Things to do in Joinville
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Joinville
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best overall months, cooler and less humid with trails and the Serra at their best.
Dance festival month, cool and comparatively dry but the most crowded and expensive time to visit.
Festa das Flores at Expoville, warming and wetter weather, with hotels filling for the show.
Worst months for most visitors, peak heat, humidity, rain and flood risk, plus holiday crowds at parks and beaches.
Quiet, cool low season outside the festival, with the best hotel availability of the year.
What's on
- Festival de Dança de Joinville second half of July
The worlds largest dance festival, centred on Centreventos Cau Hansen for about eleven days.
- Fenachopp October, confirm the years dates
Joinvilles German chopp festival at Expoville, pairing naturally with Blumenau Oktoberfest.
- Sakura Joinville mid September
Cherry blossom festival at Expoville.
- Festa das Flores mid to late November
Brazils great orchid and flower show at Expoville, running 18 to 23 November in 2025.
Best things to do in Joinville
Festival de Dança de Joinville
The worlds largest dance festival takes over Cau Hansen each late July with competitive nights, galas and open stages.
Escola do Teatro Bolshoi no Brasil
The only Bolshoi school outside Russia, best experienced through a youth company performance or a booked visit.
Mirante de Joinville
A viewing platform above the city with near panoramic views across Joinville to Babitonga Bay on a clear morning.
Museu Nacional de Imigração e Colonização
A free, compact museum in the old palace that explains how a planned European colony became an industrial city.
Rua das Palmeiras
A short alley of imperial palms that is Joinvilles postcard, worth ten minutes on the way into the immigration museum.
Catedral de Joinville - São Francisco Xavier
A vast round modernist cathedral with a pillar free interior and striking stained glass in the middle of downtown.
Parque Zoobotânico
A shaded hill park with a small zoo and botanical plantings, best paired with the viewpoint climb above it.
Hemero - Jardins Como Arte
Latin Americas largest daylily producer opened as a designed garden with koi ponds, water play and flower fields.
Where to stay in Joinville
Centro
first trip, festival and walking the central sights
Walkable to the museum, palms and cathedral, with the widest hotel choice, but streets empty at night.
América and Atiradores
eating out and a quieter residential base
Leafier streets beside the Via Gastronomica restaurant row, so you can walk home from dinner.
Glória
Expoville events and travellers with a car
The gateway district by the portico and pavilions, with free parking and a drive to everything else.
Dona Francisca
families and a celebration splurge
Farm resort country up the Serra road, booked as a destination in itself rather than a city hotel.
Boa Vista
budget and festival season social stays
A residential district a bus ride from Centro, home to the citys best known hostel.
Think twice about
- Low lying southern river districts
Neighbourhoods on the Cachoeira river flats flood in heavy rain and have few visitor services. There is no reason to base there.
- Zona Industrial Norte and BR-101 industrial corridors
Truck roads and warehouses with no walkable dining and nothing to do at night. Hotels here serve plant visits, not tourism.
- Espinheiros and the boat pier area
Fine by day for the Barco Principe, but isolated, dark and taxi dependent at night, far from every restaurant.
- Vila Nova and the airport fringe
A transit zone around the airport about 13 km from Centro. Sleep in Centro or America and taxi to flights.
Best restaurants in Joinville
Santa Mistura
Joinvilles special occasion restaurant, contemporary Brazilian European cooking in an intimate Otto Boehm room.
Biergarten
A big, convivial German beer hall pouring local chopp with schnitzel, spaetzle and strudel on the Via Gastronomica.
Zum Schlauch
A traditional German choperia on the Via Gastronomica, the sit down alternative to Biergartens buzz.
Didge Steakhouse Pub
An Australian themed steakhouse pub with live music energy, the liveliest dinner room on the Via Gastronomica.
Guacamole Cocina Mexicana - Joinville
A loud, colourful Mexican cantina on the Via Gastronomica, the groups favourite for a big table party dinner.
O Fornão
A traditional Italian house with generous house made pastas, lasagne and wood fired pizzas at family portions.
Poial Tropeiro
Hearty Brazilian tropeiro meat cooking in America, a locals lunch or dinner to order and share, hungry.
