EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

On the eastern fringes of Treze Tílias, along the Linha Pinhal road leading to VIDEIRA , the population is mainly of Italian origin, descended from migrants who came from Rio Grande do Sul in the 1940s, their brightly painted wooden houses instantly distinguised from the Austrians' chalets. Vines dominate the landscape, and if you visit a colônia you'll probably be invited to taste their home-produced salami, cachaça or the wine - it's only polite to buy a bottle before leaving. In Videira itself the small, but well-organized Museu do Vinho (Mon-Fri 8.30-11am & 1.30-5.45pm) next to the main church, is worth half an hour or so. The displays relate to the local wine-making skills in the early years of settlement.

Videira itself doesn't justify more than the briefest of pauses between buses which are, unfortunately, far less frequent than those from Joaçaba. If you need a hotel , and there's no time to go to Treze Tílias, walk down the hill on Avenida Dom Pedro II from the Rodoviária and turn right at the Shell station onto Rua Brasil (the main commercial street); the inexpensive Savannah Hotel ($10-20) and restaurant is the first building on the left. Alternatively, crossing the river over the bridge at the bottom of Rua Brasil, next to the local bus terminal, you'll come to Videira's luxury Hotel Verde Vale Palace (tel 049/566-1622; $50-70), whose reasonably priced restaurant serves the best food in town - not that there's much competition. If you're looking for somewhere cheaper, try the Hotel das Videiras (tel 049/566-0421; $20-35) at Rua Paulo Ogliari 52.