Porto Alegre

Porto Alegre, Capital of the southern state Rio Grande do Sul, is one of the largest cities in Brazil, and certainly one of the most beautiful. It is modern and offer a high standard of living, while being smaller in size, compared to Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo.

The people of Porto Alegre and it's state are called Gauchos and are more similar in their culture to the habitants of Argentina and Uruguay than to their northern brothers. They are also considered to be among the most linguistically talented, speaking Portuguese, Spanish and English to varying degrees.

Unlike more touristic cities, such as Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre does not have access to the Ocean, nor a year full of sunny days and warm temperatures. In some higher parts of the state, you may even see snow on winter. On the other hand, it is one of the greenest cities in the Americas, with huge parks, “Parque da Redenção” being the most famous of them.
Every sunday there's an artists fairy in that park, which is highly recommended.

Hotels and Apart. Hotels are more common in Porto Alegre than Hostels, maybe due to the less touristic nature of the city.

People who visit Porto Alegre, usually also visit some of it's beautiful neighboring cities - Gramado and Canela. You could say that Gramado to Brazil is what Bariloche is to Argentina – great chocolate and snow in the winter.