Búzios
Rio de Janeiro State
- Brazil
Endless Charm in a Single Place
Armação de Búzios is located 190 km north from Rio de Janeiro. This former fishermen village became famous when Brigitte Bardot visited it in the 60's and from then on Búzios became a top beach destination.
Búzios boasts places of incredible beauty and is a real exciting village.
Nowadays there are countless restaurants, inns and hotels to choose from. Most visitors are wealth Brazilians or else international tourists. For that single reason, prices in Búzios reach the sky and absolutely everything is too expensive when compared to other cities in Brazil. If you plan an easy-on-the-pocket vacation, forget about Búzios.
Most inns will mention they are located within a walking distance from the sea, but they omit saying that prior to that you need to go up and down a hill. For that reason, many people end up renting booggies or scooters. Both are very expensive, especially the scooters, which are rented for only U$S 8 less than a booggie. I tried to explain that to the Argentine compatriot who was in charge of the car agency, but I failed to make him see that his prices were absurd.
By the way, many businesses are run by Argentines and, as a matter of fact, these are the worst and less customer-focused I have seen. If you'd rather rest without Argentines nearby (as is my case) I recommend you don't go to Búzios, at least not in the high summer season. Argentines are annoying, noisy and careless everywhere I see them and Búzios is not an exception.
Beaches:
Buzios coastline is not only extremely beautiful but also displays a wide variety of beaches to fit every taste and style.
Tartaruga: A diving paradise of crystal clear waters.
Amores and Virgens: Both beaches are completely isolated and difficult to reach. You will need to start at Canto or Tartaruga beach.
Armação: The beach you see at Orla Bardot is nice as a scenery but not appropriate if you want to get into the water.
Ossos: Beautiful and well-located.
Azeda and Azedinha: Two amazing beaches, although you can call yourself lucky if you find somewhere to sit. You will need to take a short footpath which starts at Ossos beach.
João Fernandes and João Fernandinho: The most crowded beaches I saw, also full of Argentines. I only stayed there for a couple of hours and never returned - this is just not my kind of beach. The eating stands along the shore have dollar equivalent prices in their menus.
Brava: The less explored beach, with big waves and lots of surfers.
Olho de Boi: Buzios' naturist beach can only be reached after you go up and down a hill through a steep footpath.
Forno: Fishing and diving activities take place at this beach.
Foca: A quite private, hard-to-reach beach.
Ferradura: Buzios' family beach, with tranquil waters and the possibilty of practising water sports.
Ferradurinha: One of the top beaches in my list. To reach this small paradise start at Geribá.
Geribá: The beach chosen by tourists from Rio de Janeiro. I didn't like very much, because this is the beach that most resembles me the beaches in Argentina: wide shore and lots of waves.
Where to eat: At lunch time, go straight to the buffet-style per kilo restaurants: food is good and prices are reasonable.
At night, fancy restaurants all over Orla Bardot offer waterfront dining combined with an exquisite atmosphere, which can be felt in each detail of design and in the fine music selection.
Traveler's nightmare: Prices: everything in town is too expensive for Brazilian standards (and for mine too).
The crowds of people everywhere you go are sometimes just unbearable. Some beaches are not quite extense and you may not find your place in the sun (at least not during January).
Buses, just like all the buses I know in Brazil, are awful. In my trip back from Búzios to Rio, the company alleged to have no buses with air conditioning system (there were only a few units available per day). To be honest, traveling at 2 pm under a temperature of 40º C is at least a suffocating experience.
Things you should not miss: Be sure to explore all the beaches. They differ a lot from one another and are really worth a visit.
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