Top 10 Things to Do in Recife

About Recife:

Although it is Brazil's fourth largest city, Recife hasn't lost its traditional and cultural attractions to commercial development. The capital of Pernambuco state in northeast Brazil, Recife is a fluid mix of new and old.

It's a busy seaport, a commercial and trading center, with high rises, busy streets and business deals. It's also known for its artistic and folkloric traditions, music and dance.

Protected by the reef that gives the city its name, Recife is built around a number of inlets, canals and bridges, living up to its name as the "Venice of Brazil." It offers walkable tours, great beaches and lively arts and entertainment.

Click on the thumbnail maps for larger views of Olinda, Recife area and the beaches of Pernambuco, or this larger map of central Recife.

 

When to Go:

Anytime! Recife has an average year round temperature in the 80's F, or 27C. See this Recife Climate Graph.

However, the city puts on a great carnaval so you might want to schedule a visit to the Recife and Olinda carnivals in February/March, or to the off-season carnival, called Recifolia, in October. Either occasion means thousands of visitors, so make your reservations early.

 

Getting and Staying There:

Recife has air, land and sea access. For air and land details, check the Arriving information. Check flights from your area. You can also browse for hotels and car rentals.

Recife is also a port of call for many cruise lines. See Recife Cruises for details.

Base your exploration of the city and region from one of these hotels.

 

Things to do and See:

1. Beaches! One of the best is Boa Viagem, an upscale area, which is also offers most of the restaurants and nightclubs.
2. Take a walking tour of the old city from the Praca da Republica to the impressive, 19th-century Teatro Santa Isabel and then the Catedral de Sao Pedro dos Clerigos. Next, browse through the colorful Mercado do Sao Jose (Saint John's Market) for local arts and crafts and handiwork, including a special section for lace, and finish your walk at the Basilica de NS da Penha.
3. Watch a football (soccer) game. Recife is big on futebol!
4. Shop at Shopping Center Recife, Brazil's second largest shopping center.
5. Tour the Casa de Cultura. Once a prison, the buildings now house craft and souvenir shops, and are the locale for music and dance performances.
6. Olaria de Brennand is a ceramics factory with a display area of thousands of pieces.
7. Museo do Homen do Nordoeste displays anthropological and popular art and is considered to be Recife's best museum.
8. Olinda is the reason many visitors travel to Recife. Olinda is a living museum, a UNESCO heritage city, and considered to be the origin of the entire Brazilian culture of the 16th century.
9. Carnaval! Two months before the actual date, the rehearsals start and the blocos, or carnival section or group, draw in hundreds of watchers. The main dance is the frevo, an energetic, exhilarating experience. In Olinda, everybody participates. You'll need a costume.
10. In Olinda the Folclore Nordestino festival at the end of August is a highlight of dance and music from the entire northeastern region.

No matter when you go to Recife and or Olinda, tell us about your experience. Post a message in the forum.

Boa viagem!

The Art of Adventure: Why Travel is Important. ~ Silvia Mordini

 

Do you have a passport?

If so, you are in the minority. According to Chris Erskine of the Los Angeles Times, a mere 35 percent of Americans can legally travel to another country.

This year perhaps the most inspired thing you can do is give yourself permission to get a passport. If you already have one, then use it! From there, the art of adventure begins as you commit to starting a new adventure.

I was born in Ecuador and was raised traveling around the world. One could say that I am a lifelong adventure junkie. My life experiences taught me that travel is a vital form of yoga. If, as Shri Krishna Pattabhi Jois writes,“Yoga is 99% practice, 1% theory,” then we must do more than simply visualize our connection to the world. We need to actually experience and visit new places. Spending time with people outside our immediate circle becomes another way to live our Namaste.

Travel expands perspective and inspires enthusiasm. You return home different.

“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences…” 

~ Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

Travel itself is an adventure because we typically face more unknown factors when we travel than in our normal daily lives. It is this ability to take a leap into the unknown with mindfulness and grace that we bring back home with us. The ability to think big about who you are, how you live and what you can do in the world, whether it’s climbing volcanoes in South America, living in the rainforest in Hawaii, learning to surf in Puerto Vallarta or trying new foods in a nearby city. Ask yourself, when was the last time you tried something new?  Have you been putting off taking an adventure?

Do you know how many countries there are in the world?

I have been fortunate to be globally aware because my parents felt that travel was an important part of my formal education. They, like Euripedes, believed, “Experience, travel—these are an education in themselves.”

To celebrate my first birthday, we flew across the ocean and visited three countries. I celebrated my fifth birthday in Italy spending time in Spain and France, so by the age of five years old I had been to six countries. By the age of 10, I was up to 10 and the number has since grown to more than 20. My intention is to visit at least 100 countries in my lifetime,and to honor my world citizenship by owning three passports: American, Italian and Ecuadorian.

While this may not be your path, I encourage you to get curious and see more of the world.

As Frank Borman writes, “Exploration is the essence of the human spirit.”

Your spiritual adventure begins now.

Here are a few reasons why we should travel.

 Top 10 Reasons Why Travel Is Important:

1. Provides learning and education.
2. Connects us to other cultures and people.
3. Slows us down; gives us a break from our fast-paced lives.
4. Expands our awareness and introduces us to greater diversity.
5. Helps us break habits: mentally, physically and emotionally.
6. Gives us time to heal, reduces stress and helps us regain enthusiasm for life.
7. Awakens the inner child by offering us new, “first-time” experiences.
8. Promotes patience by releasing heavy expectations and allowing life to flow more organically.
9. Invites the opportunity to get lost and face one’s fears of the unknown.
10. Helps you get to know yourself better; the true you is rediscovered.

Travel is important because it fundamentally transforms us. Today, update your bucket list. Go somewhere new, try something adventurous in 2012 and become united with the world through travel.

Love yourself. Love your day. Love your life.

Editor: Cassandra Smith / Brianna Bemel