For our 3rd trip to South America, we decided to visit Brazil, a country we have always been intrigued about. Brazil is the largest country in South America, the 5th largest country by area, and the 7th most populous in the world. In this post, we share tips about planning a trip to Brazil based on our recent visit in September 2023.
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1) When to visit:
The best time to visit Brazil does depend on where you will be visiting and there are lots of varying opinions, but generally September to November are suggested to get better weather. If you are interested in attending Carnival festivities, then February-early March is recommended. Overall, we did enjoy the weather in the three spots we visited in October, but we did some have rainier days too. Below are some graphs from Weather Spark with some average trends.
2) How long to stay:
Our trip to Brazil was a little quick and rushed as we only had 8 days. Next time we visit, we would plan for at least 2 weeks. Based on how many interesting places there are to visit in Brazil, that you won’t find out about until you’re there, you may also plan for an even longer trip, perhaps a month or all of winter! More on that later.
For our itinerary, we had a short layover in Sao Paolo to enjoy some time there. We then flew to Porto Seguro and drove about 1 hour away to Trancoso to enjoy 4 relaxing days by the sea. And for the finale, we had fun in Rio de Janeiro for 3 days before making the long journey back home.
For our next itinerary, we would definitely visit Rio again, add a trip to Belo Horizonte, visit Manuel Antonio, stop at Itacare, and consider going back to Trancoso because of how much we loved staying at Casa de Perainda. We are also intrigued by some of the amazon jungle lodges in Manaus. As you can see, there are many places to visit in Brazil.
To summarize, there is enough to do in Brazil by planning a trip that focuses only here and traveling domestically within the country. If you are making Brazil part of a multi-country trip to South America with limited time, we recommend spending a few day in Rio de Janeiro. If you have more time, heading to Trancoso and Belo Horizonte is recommended. Full disclosure: we have not been to Belo Horizonte (pronounced Bello horee-zonch) but we heard so much about it from the locals we met, that we think it is worth visiting! Fun Fact: Anthony Bourdain visited Belo Horizonte in “Parts Unknown” season 8 episode 7.
3) Getting Here:
As we live in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, we chose to fly with Air Canada and connect via Montreal/Toronto both ways. That’s about 15 hours of flying between two flights. Right now, there is no link between South America and Vancouver and so you either connect the way we did, or head to Dallas, Atlanta, New York or Miami.
Thankfully, once you are in Brazil, it is easy to get around due to all the flight options. We flew on Gol and LATAM and had no issues and we were generally impressed with Brazilian aviation. Things ran on time and even bus gates were handled efficiently.
4) Cash VS Credit Card:
Compared to other places we visited, credit card was widely accepted everywhere in Brazil. We had to make an effort to use the cash we withdrew as everywhere accepted credit cards. Most restaurant add the 10% service charge already and so you don’t need to have tons of cash to tip and can use just small bills/change to round up as you wish.
5) Entry Requirements:
At the time of planning our trip, Brazil announced that it would cancel the visa waiver and reinstate the visa requirements for some countries due to reciprocity. Truth be told, we almost cancelled our trip because of how confusing the visa process was and the lack of information there was but thankfully, the requirement for a visa was postponed from October 1, 2023 to January 10, 2024. Unfortunately, the new visa requirements makes it more difficult and more expensive to visit the country.
Nationals of Australia, Canada and the United States will need a visitor visa to travel to Brazil as of January 10th, 2024. If you are a citizen of these countries, you can request an electronic visa (e-Visa) and there is no need to come to the Consulate to have the document issued. The e-Visa request can be made on this website: brazil.vfsevisa.com. The fee will be US$ 80.90. Processing time is approximately 5 business days.
For our next trip to Brazil though, we will need to go through the visa process, which is easy enough but adds cost and hassle. More information is available here. Particular annoying is that you need a passport sized photo and a printed bank statement showing transactions for the last 30 days with at least $2,000USD for travel. Visas for Canadians and Australians are only effective for 5 years and Americans get up to 10 years.
6) Budget:
If you are planning a trip to Brazil as a budget destination, you may be surprised at how expensive some things are. Some things are a very good deal, but others are above what you would expect from budget destinations. Overall, Brazil is considered to be the most expensive travel destination South America.
For example, you must pay foreigner prices for flights, if you do not have a CPF “Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas”, which is a tax ID issued with the Brazilian Revenue. As a result, we had to pay our flight fares, in $USD, at much higher rates. Other than actually getting a CPF, there isn’t really any way to get around this.
Generally, we found our meals affordable and we definitely found deals. Eating at nicer spots in Rio de Janeiro and at the touristy restaurants in the Quadrado of Trancoso are comparable to meals here.
Some things are extremely expensive and we did find Trancoso in general, is very expensive. For example, many beach clubs in Trancoso have a minimum consumption per person to enjoy the beach chairs and facilities that range from $50 to $150CAD. A shared fish moqueca in the Quadrado of Trancoso is worth the splurge but averages at $70-$100CAD. In Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, it was easy to find meals in the $20-$50 range.
For hotels, we did not use points but we were able to apply points obtained from our HSBC World Visa Master Card to offset some of the costs per night. In Sao Paolo, we were able to stay under $200 per night at the Intercontinental Sao Paolo, but we did splurge to stay at Casa de Perainda in Trancoso. In Rio de Janeiro, we booked a stay at the Fairmont Rio de Janeiro using a “stay for 3 nights but pay for 2 nights” deal from booking with Virtuoso. We did pay more for accommodations on this trip than we did for our trip to Mauritius in April 2023.
