Gramado

Gramado was settled by German and then Italian immigrants, but the town as visitors find it is a deliberate construction: from the 1970s it adopted a Bavarian and Swiss architectural code, and every new building on the main streets follows it. What that supports is a large events economy - the Natal Luz runs from late October to January with light displays, parades and ticketed shows including a spectacle staged on a lake, and it is the largest Christmas event in Brazil by attendance. The Gramado film festival each August is the country's main cinema award. Around it are the Black Lake, chocolate factories, hydrangeas along the roads in summer and the autumn colour of imported deciduous trees.

What you actually see

• Natal Luz - a Christmas season running most of three months.
• An adopted Alpine code - architecture applied by rule from the 1970s.
• The August film festival - Brazil's main cinema awards.
• Autumn colour and hydrangeas - the imported planting that defines the seasons.

When to go

October to January for Natal Luz; April to June for autumn colour. Three days.

Honest expectations

During Natal Luz the town is full, expensive and slow to move around, and the main shows sell out months ahead. The Alpine look is manufactured, not inherited. Prices in restaurants and chocolate shops are high. Traffic on the Serra road is heavy.

Nearby

Canela is next door; Nova Petropolis and Bento Goncalves are south.