Angra dos Reis and its islands

ANGRA DOS REIS

Try to avoid leaving from outlying cities by plane! You'll save a boatload of money. Reach the international airports by train or other means of transport.

Unfortunately the biggest cost of a trip abroad is the airfare.

Planning a trip to Brazil during our summer period means spending around 1,200 to 1,500 euros. If you choose to leave from 1st September onwards you save at least 25%.

I return to Angra dos Reis after two years away from Brazil, but I find it more beautiful than usual. Yes, because Angra dos Reis is like a beautiful woman whom the passing of time makes even more fascinating.

Reaching Angra dos Reis is very easy.

It lies south of Rio, about 160 km from it. Once you arrive in Rio you have to get to the Rodoviaria bus station and take a bus to Angra dos Reis. The connections are very good. Usually a bus leaves every 40 minutes for almost all destinations, and the journey is comfortable too. There's even room between the seats to cross your legs. The journey takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes and the ticket is cheap, about 25 reais (9.50 euros).

Once you arrive in Angra dos Reis, at the same station there's a small agency that can tell you where to stay, booking the pousada on the spot, or you can rely on the advice of a local taxi driver, who are very courteous.

Once in Angra dos Reis, I couldn't not go and say hello to my friend Gino, owner of the Pousada Arcobaleno on the praia do Retiro, and stay there for the whole period of my stay in this splendid place.

But the beach of Angra dos Reis is not only this one. There are countless others, like the islands you'll see every day. Angra dos Reis is in fact a large bay with the beauty of 365 islands! Yes, that's right, 365 islands. And the image that has now become the symbol of Angra dos Reis is precisely the 'Botinas islands', to which a legend is attached telling of a pirate who, fleeing from English ships, crashed into this island and thus split it in two.

It's really a must in Angra dos Reis to hire a car to try to see as much as possible, because every beach has its own great charm and each one is more beautiful than the last.