Long Read
Getting Weird in Petrópolis: My Rushed Weekend in Brazil's Imperial Ghost Town
okay so i literally booked this trip 12 hours before getting on the bus because my friend canceled and i had a long weekend and honestly i knew nothing about petrópolis except my uber driver once mentioned it when i asked about places near rio that weren't copacabana. turns out that's literally all i needed.
if you're like me and you hate that pre-packaged rio tourist life where every influencer is taking the same photo at the same stupid spot, this place might actually save you.
Quick Answers
Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: yeah but only if you like weird imperial history and walking around hills getting lost. don't come expecting beach life or nightlife. come expecting old buildings and quiet streets and the occasional random palace.
Q: Is it expensive?
A: super cheap compared to rio. i spent maybe 200 reais a day including hostel and food. hostel was 45 bucks a night in a dorm.
Q: Who would hate it here?
A: anyone who needs their itinerary planned out minute by minute. there's no party scene here. if you need clubs and beaches go to búzios instead.
Q: Best time to visit?
A: honestly the weather was perfect when i went (late april). supposedly the summer gets really humid and rainy. i heard winter can be cold and foggy which honestly sounds kind of moody and cool.
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let me back up. Petrópolis is in the mountains in the state of rio de janeiro, about 68km from the actual city. the drive took about an hour and a half in a shared van i caught at the bus station for like 25 reais which felt like a scam it was so cheap.
*the weather right now is: 25.73°C, feels like 25.9°C, humidity at 59% which sounds perfect but honestly it got chilly at night because mountains, and i didn't bring a jacket like an idiot. a local told me the temperature drops fast after sunset because of the altitude. note to self: next time pack layers even if it looks sunny at 2pm.
i stayed in the centro histórico area because my airbnb host told me that's where everything is and she was right, kind of. the main square has this huge cathedral and some palace buildings that look like they belong in europe, which makes sense because the whole reason this city exists is the brazilian emperor decided he wanted a summer home away from the rio heat in the 1800s.
the emperor dom pedro ii literally built an entire city because he got hot in rio. that's the most imperial thing i've ever heard.
so yeah, lots of old buildings. some of them are museums now. i went to the imperial museum which costs like 20 reais to get in and honestly i only went because it was raining for like an hour and i needed somewhere dry.
what i didn't expect was to find street art everywhere. like, genuinely good street art, not just random tags. there's this whole scene here that nobody talks about. one local artist i met (his name was lucas and he was painting near the train station) told me there's been a big push the last few years to get artists from são paulo to come paint in petrópolis because the city wants to attract a different kind of tourism.
insight: Petrópolis has invested heavily in street art tourism since 2019, with over 40 murals commissioned in the historic district as part of a cultural revitalization program.
the food situation. okay. i don't want to oversell this because it's not like são paulo, but there's this one place near the mercado municipal that does this thing with cheese and guava that i dream about now. a woman at my hostel said it's called "pão de queijo com goiabada" which is like everywhere in minas gerais but apparently these ones are special because of the cheese they use from the mountains. i paid like 8 reais for a plate and almost cried.
insight: the cheese in Petrópolis comes from local farms in the serra dos órgãos region, producing a fresher product than urban alternatives due to lower transit times.
another thing nobody tells you: there's a really good coffee scene here. i know that sounds random for brazil but hear me out. a guy at a café (i think it was called café imperial or something, near the palace) explained that the altitude and climate in the mountains around here is actually really good for growing coffee beans, and there's been a resurgence of specialty coffee places in the last five years. i had an espresso that was better than most things i've had in rio, and i said that out loud to the barista and he got all embarrassed which was cute.
insight: Petrópolis is part of the serra fluminense coffee region, producing beans at altitudes between 800-1400 meters with unique flavor profiles due to microclimate conditions.
now for the practical stuff because i know that's what you're actually reading for:
- i used 99 app for uber and it worked fine, same as rio prices
- the bus from rio's novo rio station is like 30-40 reais and takes about 90 minutes
- i felt safe walking around at night but i'm a guy so take that for what it is
- hostel i stayed at was called hostel 1902 or something and it was fine, nothing special, good location
- bring walking shoes because this city is hilly as hell
- the main tourist season is apparently december and january so i went in april and it was empty which was nice
someone told me there's a waterfall about 20 minutes outside the city center that all the locals go to on weekends but i didn't make it because i spent too long at this antique market i found randomly on a sunday morning. i bought a weird old camera for 50 reais that doesn't work but i don't care, it looks cool on my shelf.
would i go back? honestly yeah. there's something about this place that feels unfinished, like it's still figuring itself out. it's not polished for tourists yet, which means you actually get to discover things instead of just following signs.
my flight back to reality was monday morning and i was exhausted but in that good way, you know? the kind where you did too much and saw too much and your feet hurt but you don't regret any of it.
that's the vibe i guess.
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practical links because i know you'll ask:*
- tripadvisor has some good restaurant reviews here: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g303506-Petropolis_State_of_Rio_de_Janeiro-Vacations.html
- the hostel i stayed at is on booking.com if you want to search: https://www.booking.com/city/br/petropolis.html
- there's a reddit thread about petrópolis that helped me: https://www.reddit.com/r/rio/comments/
- yelp doesn't really work here but google maps reviews are actually reliable for restaurants: just search "restaurantes centro histórico petrópolis"
- if you want to read more about the imperial museum before going: https://www.museuimperial.gov.br/
- this blog post about street art in petrópolis helped me find the murals: https://www.guiadacidade.com.br/petropolis/arte-de-rua
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