Brazil

Entry rules for Brazil depend heavily on your nationality. As of April 2025, citizens of the United States, Canada and Australia again need a visa — now an eVisa, applied for online through the official VFS Global portal before you travel. The eVisa is multiple-entry and valid for several years (10 years for US passports, 5 years for Canadian and Australian), but each stay is capped at 90 days, with a 180-day annual limit. Airlines will not board you without an approved eVisa, so apply at least a couple of weeks ahead.

Citizens of the UK, the EU/Schengen countries and most of South America can enter visa-free for tourism for up to 90 days within any 180-day period, extendable once at the Polícia Federal for a further 90 days. Your passport must be valid for the duration of your stay (six months' validity is a common airline rule of thumb).

Brazil does not require a yellow fever vaccination certificate to enter the country, but the WHO, CDC and most national health services strongly recommend the vaccine if you'll visit the Amazon, Pantanal, Iguaçu Falls or many interior states. Plan ahead: the vaccine needs to be given at least 10 days before travel, and neighbouring countries (including most of Brazil's land borders) may demand the certificate if you cross from Brazil.

Brazil's currency is the real (BRL, symbol R$). Card payments — Visa and Mastercard especially — are very widely accepted in cities, including in taxis, restaurants and small shops; American Express works at hotels and upscale spots but is less universal. Contactless is standard. Still carry a little cash for beach vendors, smaller towns and the odd market stall.

The big shift of the last few years is Pix, Brazil's instant bank-to-bank payment system run by the Central Bank. It's now ubiquitous — locals pay for everything from a coconut on the beach to a restaurant bill by scanning a QR code, and many merchants offer small discounts for paying with Pix instead of card. Pix traditionally needs a Brazilian CPF (tax ID) and bank account, but a growing number of tourist-facing apps now let foreigners pay via Pix using just a passport.

Tipping is light. Restaurants almost always add a 10% 'serviço' (service charge) to the bill — it's optional but customary to leave it, and if you do, no extra tip is expected. For taxis and rideshare, rounding up the fare is enough; small tips for hotel porters and housekeeping are appreciated but not required.

Brazilians are famously warm, and greetings are physical. A handshake works in business, but socially you'll get a cheek kiss (one in São Paulo, two in Rio, sometimes three elsewhere) between women, and between women and men; men greet each other with a handshake or a back-slapping hug. Address people informally with 'você' rather than the more formal 'o senhor / a senhora' unless the setting clearly calls for it.

Time is flexible. The 'jeitinho brasileiro' — the Brazilian knack for finding a workaround — runs through daily life, and so does a relaxed attitude to punctuality: social events start later than stated, and 'just a minute' rarely is. Take it in stride; pushing back hard on small delays comes across as rude.

Two things are close to sacred: football and music. Have a view on your favourite team (Flamengo, Corinthians, Palmeiras and others inspire serious loyalty) and you'll have conversation forever. Musical pride is regional — samba and bossa nova in Rio, forró and axé in the Northeast, sertanejo across the interior — and asking locals what they listen to is a good way in. Portuguese is the language; don't assume Spanish, and a few words of Portuguese go a long way.

Brazil is huge — bigger than the contiguous United States — so domestic flights are essential for anything beyond a single region. The three main carriers are GOL, LATAM and Azul, and internal routes are competitive and often cheap if booked ahead. São Paulo (Guarulhos / Congonhas), Rio (Galeão / Santos Dumont) and Brasília are the major hubs.

Long-distance buses are a solid option for shorter hops where flying isn't worth the airport hassle — operators like Viação Cometa, Itapemirim and 1001 connect the Southeast and South in comfort, with executive and 'leito' (fully reclining) seats on overnight services. Distances elsewhere (Amazon, Northeast interior) are vast enough that flying almost always wins.

In cities, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro both have metro systems that are clean, safe and the fastest way around at rush hour. Pay with a rechargeable Bilhete Único card in São Paulo or RioCard in Rio (single fares and integrated bus + metro options). For everything else, use Uber or the local rideshare app 99 — both are cheap, reliable and significantly safer than flagging a street taxi, especially at night.

Mobile coverage is good in cities and along the coast, patchier in the Amazon and remote interior. The three main carriers are Vivo, Claro and TIM, and all support eSIM — the easiest option for a short trip is to buy a tourist eSIM (Claro's Flex Pass is designed for visitors and the app runs in English) and activate it on arrival. Physical prepaid SIMs from carrier shops technically require a Brazilian CPF, which makes them a hassle for tourists.

WhatsApp is essentially the default way Brazilians communicate — with friends, family, restaurants, hotels, tour operators and even businesses. Expect to book a tour or confirm a reservation over WhatsApp rather than email or phone. Install it before you arrive.

Wi-Fi is widely available in hotels, cafés, shopping centres and airports, though speeds vary. Brazil's country code is +55, followed by a two-digit area code (e.g. 11 for São Paulo, 21 for Rio) and an eight- or nine-digit number.

Street crime in major Brazilian cities is a genuine issue, not something to wave away. Pickpocketing, phone-snatching and armed robbery happen, particularly in Rio (favela edges, parts of the Zona Sul beaches at night, Lapa late) and in central São Paulo (the old centro, Luz, parts of República after dark). Use common sense: don't display jewellery, watches or expensive phones in the street; carry only what you need; keep a small amount of cash in a separate pocket; and don't resist if you are robbed.

At night, take Uber or 99 door to door rather than walking, even for short distances. Avoid ATMs on the street and inside small shops — use ones inside bank branches or shopping malls during the day. Be alert to 'express kidnapping' (a short kidnap to force ATM withdrawals) and to drinks being spiked in bars and on beaches; don't leave drinks unattended.

Health-wise, the main risks are mosquito-borne illnesses — dengue has been at epidemic levels in recent years, with Zika and chikungunya also present — so use repellent (DEET or icaridin) and wear long sleeves at dawn and dusk. Tap water is generally not considered safe to drink; stick to bottled or filtered water. Emergency numbers: 190 for police, 192 for ambulance, 193 for fire. Travel insurance with medical coverage is strongly advised.

Power: Brazil is the rare country that runs on two different voltages depending on the region — 127V in most of the South and Southeast (including São Paulo and Rio) and 220V in much of the Northeast and in Brasília. Outlets look identical, so check before plugging anything in. The standard plug is Type N (three round pins) since 2010, though older Type A, B and C outlets still turn up. Modern phone and laptop chargers handle both voltages; single-voltage appliances (older hair dryers, etc.) can fry.

Language: the official language is Portuguese — specifically Brazilian Portuguese, which sounds quite different from European Portuguese. English is spoken in upscale hotels, tour operators and among younger people in big cities, but is far from universal; a translation app is genuinely useful, and a few Portuguese words ('obrigado/obrigada', 'por favor', 'tudo bem?') go a long way.

Best time to visit: the dry season runs roughly May to October for most of the country, and is the most comfortable time for the Amazon, the Pantanal and inland travel. The Northeast coast is warm year-round. December to February is Brazilian summer — peak beach season, hot, busy and expensive, and the run-up to Carnival in February or early March.

Time zones: Brazil spans four time zones, from UTC-2 (the Atlantic islands) to UTC-5 (the far western Amazon), with most of the country — including Rio, São Paulo, Brasília and Salvador — on UTC-3. Brazil abolished daylight saving time in 2019, so clocks stay put all year.