Rio Grande do Sul Adventures: Iguacu Triple Frontier, Aparados da Serra Canyon, Pampa Ecology, and Serra Gaucha Cycling
The adventure and nature experiences accessible from Porto Alegre include the Iguacu triple frontier, the dramatic Aparados da Serra canyon hikes, the pampas deer and grassland bird ecology of the Campanha, and the developing cycling wine routes of the Serra Gaucha highlands.
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Paraguayan Border: Foz do Iguaçu and the Triple Frontier
The triple frontier of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay at Foz do Iguaçu, accessible from Porto Alegre by flight or long-distance bus, is the most visited border zone in South America, combining the Iguaçu Falls with the Itaipu hydroelectric dam, the shopping tourism of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, and the indigenous Guarani communities of the border zone. The triple frontier is the most concentrated point of the South American travel circuit.
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Rio Grande do Sul Beaches: Torres and Tramandai
The beaches of the Rio Grande do Sul Litoral Norte, while cooler and less tropical than the beaches of Santa Catarina and Bahia, have their own distinctive character in the dark sand, the southern Atlantic swell, and the summer resort culture of the Porto Alegre middle class. Torres, with its basalt rock formations and the dolphin watching, and Tramandai, with its direct bus connection from Porto Alegre and its Lagoa dos Patos access, are the most visited.
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Uruguaiana and the Argentinian Border
Uruguaiana on the Argentine border at the Passo de los Libres crossing is the largest city in the Rio Grande do Sul Campanha region and the main overland crossing between Brazil and Argentina. The border town character of Uruguaiana, with its cattle ranching economy and its cross-border social life, represents the most authentic gaucho frontier environment accessible from Porto Alegre.
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Aparados da Serra: Canyon National Park
Aparados da Serra and Serra Geral national parks, located on the Rio Grande do Sul-Santa Catarina border approximately three hours from Porto Alegre, protect the most dramatic canyon landscape in the south of Brazil: the Canion do Itaimbezinho, a canyon 5.8 kilometers long and up to 720 meters deep cut into the basalt plateau of the Serra Geral, is one of the finest canyon hiking destinations in South America with the Cotovelo and Vértice trails running along the canyon rim.
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Pampas Ecology: The Grassland Biome
The Rio Grande do Sul Pampa, the southernmost extension of the South American grassland that extends through Uruguay and Argentina, is one of the most biodiverse temperate grassland ecosystems in the world and one of the most threatened by the conversion to soy and rice cultivation. The pampas of the Campanha region support populations of the pampas deer, the burrowing owl, the greater rhea, and hundreds of grassland bird species including the endemic pampas finch.
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Cycling Tourism: The Wine Routes
The cycling routes of the Serra Gaucha wine region, which connect the Bento Gonçalves and Vale dos Vinhedos wineries along dedicated cycling paths and rural roads through the vineyard landscape of the Italian immigrant highlands, have become one of the most developed cycling tourism circuits in Brazil, with bicycle rental, accommodation, and the restaurant and wine tasting stop infrastructure supporting a growing peloton of weekend cyclists from Porto Alegre.