Tips for Aracaju Travel
We had a great two months and some days in Aracaju, Brazil. We chose to live in Aracaju because it isn’t a big city, but it isn’t a small city. It’s on the beach, the cost of living is low compared to the rest of Brazil’s capital cities, and it is relatively safe. We lived in Atalaia, which is the tourist area and a great area to stay at in Aracaju. Here are some tips we picked up during our stay in Aracaju, Brazil.
Beaches in Aracaju, Brazil
There are lots of beaches to choose from. The locals told us that the more south we went, the better the beaches were. We usually went to the beach that was located at the end of Passalera do Carangeijo. It was the closest to our apartment. Most of the beaches are pretty much the same though. It is an open, straight coast. The water was a nice temperature, and it was usually pretty clean. The city was pretty good at cleaning up after the busy weekend crowds.
Farmer's Market in Aracaju, Brazil
Every Saturday there is an open-air farmer’s market. They offered all types of veggies, fruits, meats, snacks, clothing, and other random stuff. We normally went and bought our veggies and fruits for the week. Check out our video about it.
It is located in the neighborhood of Coroa do Meio. See the linked map below. It starts early around 7am and starts closing up after lunchtime.
Food
Pretty much every restaurant on the beach will have higher prices than restaurants further away from the beach. In the Atalaia area we liked these restaurants.
Sal e Brasa
Sal e Brasa is a Brazilian Churrascaria. It is a all you can eat buffet with waiters coming by to your table with huge cuts of meat offering you a piece. It was great! Lot of meat variety and a good selection of hot an cold buffet items. For lunch Monday through Thursday it is about R$36 per person. And for Dinner Monday through Thursday it was about R$32. On Friday through Sunday it is more around R$50 or so.
Feira da Tourista
Near the Sal e Brasa, There is a tourist market. I believe it was called the Feira da Tourista. It is like small outdoor mall. Lots of permanent little stores selling a variety of things. Lots of souvenirs, clothing, beach items, travel agencies, and a row of restaurants. We ate at two of the places in there. Both had pretty good prices. At one place, we got a dinner meal for three for about R$40. It included meats, bread, side dishes and such. Very yummy! Head there for good priced eats at lunch or dinner. To get there walk away from Sal e Brasa, in the direct of away from the beach. You will cross the big street, and it is right there.
Restaurante do DoDo
Most days we bought lunch from a little restaurant around the corner from our apartment. It doesn’t look like much, but the food was great and had great prices. A plate to go was R$12 – R$20, depending on the dish. It included rice, beans, a meat, noodles and a small salad. It was actually big enough to feed Adelaide, Darian and I. We loved it!
Pizza
It’s food, but it gets its own category.
I love pizza! So we enjoyed trying out Brazilian pizza. My Favorite is still peperoni but coming in close second is chocolate pizza. My favorite chocolate pizza came from this restaurant, Parmegiano. If you go during Monday through Thursday, they have a special that any large pizza is the price of a medium. Sweet deal.
Where to stay in Aracaju
If you want to enjoy the beaches and be in the city, then you would want to stay in the neighborhoods of Atalaia or Coroa do Meio. If you are renting a car and would like to be a little farther from the city then there are lots of choices on the coast south of the Atalaia neighborhood. Most of the beach hotels are in the Atalaia area.
We stayed our first two nights at the Radisson Aracaju. It was pretty nice and clean. The breakfast buffet was delicious and it has a nice pool area. We booked two night using 38,000 Club Carlson points. I have a Club Carlson credit card, so that gave us the 2nd night free. Normally it is 38,000 points per night. Sweet deal! The rest of our stay in Aracaju, we rented a vacation apartment.
How to Find Places to Stay
The website that I ended up finding our apartment was the Brazilian version of www.Homeaway.com. It is www.aluguetemporada.com.br. If you don’t speak Portuguese, I believe you can still view and book all the same places on homeaway.com. At first glance, the daily rates were often pretty high. Since we were staying for two months, I emailed the property owners of the properties I liked and asked for a special rate for our stay. From that, a I received a lot of responses with rates that were more reasonable.
We ended up renting a 3 bedroom apartment with ocean views and about 4 blocks from the beach for R$3,000 per month. We were happy with that. You can watch our apartment hunt in Aracaju here, and see a couple of the vacation apartments available in Aracaju.
