Gramado sits at about 830 metres in the Serra Gaucha, two hours north of Porto Alegre, and it is the coldest, wettest and least tropical-feeling town in this entire library's Brazilian coverage. It frosts here. Occasionally it snows.
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THE CLIMATE IS THE REASON TO PACK CAREFULLY AND IT CATCHES ALMOST EVERYONE. Winter runs 5 to 16C with frequent frost and the odd snowfall, which in Brazil is close to unique, and rain falls in every month at around 1,700 millimetres a year. Even in January the evenings cool to the mid-teens. People arrive from Rio in June with a light jacket. Our Brazil travel guide for women covers the country.
THE SECOND THING TO BE STRAIGHT ABOUT IS THAT GRAMADO'S LOOK IS LARGELY CONSTRUCTED. The chalets, the half-timbering and the flower boxes are mostly twentieth-century styling rather than settler building, and the town has leaned deliberately into a Bavarian and Swiss image to sell itself. That is worth knowing and it is not a reason to stay away: the GERMAN AND ITALIAN SETTLEMENT OF THE SERRA IS REAL HISTORY, the food that came with it is real, the hydrangeas and the climate are real, and the town does the manufactured version extremely well. Treat it as a well-made resort rather than a preserved village and it is a good few days.
THE THIRD IS NATAL LUZ, which is the single biggest thing that happens here. From roughly late October to mid-January Gramado runs Brazil's largest Christmas festival: the whole town lit, nightly parades, ticketed shows including a water-and-light spectacle, and hotel prices two to three times the rest of the year. IT IS THE BUSIEST AND MOST EXPENSIVE PERIOD BY A LARGE MARGIN and it is either exactly why you are coming or the months to avoid.
The Town, the Falls and the Valleys
A lake with swan boats, a Gothic church, chocolate on every corner, and a 130 metre waterfall next door.
THE TOWN CENTRE is walkable and is essentially one long main street, AVENIDA BORGES DE MEDEIROS, with the entrance arch at one end, chocolate shops, fondue restaurants and boutiques along it. It is pleasant, busy and unambiguously commercial.
THE IGREJA MATRIZ SAO PEDRO is the town's best building, a 1940s Gothic-style stone church lit at night, with gardens in front. LAGO NEGRO is the set-piece: a small dark lake surrounded by imported pines and hydrangeas, with pedal swan boats, created after a fire cleared the valley. It is as twee as it sounds and it is genuinely lovely in mist.
THE CHOCOLATE IS A REAL LOCAL INDUSTRY rather than a souvenir, dating to the mid-century, and the larger factories run tours. MINI MUNDO, a miniature village, and SNOWLAND, an indoor snow park, are the family attractions, the latter being the only way to guarantee snow.
CANELA IS SEVEN KILOMETRES AWAY and should be treated as part of the same trip rather than a separate destination. It has the stone Catedral de Pedra, and just outside it the PARQUE DO CARACOL, whose CARACOL FALLS drop 131 metres in a single plunge off a basalt lip into forest. There is a viewing platform, a staircase of several hundred steps to the bottom, and an observation tower. It is the finest natural thing in the Serra.
THE VALE DO QUILOMBO and the VALE DOS VINHEDOS are the two valley drives: the first a steep green ravine of smallholdings and colonial houses close to town, the second the wine country around Bento Goncalves, about an hour and a half away, where Brazil's sparkling wine is made and is far better than its reputation abroad.
AND THE GRAMADO FILM FESTIVAL in August is the other time the town fills, with the main street given over to it. It is the most important film festival in Brazil.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Serra, Porto Alegre and the Canyons
A capital two hours down, a wine valley across, and canyons to the north that almost nobody visits.
PORTO ALEGRE is about two hours south and is the arrival point for almost everyone, with the state's main airport, four real seasons and the best city sunsets in Brazil. There is also a small airport at Canela now taking some domestic flights.
