The sand at Praia do Futuro stays warm well into the evening. The Atlantic never drops below 27°C. A full lunch costs under €5. Iberia flies non-stop from Madrid for €560 return this February and March.
✈️ The deal
- From: Madrid, Spain
- To: Fortaleza, Brazil
- Airline: Iberia
- Stops: Non-stop
- Price: €560–€599 return
- When: February, March
Example dates:
20/02/2027 – 20/03/2027
28/02/2027 – 20/03/2027
04/03/2027 – 20/03/2027
06/03/2027 – 21/03/2027
07/03/2027 – 25/04/2027
09/03/2027 – 21/03/2027
💰 How far does your money go?
A cold chopp (draft beer) at any beach bar costs about R$8, roughly €1.50. A prato feito, the Brazilian set lunch of rice, beans, meat and salad, comes in at R$25 (€4.50). Even a caipirinha, Brazil's national cocktail, rarely tops R$18 (€3). That is less than a caña back home, for a cocktail on the beach.
☀️ The weather
February and March in Fortaleza sit between 27 and 31°C, with sea temperatures around 28°C. It is technically the rainy season, but showers are short and sharp: the sun is usually back within the hour. Evenings stay warm all night.
🏨 Where to stay
From compact guesthouses to beachfront towers, Meireles and Praia do Futuro have the widest choice.
Pousada do Sol — 8.2/10 · From €25/night
A clean, well-kept guesthouse with a pool and a short walk from Meireles Beach. Good value for anyone planning to spend most of their time out on the coast.
Gran Mareiro Hotel — 8.5/10 · From €65/night
Right on Praia do Futuro with a seafront pool. A reliable mid-range option with consistently good reviews.
Hotel Gran Marquise — 8.9/10 · From €90/night
A five-star beachfront hotel near Mucuripe Beach with a spa, rooftop pool and one of the best breakfasts in the city.
🎯 What to do
Trade winds, sand dunes, cultural spaces and a market that sells everything.
Praia do Futuro — Five kilometres of Atlantic beach backed by barracas. Come for the sea, stay for the grilled fish, cold beer and the crowd that arrives from 4pm onwards.
Dragão do Mar Cultural Centre — Museums, galleries, a planetarium and an open-air amphitheatre all in one complex in the Iracema district. The rooftop bars stay busy until late.
Mercado Central — Five floors of regional crafts, cachaça, hammocks and street food in the heart of the city. Worth a full morning.
Dune buggy along the coast — Drive northwest through dunes and fishing villages to the freshwater lagoons at Cumbuco. One of the best ways to see this stretch of Brazilian coast.
🗺️ Where to go from here
Fortaleza is a gateway to some of the best coastline in South America.
Jericoacoara — 4 hours northwest by 4x4 across sand tracks. An isolated village inside a national park, with white dunes, lagoons and a legendary sunset dune. Worth the effort.
Canoa Quebrada — 3 hours southeast. Red sandstone cliffs, white dunes and a small town with a lively nightlife strip. Easy to reach by bus.
Cumbuco — 40 minutes west. One of the top kitesurfing spots in the world, with freshwater dune lagoons and wide empty beaches.
Morro Branco — 1.5 hours east. Colourful sand cliffs rising straight from the beach, best seen in the early morning light.
€560 for a non-stop Iberia flight from Madrid to one of Brazil's great beach cities. These prices do not stick around.
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