Bars
Brazilians do like to drink and, Go Floripa is happy to report, do so far more than some of their other Latin cousins from South America and around the Mediterranean. Florianópolis has its fair share of bars, beach bars, street vendors and 24 hour service stations, supermarkets and hot dog stands where people congregate to crack open a couple of cold ones, or to shake up a caipirinha or two. One of the beauties of Brazil (and there are many) is that you are always, always able to find a place to buy a beer, and usually also a hot dog to go with it.
For the best bars in Floripa, perhaps the best option is to head to Lagoa da Conceição at night. Avenida Afonso Delambert Neto is the centre of Centrinho nightlife, with bars lining both sides of the road that brings you in from the city. Most of them have live music at some point in the week, with a singer and his guitar accompanied by a drummer or perhaps a samba band in the larger places. Most of the bars stay open until at least 3am at the weekend, usually a little earlier during the week.
Around the corner, strangely situated around the local Texaco service station rather than overlooking the water, are a number of cafes and bars with regular clientele sitting outside to watch the traffic pass by. No, Go Floripa doesn’t understand it either. There are also more options along that road, and up the hill towards the city, close to the Confraria das Artes club. Bars such as Vecchio Giorgio and Arte Chopp can be a night in themselves too, with live bands and music for the slightly older, more sophisticated Lagoa crowd.
Avenida das Rendeiras is the road that takes you from Centrinho to the beaches. One side is washed by the gentle waves of the lagoon, the other is lined with bars, restaurants and clubs, only interrupted by the encroaching dunes, trying to cover the road with every Vento Sul. There are a selection of bars on this road, from pool bars to tiny kiosk that pick up the trade of people heading to the clubs on the same road. On many weekend nights, the whole road seems like a bar as young Brazilians line the concrete pavement and the wooden boardwalk, put music on in their cars and stand around together downing a few drinks before entering the clubs.
The city centre of Florianópolis has a few options for bars, but tends to be a little quiet at night. A cheap daytime beer around the lively Mercado Público is always a good spot to watch the world bustle by. The Beira Mar Norte has a couple of bars, but is more restaurant-orientated. Trindade and Itacorubí on the other side of the hill from the city also have good cheap bars, as befitting their university locations.
There are bars at the beaches in many spots around the island of Floripa and they can be very lively and great fun during the day. The beach bars of Praia Mole and Praia Brava especially can be as good as clubs on the right afternoon with the right crowd. Licencing laws means that they generally close as people head away from the beach around sunset. Go Floripa has the feeling that this will change in the near future, but for now it is sadly not possible to enjoy the rising moon reflecting off the waves while downing a dangerous caipirinha or three in the bars on these beaches. Jurerê is another place with beach bars and not too much else outside of the many clubs and restaurants.
