Novo Hamburgo is where the Rota Romântica begins, and it begins with leather. This is a city of a quarter of a million people on the Rio dos Sinos, about forty kilometres north of Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul, and for most of the twentieth century it made a large share of Brazil's shoes. Factories, tanneries and outlet stores still line the main roads, and the city carries its nickname, capital of footwear, without any embarrassment. It is the commercial end of a German-speaking colonisation story that started in the 1820s.
The first German settlers in the state arrived in 1824 at nearby São Leopoldo, and the valley of the Sinos river filled up with farmers, craftsmen and tradespeople from the Rhineland and Hunsrück, who brought half-timbered houses, Lutheran and Catholic churches, choirs and a fondness for sausage and cake. Novo Hamburgo split from São Leopoldo much later, in the 1920s, and its historic neighbourhood of Hamburgo Velho still keeps old buildings, a museum and quiet streets under big trees. The German heritage is thinner here than in the hills, though, and the best of it is found as you climb away from the city.
For a rider, this is a gateway rather than a destination. The first kilometres out of town are urban, with traffic lights, trucks and the heavy tempo of an industrial region, and the real road starts after you leave the valley floor. Before that, treat it as a practical stop. It has fuel stations at every junction, workshops, supermarkets and a wide choice of lunch places, from self-service buffets where you pay by weight to churrascarias serving grilled meat in endless rounds. Be careful with your things in the busy centre, as you would in any Brazilian city of this size.
The countryside beyond is the Serra Gaúcha, where roads wind up from the plain through eucalyptus plantations and araucaria pines toward Nova Petrópolis and Gramado. The air cools as you gain height, the light turns clearer, and the little towns have names that sound like Bavaria. In winter, mornings can be cold and foggy even down here, and frost is not unknown on the higher roads.
The best days are in autumn and spring, when it is neither stifling nor wet. Summer heat and thunderstorms are common, with intense afternoon downpours, so an early start is wise. Plan to leave the city before the afternoon traffic, and take a waterproof layer, even if the morning looks bright.