Blumenau

Introduction

Blumenau sits in the Vale do Itajaí, in the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil's South Region. It lies about 130 km from Florianópolis, the state capital, which makes it a feasible stop on a wider trip through southern Brazil.

Before you go

Blumenau's character comes from its German immigrant roots: settlers arrived in the late 19th century, and the culture that developed here is distinctly different from the common image of Brazil. Italians form the second largest ethnic group, and the city sits in the Itajaí Valley on the shores of the Itajaí-Açu river. The terrain that greeted those first settlers was rugged, which pushed the region toward industry rather than the farming colony originally intended.

Time your visit around the Oktoberfest, held every October and drawing visitors from far and wide over its 16 or 17 days. Be aware that the city has a history of major floods, including severe ones in the 1980s and another at the end of 2008 that left streets full of water, mud and landslides. Blumenau is generally a safe city, but keep an eye on your belongings on buses and downtown; the busy Rua XV de Novembro is monitored by cameras. If you're driving, take care on the BR-470.

Getting there

Blumenau is easy to reach by bus, with several interstate companies running regular services to the city and the surrounding region. A trip from São Paulo takes roughly ten hours. The bus station operates around the clock and has showers, bathrooms and a diner, though these facilities are old and dirty and only snacks are available; the station itself is not in a safe area. From there, urban buses connect to the PROEB (downtown) and Fortaleza (neighborhood) terminals, and taxis are available to take you downtown. Companies serving the station include Auto Viação Catarinense, Empresa Nossa Senhora da Penha and Empresa União Transportes.

By air, the nearest airport is Ministro Victor Konder International Airport, 59 km away in Navegantes, with flights only from São Paulo and Porto Alegre; buses run from the airport to downtown Blumenau, and GOL Linhas Aéreas also provides free buses for its customers. It may be easier to find flights into Santa Catarina through the Aeroporto Internacional Hercílio Luz in Florianópolis, but from there you must take a bus or taxi to Florianópolis Bus Station and then a bus to Blumenau. Alternatively, fly to Curitiba airport in São José dos Pinhais and take a Catarinense bus directly, without going to Curitiba's central bus station; you can reach the bus point called 'Pinherão' in the center of São José dos Pinhais on foot in about 30 minutes or by taxi. If you are coming by car, the main coastal road is BR-101, but it does not lead into Blumenau directly. You must use either BR-470, which is very dangerous, or SC-470, known as Rodovia Governador Jorge Lacerda, which passes through Itajaí, Ilhota and Gaspar; it is not as fast as BR-470 but is much safer, with fewer trucks and better lighting at night. Another option is SC-486 to Brusque, and from there to Gaspar and Blumenau. From the west (Western Santa Catarina, Northern Rio Grande do Sul, Southwestern Parana, Argentina or Paraguay), take highway BR-282, and after Lages turn off to Otacilio Costa, which eventually brings you to BR-470; take it east towards Rio do Sul and on to Blumenau.

Getting around

Blumenau sits in a valley, and that geography shapes how you get around. The historic centre is compact and largely flat, so walking is the best way to see it: Rua XV de Novembro, the half-timbered buildings, the Beer Museum and the main restaurants and shops all sit within a comfortable walking radius, and Parque Vila Germânica is walkable from a well-placed central base. Timing matters, though. Walking downtown is pleasant from April to December, but summer is extremely hot and there is little shade, so avoid long walks in the middle of the day; summer rain is common but usually arrives in the late afternoon, so it rarely disrupts a morning or early afternoon stroll. Outside the centre expect challenging slopes, and take care on sidewalks in the neighbourhoods, which are generally in worse condition than those downtown.

