island of Santa Catarina, where it’s referenced as "Floripa". Enchant of the tourists, the island has more than 40 beaches, including Joaquina, where one of the most competitive surfing championship on the country and on the global circuit occurs.

Santa Catarina also has beaches to those who want a cheerful atmosphere (Camboriú), diving (on the peninsula where are Porto Belo and Bombinhas) and history (São Francisco do Sul), with buildings from the XVIII and XIX centuries, besides beaches with white sand and boat sailings by the bay. Now going back to Rio de Janeiro and proceeding to the Northeast, one first tourist place is on the region of Lakes, on the so called Costa do Sol, where are Búzios and Saquarema, one of the best places for surfing. More to the north is the Espírito Santo State, which has its major tourist pole on Guarapari, city with monazitic sands and more than 20 beaches bathed by transparent water.

Proceeding to the Northeast, you get to Bahia, entry gate to one of the regions where the coastline is particularly charming, with beaches and islands formatting a scenery of dreams. At the edge of the sea on Bahia, is the Monte Pascoal, first place seen by the Portuguese explorers in 1500, located on the so called Quadrilátero do Descobrimento (Discovering Quadrangle) – formed by Trancoso, Arraial da Ajuda, Porto Seguro (second tourist pole of the Brazilian northeast, only behind of Salvador) and Santa Cruz Cabrália.

Five centuries ago Portuguese were amazed with the natural beauty of the region, but now the places preserve the same enchant of the past on the beaches on nearby, enchants described by Pero Vaz de Caminha in this Carta da Descoberta (Discovery Letter).

The coastline on Bahia has other attractions. The Parque Nacional Marinho de Abrolhos (National Marine Park Abrolhos), for example, where the divers are enchanted with big corals; the cities of the cacao cycle, like Ilhéus, located on a region with almost desert beaches, like Camamu and Barra Grande; Morro de São Paulo, thorps on the island Tinharé, where you get by boat from the city Valença and where the calm sea forms natural pools and the beaches are almost desert; Itaparica, island where live together one of the major hotel complexes on the country and the tranquility of thorps, where the time seems not to pass. And, of course, Salvador, Bahia’s capital, where the beaches with white sand mix to the buildings and to the colonial architecture of the first Brazilian capital, to the joy that prevails the whole year, to the musicality, to the mysticism and to the religiosity, characteristics of the baianos (people born in Bahia). Going from Salvador to the north, it’s possible to schedule a programme by car by the Linha Verde (Green Line), way that connects Bahia to the Sergipe State. It’s a road of 142 kilometers, well signalized, bordering the coast. On the trip, the visitor will see immense coconut plantations, lakes, waterfalls on Praia do Forte (Forte Beach), besides beaches like Imbassaí, Porto Sauípe, Sabaúma, Baixio, Sítio and Mangue Seco, final point of the Linha Verde and where you only can get by boat, from the city Pontal. Aracaju, capital of the small State Sergipe, is a metropolis with enchants of a province, that offers beaches and regional craftsmanship in ceramics, leather and wood.

On Alagoas, near State of Sergipe, the visitor will commonly see natural pools on the sea of green water. Besides the capital, Maceió, with beautiful beaches, on Alagoas are the beach cities Coruripe, Barra de São Miguel and Marechal Deodoro, the later with the very frequented beach Francês. To those who want tranquility, one option is the fishermen colony on Barra de Santo Antônio.

The next stop is on the Pernambuco State, where one of the most visited beaches is Porto de Galinhas, with natural pools and blue water, good for diving. The capital, Recife, with channels, is bathed by the beach Boa Viagem, urban and very frequented. Visiting Pernambuco, the visitor can’t miss the opportunity of going to Olinda, historical city that Unesco designated as Cultural Patrimony of the Humanity, and to the beaches of the Itamaracá island. With a coastline of 230 kilometers long, the Paraíba State also has very beautiful beaches. On Conde, a small city near to the capital, João Pessoa, is Tambaba, the first naturalist beach on the Northeast. From Cabedelo, city located on the mouth of the river Paraíba, depart strolls to the fluvial beach Jacaré and to the island Areia Vermelha, where a nature phenomenon – a vast sandbank arising from the water – can be appreciated on December and January. On the capital, besides good beaches, to those to like waking up very early on the morning can’t miss the opportunity of going to the Ponta do Seixas, first place where the sun shines on Brazil.

The tourist enjoys sun, lakes, beaches, typical cookery and giant dunes on Rio Grande do Norte. Among a lot of attractions, is Tibau do Sul, whose beaches has crags and reefs; Natal, the capital of the State; Genipabu, with immense dune; and the Lagoa de Jacumã (Jacumã Lake), marked by an exotic landscape. Farther on, the leg of the Brazilian coastline that connects the capitals of Ceará and Maranhão presents kilometers of dunes, which change place according to the wind and act as a protection to the places where the visitor you can get to on a 4 wheel drive car. It’s the case, for example, of Jericoacoara – or Jeri, as it’s known – beach to the west of Fortaleza, considered as one of the most beautiful on the world because of its rare and diversified landscape.

Ceará has hundreds of long beaches. Among the best options are the most visited Porto das Dunas, with an aquatic complex, the Futuro beach and the not very visited beaches, like Morro Branco, on Beberibe. Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará, is a metropolis with a lot of hotels and restaurants (lobster is the typical dish), and also has good beaches. To the east of the capital is one of the most known beaches on the State: Canoa Quebrada. Its inhabitants say that the visitor must spend at least 24 hours on Canoa Quebrada, being with sun and moon, symbols of the calm thorp. Considered as the "capital of the Brazilian reggae", São Luís, on Maranhão, transform its beaches in dancing floors at night. The border is long, and there are both urban and semi-wild beaches.

Less than one hour by boat from the capital is Alcântara, with attractive colonial ruins, beaches and ecological ecologic recesses, like the islands Cajual e Livramento. Another attraction on Maranhão is the Parque Estadual dos Lençóis Maranhenses (Lençóis Maranhenses Estadual Park), formed by 270 km2 of sand. It’s a rare geological formation, with dunes up to 40 meters high and colorful lakes, formed by the rains.