Aracaju Airport
From the Airport, you an get a tax right outside the luggage area. There are lots of taxis and there are taxi stands that you can use to “book” a taxi ride. We didn’t have any Brazilian Reals yet, so I went to one of the taxi stands because I could pay with my credit card. It cost us R$25 to go from the airport to the Radisson Aracaju, a trip of about 3.4 miles. That is probably R$5-10 more than just paying cash and using the taxi meter, but since I didn’t have cash, this was our best option.
Safety
We choose to come to Aracaju because it is a relatively safe city, compared to northeastern Brazilian cities. Nonetheless, be smart. Take taxis if you are out late at night. Walk on streets that have people on them. Leave the fancy watch and jewelry at home. We never had any problems, but we still heard of other tourist getting their phones stolen, etc. Just be smart.
Taxi Rides
In Aracaju, Barzil the taxi meter starts at R$4.15. Get an idea of how much your fare will be by using www.taxiautofare.com. I have found it to be pretty accurate in Aracaju, Salvador, Sao Paulo, and Curitiba, Brazil.
About the Meter Rates:
Rate 1 (day rate) is Monday through Friday 6:00 am t0 10:00 pm and Saturday 6:00 am – noon. Rate 2 (night/weekend rate) is Monday through Friday 10:00 pm – 6:00am and Saturday noon to Monday 6:00am. Make sure your taxi driver is charging you the correct rate. We have had the experience of a few taxi drivers charging us the higher rate just because… Most the time is is only a R$5 or R$10 difference, but I always hate the feeling that I have been overcharged because I am a foreigner. Overall, we had very little trouble with the taxis in Aracaju. They were generally nice, well maintained, and charged us correctly.
No Need to Yell for a Taxi
At first, I would walk to the next biggest road to catch a taxi or call a taxi company to get a taxi sent to our apartment, but that was always a hassle. Sometimes no one would pick up, or they couldn’t understand me, or the taxi was really slow to arrive. Then I found these two taxi calling apps! 99 Taxis Easy Taxi Both allow you to request a taxi from your mobile phone over wifi or data. Awesome! I love it. I usually use 99 Taxis, but occasionally, I would use Easy Taxi. You have the option to pay with cash in the taxi, credit card via the app, or paypal via the app. I have paid with each and it has worked great! I love that I can see where the taxi is and that I can track it as it arrives. No more waiting wondering whether that taxi is on the way.
Riding the Bus
If you want to give the public transportation a try, you should get this app for your smartphone. http://www.moovitapp.com It will help you know which bus to take and when to get off. Awesome! I actually just found about this app here in Curitiba, so I didn’t get a chance to use it in Aracaju. Another option is to start your trip at the nearest bus terminal. There is usually a info person by the entrance who can help you figure out how to get to your destination. A bus ride is about R$2.50. We didn’t ride the bus much, since it was pretty reasonable to just use a taxi.
Getting Cash
This was my biggest pain when we first got to Brazil and Aracaju. I didn’t do my research on which ATM would accept my ATM card so that I could withdraw cash. After many trips running around town to different bank ATMs (some were the right bank but were broken), I have found the following Brazilian bank ATMs work. I have used an ATM card from Wells Fargo and from Capital One 360. Tip: I do not get charged any fees for withdrawing cash from my Capital One 360 checking account. I do get charged a fee for using my Wells Fargo card.
ATMS That Worked
Bradesco – For both my ATM cards, this bank did not charge a fee. I can only withdraw up to R$800 per day, even though my ATM card limit is higher. Banco do Brazil – Also does not charge a fee to use. I am able to withdraw up to R$1,000 per day. Banco 24 Horas – Charges a R$15 per transaction fee. I am able to withdraw up to R1,000 per day. These are nation-wide banks. I usually find them in grocery stores and in shopping malls. Be smart and aware of your surroundings, and cover your hands when you input your PIN! I prefer to use cash day-to-day rather then use my credit card. I have already had 1 credit card and 1 ATM card cloned and used fraudulently. I will talk more on that later. Aracaju is a great place to relax and enjoy the beach. The city is nice, but not very spectacular and parts are ruin down. The big draw is the calm city and great beaches. We never really got hassled by venders like you would in the other bigger beach cities such as Salvador or Maceio. We made some friends in Aracaju and I am sure we will be back to explore some more!