Florianópolis
in Brazil

An island with 42 beaches and the good sense not to make them all equally easy to reach. The north coast is calm, family-friendly, and lined with the kind of seafood restaurants where lunch becomes an afternoon. The south is wilder: serious surf at Joaquina and Praia do Rosa, dunes that shift between the beach and the lagoon, and a pace that drops to almost nothing once you leave the main road behind. Florianópolis has a strong Brazilian-European character, shaped by Azorean settlers whose fishing villages and lace-making traditions survive in the older neighbourhoods. The oysters farmed in the Ribeirão da Ilha bay are among the finest in South America and cost almost nothing eaten at the source. Brazilians have known about this place for decades. Everyone else is catching up.