• By bus: The city bus system is one of the more efficient in Brazil and is the main public transport option. It is run by SETERB and organised around six terminals: Garcia in the south, Fonte in the centre-south, Velha in the west, Aterro in the northwest, Fortaleza in the northeast and PROEB in the centre-north. Transfers between buses inside the terminals cost nothing extra, so you can cross town on a single fare. Standard buses are yellow and light blue; you pay when you board or at the terminals. A separate fleet of red buses serves mostly downtown and extends a little further north and south, with air conditioning and more comfortable seats. Red buses do not stop at regular bus stops, only at the Garcia and PROEB terminals, so signal with your arm when you see one coming; their fare is a bit higher. Service works well on the main corridors, especially the centre-to-Vila-Germânica axis, but frequency drops sharply once you leave the main lines. During Oktoberfest, buses run extended hours on event days.
• To Pomerode: Hourly buses to the nearby town of Pomerode, home of the annual Festa Pomerana, can be caught on Rua Sete de Setembro, and also near the Aterro terminal further along on the same side of the road. The last bus back leaves in the evening and can be caught at one of the bus stops along Pomerode's main road. Taxi drivers may offer to take tourists to Pomerode; avoid this, as it is an avoidably expensive trip.
• By taxi and app: Taxis are expensive, and a short downtown ride can cost far more than the equivalent trip by app, particularly in traffic or at night. If you do take a taxi, negotiate the price in advance. Ride-hailing is the more practical option, with both Uber and 99 operating reliably across the city. During Oktoberfest peak hours, expect longer waits and surge pricing, so build in extra time or walk instead.
• By car: Blumenau is not an easy city to drive in. Streets are irregular, neighbourhood signage is sparse, and even locals get lost, so plan on navigating with a maps app. Downtown, three main parallel streets carry most of the traffic: Avenida Presidente Castelo Branco (known as Beira-Rio), Rua XV de Novembro and Rua 7 de Setembro. They get busy at rush hour, though traffic is not chaotic overall. Watch for speed reducers and red-light cameras. A car is worthwhile mainly for outlying craft breweries and day trips into the surrounding Vale Europeu region, such as Pomerode, Gaspar and Timbó, where public transport outside the main corridors is thin. It is not useful in the centre, where walking is faster and cheaper.

During Oktoberfest, held every October, traffic swells, parking near Vila Germânica becomes expensive and scarce, and sections of Rua XV de Novembro close on parade days, rerouting taxis. The most reliable approach is to walk or use app cars, and to stay within walking distance of the park or Rua XV de Novembro.

Where to stay

Except during Oktoberfest, rooms in Blumenau are plentiful and it is a buyer's market, so you can afford to wait until you arrive and choose on the spot. Booking through search engines and hotel portals tends to turn up double rooms at inflated rates, no better in quality than the cheaper places, aimed at visitors unfamiliar with the area. Once in town you will find hotels everywhere, many offering double rooms with breakfast, cable TV and a private bathroom. A free tourist magazine listing hotels with their prices and addresses is available at the Blumenau Tourism Hotel next to the rodoviário, though the building itself is overpriced and shabby.

For budget stays, Hostel Lumaria on Rua Cuba is a simple hostel with dorms and private rooms, free wifi, and is owned and operated by a local couple. Blu Hostel on Rua Guilherme Butzke Senior in Velha has a swimming pool, outdoor dining area, air conditioning, parking and free wifi, and you can message the owners via Google Maps. Two hotels recommended for price, comfort and quality, both in the Centro, are Hotel Danubio on Rua São Paulo and Hotel Hermann on Rua Marechal Floriano Peixoto.

Food & drink

Blumenau punches above its weight for a small city, with Chinese, Japanese, Italian and, of course, German restaurants, plus fast-food chains in the shopping mall. Beyond German cooking, the city's real strength is its sweets: cakes for every taste and Cafés Coloniais (Colonial Lunches). In restaurants, especially the cheaper ones, don't expect much English from the staff; German may get you further.

• Budget: Gutes Essen (Velha) is a cheap, clean all-you-can-eat spot that serves feijoada on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the colder months. Blu Lanches is a diner known for its sandwiches and mayonnaise, filling up before the clubs open and especially on Sundays, when people linger by their cars with beer. Churrascaria Adelaide, across from Vila Germânica, looks unassuming but serves great meat cheaply.
• Medium: Sabor Imperial is a downtown all-you-can-eat worth trying for its Strogonoff. Pizzaria Don Peppone opens only at night and is known for its pizza (ask for less cheese if you prefer), plus superb lasagna and other international dishes. Churrascaria Tiefensee is a traditional spot serving meat on dishes, with an aviary in the middle of the restaurant. For Asian food, Restaurante Chinês is one of the city's only two authentic Chinese restaurants, while Miyoshi offers a fresh sushi and sashimi buffet, hot dishes, steak and fries for kids, and a much-praised Petit Gateau. Nakirimoto Sushi Bar serves Chinese and Japanese food, with delivery. Chef Waldemar is a delivery-only option with strong international cuisine.
• Splurge: Churrascaria Ataliba is probably the best espeto corrido in the city, with a buffet of cheese, ham and sushi. Restaurante Frohsinn, perched on a hill with a sweeping view, serves German hybrid dishes; try the "Marreco com repolho roxo" (duck with cabbage). Be aware the Couverto starter the waiters offer is not free, and a 10% service charge is added. Moinho do Vale, a rebuilt windmill beside the Itajaí-Açu river, is now an international restaurant and bar with a large deck, good for a happy hour, with menus in English, German and Portuguese.

