Rio Grande do Sul · Brazil
Where to stay in Santa Maria
Santa Maria is a city in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, home to about 282,000 people.
- Nearest airport
- RIA12 km · Santa Maria Airport
- Currency
- BRLBrazilian real
- Time zone
- America/Sao Paulo
- Language
- Portuguese, Brazilian Sign Language
About
About Santa Maria
Santa Maria is a municipality (município) in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil. In 2025, its population was 282,395 inhabitants in a total area of 1,823 square kilometres (704 sq mi).
With a population of around 285,000 inhabitants, "Santa Maria da Boca do Monte", as it is known for being surrounded by hills, is a university town with a vibrant nightlife, known for the Federal University of Santa Maria, one of the most important public universities in the country. The city is also home to several museums and historic churches. However, the main attraction of Santa Maria is its paleontological tourism. The city has 20 paleontological sites that house fossils found from the beginning of the 20th century.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Santa Maria
See
- Coronel Pillar Historical Center
- Edmundo Cardoso Memory House
- Gama D'Eça Educational Museum
- Historical Culture Museum of the Franciscan Brothers
- I.E.E. Olavo Bilac Historical Archive
- João Luiz Pozzobon House Museum
- Mallet Museum
- Manoel Ribas College Memorial
- Museum of Astronomy and Planetarium
- Treze de Maio Community Museum
- Vicente Pallotti Museum
- Rio Grande do Sul Japanese Immigration and Culture Memorial
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Hotels in Santa Maria
3 hotels within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| Altadomo Hotel | 0.8 km | |
| Bangalô Motel by Drops | 3.3 km | |
| Itaimbé Palace Hotel | 0.5 km |
When to go
The best time to visit Santa Maria
Santa Maria has no month that is both mild and dry by the measure used here. January is the warmest month, with average highs of 31 °C; October is the wettest, with about 196 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Santa Maria: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Santa Maria Airport (RIA), about 12 km from the city centre in a straight line.
Getting in
Leaving Porto Alegre, the main highways connecting Santa Maria to other cities in the state are BR-287 and BR-386. BR-287 has a single lane (unlike BR-386, which has four lanes), however, both highways are in good condition. From the west, BR-287 also connects São Borja, on the border with Argentina, to Santa Maria. From the south, coming from cities like Pelotas and Rio Grande, the main road that connects Santa Maria is BR-392, also with a single lane. From the north, the main road that passes through Santa Maria is the BR-158, which has a single lane.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
RIA · Santa Maria Airport
Questions
Santa Maria: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Santa Maria?
Santa Maria has no month that is both mild and dry by the measure used here. January is the warmest month, with average highs of 31 °C; October is the wettest, with about 196 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Santa Maria?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Santa Maria Airport (RIA), about 12 km from the city centre in a straight line.
What currency is used in Santa Maria?
Brazilian real (BRL).
Nearby
Destinations near Santa Maria
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.