Vitória, Brazil Travel Guide For Guys

What a pleasant surprise this city was after waddling through the north of Brazil. 

The good: 

The female to male ratio here is extremely high and it was rare to be in a club with more guys than girls.

The girls are beautiful.

It reminded me more of Cordoba, Argentina than anywhere else.

Since Vitória is not a tourist destination you’ll likely be the only Westerner in the club.

The bad: 

The girls are hard and snobby at the well-to-do clubs where attractiveness is highest.

Out of 8 days out I only got grimey on one, which for Brazil is not very good.

The girls of Cordoba got far more excited at my Westerner status than the girls here, and I’m nearly certain that Cordoba was in fact easier.

Many girls here didn’t give me a chance or indulge my bad Portuguese for more than a minute.

It wasn’t common to meet a girl who speaks English like I always do in Rio.

Another problem is there are no cheap accommodations — no pousadas or hostels.

If you’re stopping by for only a weekend then stay at the pricey Ibis Vitoria hotel (R$125-155 a night), which is within walking distance of clubs in the posh Triangulo district.

After a couple weeks of lodging in cheap pousadas the Ibis felt like a luxury penthouse.

If that’s too expensive for you then you have to go to sketchy centro a couple miles away, within walking distance of favelas.

There your best option is the Cannes Palace, a clean hotel with wireless internet, air conditioning, and mini-fridge.

It’ll set you back R$69 a night.

If that’s still too much, then try the run-down Hotel Avenida two blocks away from the Cannes.

It’s R$55 a night for their best rooms but you don’t get air conditioning or a fridge.

The key to not breaking the bank here is to go to clubs before 11 for their “happy” specials.

Let me explain how it works.

If you don’t get to the club early, you pay something like a R$40 or more cover and then drinks on top of that. 

The most popular club in Triangulo is Casa (“Home”), which gets packed starting on Thursday.

Most girls here are absolutely brutal but I won’t say it’s impossible.

There are a handful of clubs nearby and they all seem similar.

On weekends the streets pack and form a little bloco, making for fun street game attempts.

My top club recommendation is São Firmino, half a mile away from the Triangulo.

It’s packed with girls that are slightly nicer than the ones in Triangulo but just as beautiful.

This is where I got a little lucky, partially thanks to there being more girls than guys early on.

An alternative to Vitória is Belo Horizonte, the state capital of neighboring Minas Gerais.

I haven’t been there yet but from what I read it seems like a larger version of Vitória but with nicer girls and a hostel.

I also hear good things coming out of Porto Alegre and Brasilia, where being a Westerner carries higher status than in Vitória and definitely Rio, which I believe is going through Westerner fatigue.

I can’t say Vitória is better than Cordoba or Rio because of the accommodation problem, but with nice clubs and an excess of beautiful (but difficult) women, it’s worth your time if you don’t mind spending a little bit of money. 

If you’re conversational in Portuguese then this is a must-visit city.

Until next time.

Your man,

-Elijah “The Realist”