THE APARADOS DA SERRA AND SERRA GERAL national parks are the Serra's secret: the ITAIMBEZINHO and FORTALEZA canyons, up to 720 metres deep with waterfalls falling into them, about three hours northeast of Gramado near Cambara do Sul. They are among the most dramatic landscapes in Brazil and get a tiny fraction of Gramado's visitors. FOG CLOSES THE VIEWPOINTS REGULARLY, so allow a spare day if this is the reason you are in the Serra.
THE VALE DOS VINHEDOS at Bento Goncalves is an hour and a half and is a comfortable overnight with cellar visits and a tourist train.
FOR THE REST OF THE COUNTRY: the Florianopolis packing list covers the island capital up the coast, and the Brasilia packing list and Sao Paulo packing list the cities further north.
Getting around: a car is genuinely useful here, because Gramado, Canela, the Caracol park and the valleys are spread out and public transport between them is limited, though there is a frequent bus to Canela. Roads are good. Parking in the centre during Natal Luz is difficult.
When to Go
Autumn and winter for the point of the place. Natal Luz if you want the lights and will pay for them.
A humid subtropical highland climate with real seasons and rain in every month: June to August 5 to 16C with frost, December to February 15 to 26C, and roughly 1,700mm spread through the year.
APRIL TO JUNE IS THE BEST WINDOW and is the one to aim for. Autumn colour in the imported trees, mist in the valleys, cold enough for the fondue and the fireplaces that the town is built around, and before the Natal Luz prices and crowds arrive.
JUNE TO AUGUST is winter and is when Gramado is most itself: frost, occasional snow, hydrangeas gone, every restaurant serving fondue, and the Film Festival in August. It is cold by Brazilian standards and mild by European ones.
LATE OCTOBER TO MID-JANUARY IS NATAL LUZ. The town is spectacular and completely full, shows are ticketed and sell out, and accommodation costs two to three times the usual. Book months ahead or avoid deliberately.
SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER brings the HYDRANGEAS, which flower blue and pink along the roads and are one of the genuine pleasures here, overlapping with the start of Natal Luz.
FEBRUARY AND MARCH are the quietest and warmest, green and wet, with the lowest prices of the year and a town that feels like a normal small place.
Is Gramado Safe for Women Travelers
Among the safest places in Brazil. The cold, the roads and the Caracol steps are the risks.
US State Department travel advisory: the Brazil advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/brazil, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
UK FCDO: there are no advised-against areas in mainland Brazilian cities, and the one place the FCDO advises against all but essential travel is RIVER TRAVEL ON SPECIFIC AMAZON STRETCHES: along the Amazon west of Codajas and east of Belem do Solimoes in Amazonas State, along any part of the Itaquai or Japura rivers, and along the Rio Negro north or west of Barcelos, because of criminal activity in the border country Brazil shares with Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. NOTE THAT BELEM DO SOLIMOES IS A TOWN IN AMAZONAS AND NOT THE CITY OF BELEM IN PARA, which is 1,500km east and is not named. Four areas have their own sections covering ordinary crime rather than advice against travel: RIO DE JANEIRO, SAO PAULO, BRASILIA, where the FCDO names the central bus station area for theft, and NORTH-EAST BRAZIL, where it names theft from hotel and motel rooms and muggings, and advises using taxis after sunset rather than walking and avoiding quiet or deserted areas.
GRAMADO IS A PROSPEROUS SMALL TOURIST TOWN AND IS VERY SAFE. It is one of the wealthiest municipalities in the state, has no favelas, and the economy is entirely built on visitors having a pleasant time. Violent crime against tourists is rare, the main street is busy and lit into the evening, and a woman alone is completely ordinary. The FCDO's national advice about muggings, beach arrastoes and favelas does not describe this place, and the realistic risk is opportunist theft from a car or a cafe table during Natal Luz crowds.
