Rota turística e gastronômica Santa Maria - Silveira Martins, Gastronomic tourism route in Santa Maria and Silveira Martins, Brazil

The Rota turistica e gastronomica Santa Maria - Silveira Martins is a rural route connecting multiple farms between two towns that specialize in artisanal food production. Visitors find cheese makers, wine producers, distilleries, and sweet-making workshops spread across private properties along the way.

Italian immigrants settled the Silveira Martins area in the late 19th century, founding small farms on the hills between Santa Maria and the town. The route linking these rural properties was later organised as a gastronomic tourism itinerary. Many families still work the same land, and the cheese, wine and sweets sold along the way come from those original holdings.

Producers along this route maintain traditional methods for making artisanal cachaca, preparing regional dishes, and producing colonial-style foods. Visitors can observe these practices directly and understand how local food traditions continue today.

The route links private rural properties between Santa Maria and Silveira Martins, so arrange visits with each producer beforehand; opening hours change through the year. Many properties sell their cheese, wine, cachaça and colonial sweets on site and offer tastings. A car is the practical way to cover the scattered stops.

The route links Santa Maria to Silveira Martins, a settlement founded by Italian immigrants in the 19th century in the Serra region of Rio Grande do Sul. Along the way, farms open their cellars and kitchens so visitors can join grape pressing, cheese making and colonial cooking, tasks normally done out of sight.