Things to do in Canela
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Canela
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Summer is warm with afternoon storms, the fullest waterfalls, and hydrangeas peaking roughly November to January.
Autumn is the calm value season, with Easter chocolate events and May colonial festivals in Gramado.
Winter is peak and expensive, with July frost, fog and school holiday crowds, and the Gramado Film Festival in August.
Spring is the best value shoulder, and the Christmas festivals switch on from late October.
What's on
- Sonho de Natal de Canela 30 October to 10 January
Canela's own Christmas festival, with hundreds of free presentations and Santa rappelling the cathedral tower.
- Natal Luz de Gramado 22 October to 17 January
Gramado's giant Christmas festival 7 km away, with ticketed spectacles and much free street programming.
- Festa Colonial de Canela mid July
Canela's rural colonial food and music festival, the most local event of the year.
- Festival de Cinema de Gramado August
Brazil's major film festival, held next door in Gramado each August.
- ChocoPáscoa March to April, moves with Easter
Gramado's Easter chocolate festival period, an easy cross town trip from Canela.
- Semana Farroupilha 20 September
Gaucho traditionalist celebrations across the Serra in September.
Best things to do in Canela
Paróquia Nossa Senhora de Lourdes | Catedral de Pedra de Canela
Canela's stone Gothic cathedral, free to visit by day and floodlit in changing colours after dark.
Mundo a Vapor
A steam museum of working miniature machinery, guided and tactile, in a building a locomotive bursts through.
Roda Canela
A 52 metre Ferris wheel over the Serra, best ridden at sunset or after dark in festival season.
Parque Terra Mágica Florybal
A hillside fantasy park of dinosaurs and giants built for children roughly two to ten, on a dry day.
Castelinho Caracol
A tiny preserved pioneer house whose tea room serves the Serra's definitive apfelstrudel.
Vinícola Jolimont
Canela's winery since 1948, with guided visits and tastings up to premium picnic experiences.
Space Adventure Canela
A NASA licensed space exhibition for true space fans, worth its high ticket only if the topic thrills you.
Estação Campos de Canella
The restored old station, now a free covered food and craft complex and Canela's easiest meeting point.
Where to stay in Canela
Centro
first trip and no car
Walk to the cathedral, the station complex, restaurants and the Gramado bus from one central base.
Vila Suzana
couples and value for character
Leafy, quiet pousada streets a short drive from the centre, with better charm per real than the core.
Vila Luiza and Laje de Pedra
luxury and quiet
Large grounds and valley views south of the centre, worth it only with a car or nightly Ubers.
Caracol road
nature first stays with a car
Rural pousadas near the waterfall park for early starts, with dinner a drive back into town.
Think twice about
- RS-466 beyond Caracol park and the Ferradura road
Isolated rural addresses with nothing walkable at night and slow Uber pickups, a poor base without a car.
- RS-235 roadside strip toward Gramado
Highway lodging convenient to neither centre and walkable to nothing, despite being sold as a Canela base.
Best restaurants in Canela
1835 Carne e Brasa
The Serra's prestige fire meat restaurant at Laje de Pedra, the one food splurge to book first.
Chez Lys Blanc
Canela's classic formal fondue house, the one fondue night to choose if the trip includes exactly one.
Magnólia Restaurante Bar e Cinema
A serious restaurant, cocktail bar and cult cinema in one vintage house, Canela's most distinctive night out.
Empório Canela
A bistro, bookshop and bar near the cathedral that works for lunch, a rainy afternoon and dinner alike.
Terrazo Fondue
The full fondue sequence at a mid range price, busy with Brazilian families rather than tour groups.
Churrascaria Garfo e Bombacha
A vast churrascaria with a gaucho folklore show, bought as theatre with dinner rather than pure meat.
Kongo Pizzaria Temática
A jungle themed pizza house whose food holds up at huge review volume, the group and children dinner pick.
Pappardelle Massas Finas
Fresh fine pasta at the lowest prices in town, the best value for quality in Canela.