Theft is the realistic risk in Brazil and the FCDO is specific enough to be useful. Robberies are common in many cities and particularly on buses, thieves target mobile phones and the FCDO names the window BETWEEN 4PM AND 9PM, and attackers may be armed. THE ADVICE IS NOT TO RESIST: hand over valuables rather than arguing with someone who may be armed and under the influence. Thefts are especially common on public beaches, including ARRASTOES, where a large group runs through a stretch of beach grabbing everything, so take nothing to the beach you would mind losing and DO NOT GO ON TO CITY BEACHES AFTER DARK. And the FCDO is unambiguous about FAVELAS: avoid all of them, including favela tours marketed to tourists and any accommodation, restaurant or bar advertised as being inside one, and check that a GPS route is not taking you through one, because tourists have been shot after entering by accident.
THE COLD IS THE FIRST GENUINE RISK AND THE ONE PEOPLE ARE UNPREPARED FOR. A damp 7C with wind, in a country most visitors associate with heat, in buildings with limited heating, after arriving from Rio or the northeast. It is not dangerous in itself; it is simply how a trip here gets spent uncomfortable and sometimes ill.
THE CARACOL STAIRCASE is the physical hazard: several hundred steps down to the base of the falls, wet, slick with spray, and a serious climb back in thin mountain air. There is no lift, the return is harder than the descent, and people turn back partway. Decide at the top.
THE ROADS are the third. The Serra's roads are good but steep, winding and often fogbound, and the descent to Porto Alegre includes long grades. FOG IS THE SPECIFIC LOCAL DRIVING HAZARD, settling thickly and quickly on the high ground, and it is also what closes the canyon viewpoints.
Brazil has no reciprocal health agreement with the UK or the United States, so insurance with medical cover and repatriation is essential. Private hospitals in the big cities are genuinely good and expensive and will want payment or an insurance guarantee before treating you; the public SUS system will treat an emergency and is slower and more variable. A farmacia handles minor problems. TAP WATER IS TREATED AND GENERALLY SAFE IN THE MAJOR CITIES including Brasilia, Porto Alegre and Fortaleza, though most Brazilians drink filtered and bottled is universal. DENGUE IS THE REAL HEALTH RISK and Brazil has large annual epidemics, with chikungunya and Zika also present; the mosquito that carries all three bites BY DAY, so repellent is a daytime measure. YELLOW FEVER VACCINATION is recommended for much of the country and some onward countries require a certificate if you have been here, so check before you travel rather than at the border.
Socially this is easy, conservative in a provincial way, and extremely couple-oriented, since Gramado is Brazil's honeymoon town. A woman travelling alone will be the only person in the restaurant not on a date, which is a mild oddity rather than a problem. English is limited and Portuguese or an app helps; a surprising amount of German-descended vocabulary survives in the Serra but the language is Portuguese.
The Gramado Packing List
Proper warm layers, which is the entire point of this list
This is the Brazilian destination that needs winter clothing. Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is the right first layer because the cold here is DAMP, and merino keeps insulating when wet where cotton stops entirely. Add a fleece mid layer and, for June to August, an insulated jacket.
A waterproof shell, in every month
A packable rain jacket for women. Rain falls in all twelve months at around 1,700mm, the Caracol viewing platform is in spray, and the valleys are often in mist.
A hat and gloves for winter
A merino beanie and merino glove liners. Natal Luz is stood outside watching a parade in December, which is summer here and still cool, and a June evening genuinely needs both.
Shoes with grip for wet steps and cobbles
The Caracol staircase is wet stone and metal, the Canela cathedral steps and the town's pavements are slick in rain, and the valley walks are mud. Something with a real sole and no heel, and waterproof if you have it.
Something smarter than usual, which is unusual advice from us
Gramado is a dressed-up town in the evening, with fondue restaurants, wine cellars and Natal Luz shows, and it is the one destination in this library where people make an effort at dinner. One layer that looks deliberate is worth the space.