Blumenau calls itself the "Brazilian beer capital". Alongside the traditional Oktoberfest in October, it has a few microbreweries: Eisenbahn is the most famous and the only one bottling its beer, with ten varieties (including Pilsen, Dunkel, Pale Ale, Weizenbier and Rauchbier) sold in major cities nationwide. Bierland and Unser Bier are also available on tap in some bars and restaurants, and all are highly recommended if you want to taste Blumenau.

What to see and do

Blumenau's sights cluster around its German-style architecture and its riverfront. Walk Rua XV de Novembro, one of the country's most attractive streets, reurbanized in 2000 but still lined with some original 19th-century buildings; it is busy and crowded by day, though it empties out over the Christmas and New Year period when locals head for the beaches. At the end of Avenida Beira-Rio stands the Aldo Pereira de Andrade Bridge, known as the Ponte de Ferro, originally built for the railway, closed for decades, then reopened to cars in the 1990s — cross it for a spectacular view of the city. Nearby on Beira-Rio is the Castelinho da Havan, or Moelmann, a German-style landmark that has housed a department store, the tourism office and expositions, and now holds a department store with a balcony bar upstairs and a pub in what was once a dungeon. The Praça Hercílio Luz, where the first settlers arrived, is among the city's most pleasant spots: visit the Beer Museum to see how beer is brewed, find the monument to Brazilian soldiers of World War II, and walk down to the river shore for a view of downtown from below — capybaras are commonly seen here and are gentle. Across the street is the old city hall, and at night the brick building holds a beer pub, the Biergarten.

• Prefeitura Municipal de Blumenau — a German-style city hall from the early 1980s, with an old locomotive in its gardens that children play on and a grass clock nearby.
• Teatro Carlos Gomes — built in 1939, the city's only theatre, with a façade and gardens reformed in 2006; you may catch plays with well-known Brazilian actors.
• Vila Germânica — a street of German-style houses selling everything from souvenirs to hot dogs, plus a timber building from 2006 that hosts a restaurant; this is where Oktoberfest takes place.
• Museu da Família Colonial — the city's first and oldest house, from 1858, turned into a museum in 1997, displaying furniture of founder Bruno Otto Hermann Blumenau and his family alongside items from its last resident.
• São Paulo Apóstolo Cathedral — the city's largest church, in the middle of downtown near Moelmann, opened in 1956 and made a cathedral in the early 2000s; its 45-metre stone tower is visible from almost everywhere downtown, and its modern architecture is worth a look.
• Ponte Lauro Müller — the Ponte do Salto, built in 1913, rebuilt after it fell in 1982 and reformed again in 2002; it is the only roofed bridge in the city.
• Museu da Água — in Boa Vista, showing water treatment alongside historical pictures of the city, and offering the nicest viewpoint in town over downtown and across the river to Velha and Ponta Aguda.

Time your visit for October if you can, when Oktoberfest takes over. The party began in 1983 and draws crowds from across the country and other Mercosur nations; over its 17 days there is a traditional parade along Rua XV de Novembro every Wednesday and Sunday, and every night people gather to party at Vila Germânica. Most of the best and biggest local breweries set up stands, serving food such as stuffed potatoes and X Alemão, and if the German music inside wears you out, there is an electronic tent outside.

When to go

Blumenau has a warm, humid subtropical climate, so plan around heat and moisture rather than sharp seasonal swings. Summers are hot and humid, and you should expect heat and humidity throughout the season. Winters are mild by comparison, with temperatures averaging around 16, so cold-weather gear is rarely necessary.

Snow is rare here, though it has occurred: on July 23, 2013, the downtown saw a snow-rain mix while higher neighbourhoods had accumulating snow. If you are chasing that rarity, winter is your only window, but do not count on it.

Three days in Blumenau

Day one: Base yourself in Blumenau, the main city of the Itajaí Valley in Santa Catarina, in Brazil's South Region. The city's character is strongly German, and you can see it in the architecture and the food. Start with a walk along Rua XV de Novembro, the central street where much of the historic centre is found. In the evening, eat in the German style that gives Blumenau its reputation.

Day two: If your visit falls in October, the Oktoberfest takes over the city, and you can spend the day and evening at the festival. Otherwise, use the day to explore the wider Vale do Itajaí and the places along the Itajaí-Açu river. The valley's mix of German and Italian heritage shows in its towns and its cooking.

Day three: Travel onward or make a day trip. Florianópolis, the state capital, is reachable via the Aeroporto Internacional Hercílio Luz and its bus station. Navegantes, near Penha, is served by Ministro Victor Konder International Airport. Long-distance buses connect the region, with companies such as Auto Viação Catarinense, Empresa Nossa Senhora da Penha, and Empresa União Transportes, linking Blumenau with São Paulo, Curitiba, Porto Alegre and Fortaleza. GOL Linhas Aéreas flies into the region's airports.