Outdoor things to do in Canela
Parque do Caracol
The state park protecting the 131 metre Caracol waterfall, Canela's most important outdoor visit.
Bondinhos Aéreos Parques da Serra
Cable cars giving the frontal full face view of Caracol Falls that the state park cannot offer.
Skyglass Canela
A glass platform 360 metres over the Ferradura canyon, plus the suspended Abusado chair ride.
Alpen Park
An adventure park whose rider controlled alpine coaster alone justifies the visit, if you arrive early.
Ecoparque Sperry
A quiet self guided trail circuit past four waterfalls, the nature first alternative to the platform parks.
Cânion Itaimbezinho
A vast basalt canyon near Cambara do Sul, walked on two easy rim trails as a full day trip from Canela.
Cânion Fortaleza
The more open canyon walk near Cambara do Sul, with a rim trail, a waterfall and wider views.
Gramado Golf Club
The twin towns' only real visitor golf course, 18 holes through araucaria forest in Gramado.
Best hotels in Canela
Grande Hotel Canela
Canela's grand old hotel in vast green grounds near the centre, the best central base for families.
Hotel Laghetto Vivace Canela
The reliable central chain hotel for travellers who want hotel systems over pousada character.
Pousada Ruppenthal
A simple, well scored budget pousada in the central grid, for spending money on parks and fondue instead.
Pousada Vila 505
A small Vila Suzana pousada with the highest score in the local where to stay guide, so book it first.
Estalagem Vila Suzana
A pet friendly budget estalagem in the Vila Suzana woods, with a pool, barbecue space and breakfast.
Laje de Pedra Mountain Village Prime
Luxury apartment style lodging on the historic Laje de Pedra site, overlooking the Quilombo valley.
Hotel Serra Nevada
The established full service luxury hotel in Vila Luiza, with spa, pools and a dining reference restaurant.
Tri Pousada Caracol
A quiet pet friendly pousada about 1 km from Caracol park, for waking to birdsong before the tour buses.
Is Canela expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | R$350 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | R$650 a person |
| Splurge | R$1,200 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Parque Terra Mágica Florybal: a few days ahead
- Vinícola Jolimont: a few days ahead
- Space Adventure Canela: a few days ahead
- Skyglass Canela: a few days ahead
- Cânion Itaimbezinho: a few days ahead
- Cânion Fortaleza: a few days ahead
- Gramado Golf Club: weeks ahead
- Grande Hotel Canela: weeks ahead
- Book lodging early for July and for late October to mid January, when both Christmas festivals run.
- Reserve 1835 Carne e Brasa, Chez Lys Blanc, Skyglass and Space Adventure ahead in season.
- Book the Itaimbezinho guided tour before the night before, as it leaves Canela at about 07:30.
Is Canela safe?
- Keep valuables out of sight in parked cars at trailheads and park lots.
- Do not cross barriers at the falls, and note swimming is not permitted at Ecoparque Sperry.
- Get off exposed canyon rims in electrical weather, and dress for near freezing winter nights.
- Emergency numbers are 190 for police and 192 for ambulance.
Canela travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Count parking, towers, internal rides and photo packages before entering any park, as extras can double a ticket.
- Guided city tours can steer groups to commissioned museums, shops and restaurants, so keep your own list.
- Vale dos Dinossauros and Mundo Gelado are the weakest rated headline parks in town, so skip both by default.
- Street touted fondue deals with a too cheap sequence price are rebuilt with extras on the bill.
Getting around Canela: public transport and more
- Fly to Porto Alegre and allow two to three hours by road, by booked transfer, Citral bus or rental car.
- Central Canela is walkable, and Gramado is 7 km away by 15 minute local bus, cheap Uber or the Bustour.
- A rental car unlocks Sperry, Ferradura, Caracol at opening time and the Cambara canyons.
- In July and Christmas season, central parking fills by mid morning and winter fog slows mountain roads.
Who Canela suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Canela your trip
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