It’s a slow train ride from Curitiba to Morretes. If you have been in train in another country this would feel average to you. Train ride is fine, it has some nice hills towards the end of the journey. It’s not exciting as the hype. Morretes has restaurants majorly and few waterfalls. Onward journey is okay and you need to ensure you book the return journey via bus in advance or book a tour which includes. Taxis are not easily available to come back to Curitiba and they charge double.

Every stop is beautiful. Vila Velha is almost surreal and the walk through the park is great for taking photos. The craters are really neat but harder to photograph if it’s sunny. And the German restaurant was fantastic.

It was a bit disorganized; we had selected an English guide but were put in a Portuguese speaking group. We also never received the train vouches we needed to board the train which we were supposed to have received by email. That being said… The train ride through the Atlantic rainforest was beautiful and almost surreal. You pass over waterfalls, rivers, and the plant life feels like you’re living Romancing the Stone. The guides on the train are super fun and engaging and def added to the experience. Morretes is beautiful but make sure you bring a rain jacket/sweatshirt if you go during winter. The other stops are pretty quick but the views are nice. If you have a bad back/neck/knees and sitting in a car for long periods of time hurts you, I would sit this one out. But otherwise it was an interesting day.

Tour included pickup from the hotel to the train. The train ride, a museum tour in Morretes, a tasty Brazilian lunch, van ride to a small town with a banana candy store and a van ride back to the hotel. We paid for an English tour and we had that once we were in Morretes but the trian ride was all in Portuguese. Beautiful scenery and it was a pleasant trek. Had some cloudy weather so we did not get to see everything from the train but it was still nice.

Tranquil and not crowded! A pleasant walk, small botanical garden compared to most. A quick walk outside gives a good feel of the neighbourhood!

The guide was excellent and spoke English well. And the views were superb. We did a lot of walking and were tired at the end, a good tired.

Booked and received email confirmation. On the day no one arrived at the agreed time to pick me up. Tried calling however no one spoke English so tried emailing and had no response. After getting someone who spoke some Portuguese to ring I was finally picked up 2.5 hours after the agreed time by a local guide Vivienne in her car. It was just me on the tour, Vivienne was great at explaining local history etc., I can’t fault Vivienne in the service she provided. Being a Monday, the Park was very quiet and had it to myself which was lovely. Spent about 3 hours in the park. The Golden Lake wasn’t really worth seeing. Being a Monday, the German restaurant was closed so we went to a Brazilian restaurant which was a buffet lunch at a highway stop restaurant. It was average compared to some of the restaurants I’ve eaten at in Brazil. Didn’t get to see some things offered in the tour because they were closed. Overall I don’t think it was worth $220 (Aus) - you could find a cheaper way to do the Park.

It was a very long trip with not much to see. The trees along side the railway are masking the few things to see. the diesel locomotives are not in good condition and emit a lot of smoke. what is unpleasant in the tunnels. The food served is typical and pretty good. I will probably not recommend it to friends.

My trip to Curitiba was nothing short of extraordinary. The city's unique blend of modernity and green spaces left me captivated. From the innovative urban planning to the picturesque botanical gardens, every moment was a delightful discovery. The local cuisine offered a palate-pleasing journey, and the warm hospitality of the people added a special charm. Curitiba's rich cultural tapestry, vibrant street art, and efficient public transportation made exploring effortless. It's a destination that seamlessly balances tradition and progress, making my experience truly unforgettable.

Miss communication with the agency, first call they will pick me up, after an email they are not. Later I called back. They will puck me up at different time was the tour. Later they called the hotel and left messages can't be , and they change the tour I brought with four stops,and also in portugués when i requested English. I got the later tour with three stops. Only the driver and the guide was nice