The small things
A packing cube set, genuinely useful on a trip that pairs this with Porto Alegre or the coast in a different climate. Moisturiser for cold dry indoor air. Cash in reais for smaller places, with cards accepted almost everywhere. Book Natal Luz shows and accommodation months ahead if you are coming for it. And allow a spare day if the Aparados canyons are the plan, because fog closes them.
Essential Resources for Women in Gramado
Emergency numbers: 190 police, 192 ambulance, 193 fire. 180 is the national women's helpline, the Central de Atendimento a Mulher. Coverage is good in the town and patchier in the valleys and on the canyon roads.
Tourist police: Brazil operates tourist police in the main destinations, and Gramado's municipal guard and Policia Civil cover the town, which is small and well policed by Brazilian standards. For a complaint about a hotel or a Natal Luz ticket, the Rio Grande do Sul state tourism body is the right route.
Main hospital or clinic: the Hospital Arcangelo Gabriele in Gramado handles emergencies and routine care for the town, and the Hospital de Caridade in Canela serves the neighbouring municipality. ANYTHING COMPLEX GOES TO PORTO ALEGRE, two hours south, where the Hospital Moinhos de Vento and Hospital de Clinicas are among the best in Brazil. A farmacia handles minor problems. For an emergency dial 192.
Official health authority: the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Brazil has no reciprocal health agreement, so insurance with medical cover and repatriation is essential. Gramado's hospital handles emergencies and anything complex goes to Porto Alegre two hours south
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Brasilia.
Official tourism authority: Visit Brasil, the national tourism board. And with the Gramado tourism office, which sells and schedules the Natal Luz shows, and the Rio Grande do Sul state tourism body for the Aparados da Serra canyon access and closures
It frosts here and occasionally snows. Winter is 5 to 16C, damp, and buildings have limited heating. This is the Brazilian destination that needs winter clothing.
Natal Luz runs from late October to mid-January and doubles or triples accommodation prices. Shows are ticketed and sell out months ahead.
The town's alpine look is largely twentieth-century styling. The German and Italian settlement of the Serra is real history; the half-timbering mostly is not.
The Caracol staircase is several hundred wet steps with no lift, and the climb back is harder than the descent. Decide at the top.
Solo women safety assessment: Gramado is among the safest places in Brazil for a woman travelling alone. It is one of the wealthiest municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul, has no favelas, and its entire economy depends on visitors having a pleasant time, so violent crime against tourists is rare, the main street is busy and lit into the evening, and the FCDO's national advice about muggings, beach arrastoes and favelas simply does not describe the place; the realistic risk is opportunist theft from a car or a cafe table in the Natal Luz crowds. Socially it is easy and provincially conservative, and EXTREMELY COUPLE-ORIENTED, because this is Brazil's honeymoon town, so a woman by herself may be the only person in the restaurant not on a date, which is a mild oddity rather than a problem. English is limited and Portuguese or an app helps. THE RISKS HERE ARE ENVIRONMENTAL AND PHYSICAL. The cold is first and is the thing nobody packs for: a damp 7C with wind, in a country associated with heat, in buildings with limited heating, arriving from Rio or the northeast, which is how a trip here gets spent uncomfortable and occasionally ill. The Caracol staircase is second, several hundred wet stone and metal steps to the base of a 131 metre waterfall with no lift and a harder climb back, so the decision belongs at the top. The roads are third: good but steep and winding, with long grades down to Porto Alegre, and FOG IS THE SPECIFIC LOCAL HAZARD, settling thickly and fast on high ground and also closing the Aparados canyon viewpoints. 180 is the national women's helpline.
Reading On
For the country-level picture, start with the Brazil travel guide for women. Up the coast is the Florianopolis packing list, and further north the Sao Paulo packing list and the Brasilia packing list. For why merino rather than cotton when the cold is damp and the heating is minimal, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection. For the other Brazilian hill town that built itself an alpine identity, the Campos do Jordao packing list covers the highest city in the country, 1,100km north in the Serra da Mantiqueira, where winter is also the high season and the architecture is also a twentieth century invention.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
