Florianopolis, Brazil – City Guide for Nomads and Expats

This may just be the best city in Brazil for everything aside from cost of living.

Florianopolis is a mid-sized city located in the south of Brazil. It is known for having the best standard of living in the country and for being one of the most popular cities in the world for foreign real estate buyers. 

 POPULATION: 500,000


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RENT AN APARTMENT IN FLORIANOPOLIS

$600.00 should be sufficient for a simple but nice one bedroom.

 

NIGHTLIFE IN FLORIANOPOLIS

8/10 

In 2009, Florianopolis was voted by the New York Times as the world’s “Party destination of the year.” While this is an obvious exaggeration, or only true for the upper wrung of society, there are still plenty of places where the average guy can have some fun. There’s a very distinct high season here (after Christmas til Carnival celebrations in February) and you’re nightlife experience will vary depending on what time of year you’re able to visit.

I recommend: Cosmopolita Club. Full of Patricinhas (rich girls) but still possible to mingle. It’s in centro, which is the best place to hang to go out if you want to meet locals, but most of the nightlife is in the Lagoa da Conceição district.

 

WHERE TO STAY IN FLORIANOPOLIS

I would avoid staying in Barra de Lagoa, a quiet beach town. The problem with Barra de Lagoa not really close to any of the nightlife, only one bar in the city.

 

IS FLORIANOPOLIS SAFE?

One of the safest cities in Brazil. Take normal precautions, but is unlikely that you’ll ever feel at risk here without asking for it.

 

COST OF LIVING IN FLORIANOPOLIS

The following data is from Expatistan, a crowdsourced database of prices and cost of living around the world. In our experience, the data tends to underestimate cost of living, so take the following as the minimum you might need to live here.

*Figures are listed in USD

You’ll need a minimum of $729 USD/month to live in Florianopolis, Brazil

cost-of-living-florianopolis-brazil

FINAL THOUGHTS

A very beautiful city. Just like Natal, I’d recommend Florianopolis for an extended stay because of it’s natural beauty, safety and overall pleasantness. However, if you don’t know any Portuguese, you’d be better off going to a different city in Brazil, like Sao Paulo or Rio, before coming here. Speaking Portuguese here is more vital to gaming than it is in other Brazilian cities and also for breaking into social circles. Coming to study Portuguese here is a good option, but I’d still recommend Belo Horizonte first because there is a slightly more identifiable gringo community to fall back on in times of need.


OVERALL RATING: 8.25/10


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