Gute Küche
A family German farm restaurant in Pirabeiraba serving colony cooking in big rural portions at farm prices.
Outdoor things to do in Joinville
Barco Príncipe
A big, sociable boat across Babitonga Bay to Sao Francisco do Sul, with lunch, music and time ashore in the old town.
Estrada Bonita
A German farm road of cafes, colonial produce, river swimming spots and shaded lanes made for a slow Sunday.
Castelo dos Bugres
A forest hike to huge summit rocks at about 900 metres, with a waterfall and swimming pools on the way back.
Parque Natural Municipal da Caieira
Mangrove boardwalks and bay shore trails with birdlife and sambaqui archaeology on the Sagacu side of the city.
Joinville Country Club
Santa Catarinas first golf course at a private country club, playable only by arranging access well in advance.
Serra Dona Francisca
A hairpin scenic drive up the Serra do Mar escarpment, with forest viewpoints and German farm country at the top.
São Francisco do Sul
Santa Catarinas oldest town, a listed colonial centre on the bay plus calm Enseada and surfy Prainha beaches.
Beto Carrero World
Latin Americas largest theme park, an hour south in Penha, with big coasters, stunt shows and a zoo.
Best hotels in Joinville
Bourbon Joinville Convention Hotel
The most complete full service hotel operation in downtown Joinville, built for conventions and festival peaks.
Comfort Hotel Joinville
The reliable central mid range default, with breakfast and parking and the strongest score to price pattern downtown.
ibis Joinville
A predictable, well run budget chain hotel in the centre, with no surprises and a bar and restaurant on site.
Hotel Tannenhof
A long established Joinville institution with a pool, gym and restaurant, trusted by returning business travellers.
Mercure Joinville Prinz
A larger roomed chain hotel on Otto Boehm near Mueller mall, surrounded by walkable restaurants.
Hotel Germânia
A smaller central hotel with a pool and excellent guest reviews, at a mid range price.
Naalt Hotel Joinville
A newer hotel with a garden and gym on the Expoville side of the city, ideal for drivers and event weekends.
Le Canard Joinville
A practical gateway hotel on XV de Novembro with free parking, a sound backup for Expoville event weekends.
Is Joinville expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | R$200 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | R$450 a person |
| Splurge | R$1,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Festival de Dança de Joinville: months ahead
- Escola do Teatro Bolshoi no Brasil: weeks ahead
- Barco Príncipe: a few days ahead
- Joinville Country Club: weeks ahead
- Beto Carrero World: a few days ahead
- Hotel Fazenda Dona Francisca: weeks ahead
- Mandallah Hostel: weeks ahead
- Santa Mistura: a few days ahead
- Book hotels and festival tickets months ahead for the late July dance festival, ideally six months for beds.
- Buy Barco Principe and Beto Carrero World tickets online in advance, and go to the park on a weekday.
- Book the farm hotel well ahead for Brazilian holiday weekends, and arrange country club golf weeks ahead.
Is Joinville safe?
- Joinville is a comparatively orderly large Brazilian city, but use rideshare after dark and keep valuables out of sight.
- Flooding is the real hazard, so check civil defence alerts in storm weeks and reshuffle trails and Serra drives.
- Summer heat and humidity make midday hiking unpleasant, so start hikes and viewpoints early.
Joinville travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Rua das Palmeiras is a photograph, not an hour long sight, so build it into the museum loop.
- Expoville park on a non event day and Praia do Vigorelli as a beach day are both poor uses of a trip.
- Joinville is not a beach resort or nightlife city, so do not book it as a Florianopolis substitute.
Getting around Joinville: public transport and more
- Walk the Centro loop of museum, palms and cathedral, and taxi or rideshare for Cau Hansen, Expoville and the boat pier.
- City buses are cheap by day and there is no metro. After dark, use taxis or rideshare instead of empty streets.
- Rent a car for two days to unlock Estrada Bonita, the Serra, Pirabeiraba and Sao Francisco do Sul.
- Joinville airport is about 13 km from Centro, with Curitiba and Florianopolis airports offering more flights by road.
Who Joinville suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Joinville your trip
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