I took an overnight bus ride to Rio from Sao Paulo Tiete station, it's 6hrs, and arrived relatively on time. It depends on what you want to do in Rio, since from the bus terminal you have to take a bus to wherever you need to go, and it's vital to know Portuguese or a good guidebook. It was also an interesting experience to see Rio that normally they don't show in the tourist books, postcards. The SugarLoaf opens at 8am, and there's no waiting lines, I'm happy to have experienced it in the morning. Also, once in the SugarLoaf, go down the stairs into the woods, there are chairs, tables, stairs that allow you to explore the whole mountain! You can also see the local animals, sonhinhos (little monkeys) that live in SugarLoaf. Very important though, did you already try to buy tickets for inner-country travel? I had a lot of trouble since I did not have a Brazilian CPF (social security number), which all travel inside brazil required!! I recommend a travel agency specifically for this detail.

If you are looking for a travell agency I should recommend www.stb.com.br or www.cvc.com.br. One of the best place to stay there is at the Vila Mariana county that is in centre of the nightlife and you will be able to access any kind of transportation.

Sao Paulo is the best place if you want to fly across the country and visit places far, far away from the southeastearn region. If you know some Portuguese, try www.submarinoviagens.com.br to get some offers.

don't miss paraty+trinidade+beaches there, rio, ilha grande, porto seguro, natal+olinda+pipa, salvador ans iguassu falls!!! i've been in brazil for 3 weeks only as well and did these mentioned ones and recife, sao paulo, buzios, ..

Most important, plan trips to get out of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo is great if you like shopping (there are soo many malls) and eating out, but you will want to get out of the city for the majority of the 3 weeks. In Sao Paulo: Japanese restaurants (SP has around 700.000 people of Japanese origin and you can get fantastic Japanese food for a bargin). Ibirrapuera Park, the city's main park, a nice place to make a walk. Rio de Janeiro you can get there from SP by bus, it takes around 5 hours, there are some busses that are very comfortable. There also are plenty of flights, but in my view its not worth it. Ilha Grande is a very relaxed large island wich you can get to by boat from Rio or Angra dos Reis. I would defenitly advice you to go there if you want to relax for a while, especially after Rio or SP. You dont need to worry about getting robbed there (or anything like that). Visit some mountain towns in SP state, for instance Campos do Jordao. Basicly it can be described as a wannabe German mountain town, but the surrounding mountains and forrests are really nice. I havent been to Florianopolis but everyone that has been there tells me its great. I have been to Angra dos Reis and i would advice you not to go there (its overrated) unless youre just passing by to catch the boat to Ilha Grande Oh and like mentioned before, if you speak some Portuguese it makes things a lot easier.

Maceio is a beautiful beach area with great hotels in the state of Alagoas. It is tourist friendly, but not overrun!

I noticed that the most of the cities in the Northeast were not mentioned . All the cities on the coast have wonderful beaches : Natal, Maceió ...

good luck in their airport...yikes! It is like a mall and an airport!

its easy to get jeap and really comfortable busses to anywhere from sao paulo. to foz igaucu, to rio, to campo grande (which i would go for. pantanal in the west is one of the best things to do in brasil). in sao paulo, there is a biiig station called barra funda. there from you can take busses to everywhere you want

For a 3 weeks trip, if you choose plane to travel inside Brazil, you can make a lot of things. I would advice: Rio, Iguacu falls, Manaus and a short trip in the jungle, Salvador, Olinda (near Recife, but not Recife). Enjoy and learn a little bit of portuguese before...

Rio de Janeiro, Angra dos Reis, Buzios, Salvador, Florianopolis Now aswering the transport doubt, go from Sao Paulo to Rio by plane- definetely. Also, if you go to Rio, make sure the taxi/cabs you get have the name of the company it belongs to on the back. It is easy to spot- just get inside the ones that on the back along the blue line on the side of the car have something written on it. The ones that don't have a name are known to be dangerous.

Learn some portuguese! or take a travel dictionary with you. Dont use the underground in SP alone after 8-9pm. Take a cab instead. Sao Paulo is quite dangerous. Also if you got time, go to FLORIANOPOLIS OR FOZ DO IGUACU OR SALVADOR :)

Thanks for your advice. Can you also advice me what transport to use in order to travel from Sao Paulo to Rio?Tkanks in advance:)

Rio for few days is a must. Buzios and surroundings for beaches and Ilha bella if you have chance to visit.

Definitely worth to visit Rio as well as there are far nicer beaches! Additionally you could try to learn some portugese..

good luck in their airport...yikes! It is like a mall and an airport! plus brol.com is your friend!

Since they are in winter now, I'd pack a few warmer items.