Things that were cheap in Brazil? Uber/Lyft was always a good deal and the price of Havainas is also good!
If you want to have a budget trip in Brazil, it will take some planning but it can be done! We also think splurging on some of our hotels enhanced our enjoyment of our trip.
7) Getting Around:
As we mentioned, Uber/Lyft was cheap and reliable in Brazil. Sao Paolo has a nice subway system but we didn’t get to use it as we didn’t have enough time. It was also very easy to connect at various parts of our itinerary with non-stop flights to avoid connections due to how many airports and options there are, especially in Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro. We also found it pleasant to walk in Rio and Sao Paolo but also did take some precautions.
We do not recommend driving in Brazil unless you know Portuguese. People do drive faster and more aggressively than we are used to in Canada, generally. We had considered renting a car in Porto Seguro to drive to Trancoso and explore but we are happy we avoided driving all together. We would consider renting a car for this leg of the trip next time as we know what to expect.
8) Safety in Brazil:
The Government of Canada Travel Advisory for Brazil is “Exercise a High Degree of Caution”. Generally, we felt safe and comfortable in Sao Paolo, Trancoso, and Rio de Janeiro. We took extra precautions when walking in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, like having a decoy phone and wallet with some small notes in it, being less adventurous after dark, and taking Ubers/Lyfts more often. This is something we’ve done in South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, Thailand, Malaysia, Argentina, Chile, and other countries as well.
In addition, we were very mindful about where we took our phone out and made sure to not wear any jewelry at all. This is advice that was echoed by local people we met and spoke to. It is also recommended to wait inside where you had your meal or drink for an Uber to avoid taking your phone out in public.
The local people we spoke to also explained that visiting favelas. There might be some circumstances where visiting a favela is warranted but it is not common and should be avoided. We can understand why people may want to visit a favela but the dynamics of poverty tourism are complicated and there are other way to support communities that need help. We also contemplated visiting Salvadore in Bahia and while locals do think it is a very unique city to visit, they did say it can be unsafe.
Generally, we never experienced anything that made us feel unsafe and do acknowledge there are safety concerns for tourists in Brazil but also think that often the worse is shared and sensationalized. We also feel some parts of Vancouver feel unsafer than what we experienced in Brazil but for different reasons. Crime is a problem in Brazil, but can you visit and have a safe trip? We think this is possible by taking some precautions and having general street smarts.
9) Language:
Portuguese is the official language of Brazil. We were hopeful English would be commonly spoken as a second language but it was not. We had to use Google Translate often to communicate at hotels, restaurants, in cars, at the airport. Traveling domestically, we were always guessing the announcements at the airport, as they are usually only done in Portuguese!
In Rio, English is more commonly spoken than Sao Paolo and Trancoso. That being said, everyone was very friendly and tried very hard to be accommodating and helpful with us. It was common for someone to ask everyone at the restaurant if there was an English speaker and to get that person’s help to act as an interpreter.
If you know some Spanish and think you’ll be able to pick up Portuguese as easily, you may be surprised at how different they are. Some words are similar but Portuguese pronunciation is very different. Over the 5 days we spent at Casa de Perainda in Trancoso, we had breakfast with the other guests every morning and did get some practice but not enough to have a conversation easily or even be able to get by at a restaurant without the help of Google Translate.
We do not think that the lack of English should discourage you from visiting Brazil but using Google Translate will be very helpful, even for restaurant menus, as not many places have English copies! You can also learn a few key words and phrases in advance to help.
10) What to Pack:
Again, we traveled with carry-on and packed our essentials but here are a few things you may want to consider packing for your trip to Brazil.
- Adapter: In Brazil the power plug sockets are of type N. The standard voltage is 127 / 220 V and the frequency is 60 Hz. You will need a universal adapter or one specifically for Brazil.
- Pepto Bismol: They have tons of pharmacies everywhere in Brazil that are generally well stocked but Pepto Bismol was not stocked on the shelfs.
- Bug Spray: We ended up being bug spray with us as they had limited travel sized options for carry-on from what we saw. Restaurants also generally have bug spray for you to use as well.
- Sunscreen: You can buy sunscreen in Brazil but we found it expensive and there were limited options in travel-sized formats.
We actually found it easy to buy things we needed for the trip in most places and an enjoyed shopping in Brazil due to the nice stores and all the variety. If you do visit Brazil, check a bag, and it gets lost, you won’t have many difficulties in buying replacement items!
While it is not something to pack, our Airolo e-sim worked well in Brazil and we highly recommend using it. You can read our guide about e-sims and Airolo here.
Summary:
Overall, we enjoyed our trip to Brazil. From the chaos of sprawling Sao Paolo with its lively streets, murals, and jacarandas blooming in the spring to the slow tranquil Bahia beach life in Trancoso, to the beaches, mountains, and skyscrapers of Rio de Janeiro that are just as beautiful as seen in all the photos and videos.
We were not sure what to expect but it has left a lasting impression on us. Compared to other places we have visited, tourism infrastructure in Brazil is not well developed for foreigners outside of a few spots. A quick Google Maps exploration of the coast will show you some stunning beaches and coastline, and large cities you have never heard of. We enjoyed the places we visited but also feel there is so much more to see and do, if we can find it, and get by without driving and our limited language skills in Portuguese.
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