Tourist attractions in Búzios

Búzios was originally a small village dwelled by fishermen. Centuries ago the settlement was visited by French pirates franceses and other slave trade pirates. With over different 20 breathtakingly beautiful beaches, this peninsula – whose shape actually resembles one of an island – has become a charming and sophisticated Saint-Tropez-like beach resort with an exciting night life. During the low season, Búzios becomes a hot destination for connoisseurs, a cosmopolitan site where people enjoy great gastronomy, art, ecology, and other fancy items. The history of Armação dos Búzios actually began as a touristic destination when Brigitte Bardot visited the village in the 1960’s. Since then, it has increasingly attracted more and more famous people.

Nowadays Armação dos Búzios offers its visitors:

• Over 20 different beaches surrounding the peninsula;
• Places where people can learn diving, sailing, surf, windsurf, and countless other nautical sports;
• Golf and horseback clubs;
• Rental of all-terrain vehicles, automobiles, sailing boats and powerboats;
• Bars, hotspots and nightclubs where you can have fun all night long;
• Pizzerias, creperies and many restaurants, that certainly suit all tastes;
• Both Brazilian and international griffe boutiques, art galleries, and local craft shops;
• Casual and friendly locals who blend the spirit of a small fishermen village and one of a French resort, certainly a unique and differentiated environment;
• Music, art, bookshops, movie theaters, and amazing cuisine festivals complete the wide range of choices where you can have lots of fun.

Celebrities

Brigitte Bardot decided to stay for a while in Búzios back in the 60s and since then the town became a favorite destination of celebrities and it still keeps attracting famous people! Bardot’s boyfriend at that time, Bob Zagury, introduced her to this charming village in 1964, and Brigitte Bardot – the greatest movie industry celebrity at that time- rediscovered her joie de vivre in Búzios, finding a refuge from the journalists and paparazzi of that time that ceaselessly chase her.

Night life

Búzios has a busy nightlife with shows, nightclubs, parties, restaurants and bars to suit all tastes. In fact, Búzios’ night life is an attraction in itself. The main gathering spot is at Rua das Pedras, a charming street where running into famous people and hearing foreign languages is commonplace. This is where you actually realize the amount of foreigners that visit the town.

Visitors have lots of options for those who want to enjoy Búzios’ natural beautiful sites. You can, for example, take one of the schooners that sail out either from the downtown main wharf or from the Armação’s promontory, on the Bardot Beachfront. There are boat tours at different hours, with packages that include lunch on board, drinks and diving at paradise-like beaches.

Other options – especially for kids – include tours on catamarans with transparent hulls with the same on board conveniences made available to adults. Kids may also take tours on jeeps (trolleys) visiting the town’s main tourist attractions. A more adventurous choice is to land on a powerful 4X4 vehicle and climb the region’s gorgeous sand dunes. Helicopters are the ultimate choice with flights along the beaches of the Costa do Sol (in Portuguese ‘Sun Sea Coast’).

Fishermen Sculpture

The sculpture can be seen standing on the water, not far from the Armação beach. It depicts three fishermen at work and perpetuates in a work of art the gesture of taking sea food from the ocean (which we normally only see when they are served on our dishes). Christina Motta is the artist who made the sculpture.

Igreja de Sant'Anna (Saint Anne Roman Catholic Chapel)

The chapel was built when the village was still called Armação de Baleias (‘Whales Settlement’ in Portuguese) using lime, rocks and whale oil plaster as raw materials. Founded in 1740, the chapel was set up under the direction of the businessman and commander Brás de Pina. Inside the building visitor can see very old images of Saint Anne and The Boy Jesus. Located between the Ossos and the Armação beaches, the chapel has become a reference for the local community. In 2002, a lighting project visually enhanced the chapel and its surroundings highlighting its architectural features and its historical bell. Saint Anne Day, Búzios’ patron saint, is celebrated every year on July 26. The ceremonies include a procession, a solemn mass and lots of fireworks.

Igreja Nossa Senhora Desatadora dos Nós (Mary Undoer of Knots Roman Catholic Chapel)

Armação dos Búzios was the first town in the world that was granted a chapel dedicated exclusively to ‘Mary Undoer of Knots’. Inaugurated on September 8, 2001, the chapel was soon afterwards blessed by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II and was given the nickname “The Small Great Work of Art”. One can easily understand why by visiting the chapel: nine artists and countless other volunteers worked in conjunction so that they could materialize their faith and the oldest existing devotion to Our Lady.

The devotion to ‘Mary Undoer of Knots’ started in 1700, in Germany, when a miraculous painting inspired by a meditation of Saint Irenaeus was found, picturing the Virgin. The painting is displayed nowadays at the Saint Peter Church, in Per lack, Augsburg. In Brazil, Campinas, state of Sao Paulo, has in one of its churches, Maria Porta do Céu, one altar dedicated to the ‘Under of Knots’ and a replica of the original German painting. Several miracles have been reported attributed to the saint’s intercession in European countries and in Argentina.

Caboclo Island

Only 200-meters far from do Canto beach, in Búzios downtown, the island will soon become an environmentally protected area. Barriers will be deployed to protect the surrounding coral reef and the flora while archeological sites in the island will be recovered.

João Fernandes Beach Belvedere

Next to the João Fernandes beach, this belvedere looks out upon part of the peninsula. It is worth a visit.

Forno Beach Belvedere

Located not far from Forno beach and with a gorgeous natural scenery, virtually the entire peninsula can be seen from this location. As it can be very easily reached it is one of the most popular sites to contemplate Búzios’ breathtaking natural beauties.

Orla Bardot (Bardot Beachfront)

Built in 1999, the beachfront makes available to its visitors wooden decks, benches, stone floor surface and a landscape design made with native fauna. Strolling down the seashore while enjoying the ocean breeze and looking at all those colorful fishing boats is a light, yet, splendid experience.

Several historical buildings, colonial edifices, communities of small scale fishermen and cultural marks are found along the way, such as the ‘Brigitte Bardot’ and the ‘Fishermen’ sculptures. At the end of the way lies the Saint Anne Church, Búzios’ patron saint.

Ponta da Lagoinha (Lagoinha Foreland)

Made up of 520-million-year old rocks, Lagoinha Foreland represents a historical guarantee that Búzios was a long time ago a region with the same geological features as found in the Himalaya.

That’s why the region is called the Brazilian Himalaya, as it was recently acknowledged by geology scientists from Rio’s Federal University. Besides the awesome beauty of this site, Lagoinha consists of unforgettable scenery thanks to its rocky patterns, natural pools with plentiful coastal fauna and native vegetation, which features the unique cabeça branca cactus – only found in this coastal region.