In the summer or winter escaping from the city for a weekend is easy, there are lots of options in the surrounding country within a couple of hours drive. Gramado is a touristy town about 2 hours from PoA. Gramado is a Germanic settled town and plays on that for the tourism, the arquitecture reflects this with alpine style hotels and chalets. In the winter there is sometimes an inch or two of snow and you can eat fondue at any one of the specialized restaurants.

The surrounding countryside of Gramado has some spectacular scenery. Forests, canyons and mountain trails leading to waterfalls and pools where you can take a dip.

In the summer everyone goes to the beaches. There are beaches within an hour to three hours from PoA but they're not very good. The best beaches are up in the next state of Santa Catarina, and the island of Florianópolis, about 6 hours drive from PoA.