Being unaware how to navigate tour offerings in a country where few people speak any English, I booked to visit Vila Velha through the Tripadvisor link. From the description I was expecting to spend a few hours on a less-than-appealing bus tour with 30-40 others, but was in the end delighted to find that I was the only person who had booked for that day, so got a private guided tour from an excellent local host (Vivian), who drove me to the site in her own car, spoke good English, was highly knowledgeable about all relevant topics, and great fun to spend the day with. The day was cold and the rain was relentless, but this hardly mattered, apart from the fact that the second half of the visitor trail at the great sandstones was unadvised, due to being dangerously slippery. We started with coffee at the visitor centre. I then walked the first half of the trail in the rain, experiencing the magnificence and other-worldliness of the rock formations, whilst Vivian took the road below, collecting me at the end of the trail to ferry me on to the furnas (sinkholes) and the golden pond, where we saw biscutate swifts ducking and diving over the water, presumably seeking out water-borne insect prey. In the teeming rain the pond was green and silver-grey rather than golden, but still beautiful. After lunch back at the visitor centre cafe (vegetarian options provided) we drove back via Witmarsum Menonite German colony, visiting the local deli selling cheeses, beers and jams. The only negative for this excellent tour was the fact that the contact details to confirm pickup venue and time given by Tripadvisor were unhelpful – just a phone number offering an automated menu announcement in crackly Portuguese, for which I selected a random number to press and eventually got connected in stages to a rep who spoke enough English. I had earlier attempted to send an SMS, which was not replied to. Tripadvisor should provide a proper suite of contact options in English language: email, SMS, WhatsApp as well as voice. I wonder how many visitors fail to make the necessary contact and miss out.

This is a wonderful trip and well arranged by Viator and Gray line. The trip was well planned and the agent came to pick up at the designated time in the hotel lobby. You are taken to the train station and there is a huge crowd going to Morretes. There are many coaches on the train. Our cab had a viewing area in the middle for wide views. The staff in the train were the best. They gave a nice presentation and you could get unlimited drinks, even beer, with a snack box. At Morretes, the guide picks you up in a van and the first stop is a restaurant where you try the local dish, Borreado. It is a slow cooked meat dish, eaten with cassava flour, garnishes, banana etc. After a lunch stop, we went to a interactive park where there was a an exhibit on the history of Parana state. Commentary is in Portuguese, but there are signs in English to follow along. After this, we were driven to the lovely bay city of Antonina for 20 minute stop. It has pretty sights. Later, we were taken by road back to our hotel in Morretes. All in all, it was a fun and education trip. The train through an Atlantic forest is amazing.

Don’t visit too early or on a cloudy day. A perfect whole day trip. I would do it again the other way around next time.

I had the guide to myself so I was able to dictate the pace and take time to soak it all in whenever I wanted to. Not sure if it would be as good in a larger group with others to consider. The guide was allowed to take his car in too, which apparently is not always the case and meant that we didn't have to follow a timetable. The drive from Curitiba is quite long but it's through beautiful farming country and is a lovely trip. At the park we wandered around the sandstone "sculptures" on a well-defined pathway, then went along the trail which was great jungle-lite fun and good practice if you're heading north for the real thing. The first cave was closed. The second one was in a pretty spot but basically looked like a hole (this is not a tour where you're exploring the caves at all). The golden lake was nice but not golden at the time of day we were there. There was a zip line that looked like great fun but the staff at the park wouldn't let me shoot with my GoPro (they want you to overpay wildly for the photos they take) so I didn't bother. They didn't get my money for a ticket, they're not getting tagged if I put my experience on social media, and this no-filming policy - which is apparently new - seems to me a self-defeating exercise in mercenary tourist-bilking which needs to be rethought. The ticket includes lunch at a mini German village, and the food was excellent and the portions were large. My guide Lothar (spelling?) was knowledgable and fun to talk with throughout the trip. I'm not sure how many guides they have - I'm sure they're all fine - but I felt lucky to have landed with someone so warm, friendly and enthusiastic.

I paid for an 8am tour, but I suddenly got a message saying I would be picked up at 9… but I didn’t get picked up until 9:30, no explanation given. Even though I paid for a tour in spanish, this tour was definetively NOT in spanish. Ocasionally the tour guide would look at me and tell me, in spanish, about 5% of the info he shared in portuguese to the rest of the crowd. Thank God I understand a bit of portuguese.