Brazil travel guide: everything you need before you book

1. Do I need a visa for Brazil?

It depends on your passport. Since 10 April 2025, citizens of the United States, Canada and Australia need an electronic visa (e-visa) to enter Brazil for tourism, business or even airport transit. Most European and South American passports remain visa-exempt for tourism.

It's applied for entirely online — no interview and no consulate visit. You'll need a passport valid for your whole stay with two free visa pages, a 2"x2" photo on a white background, the completed form and the fee.

Source: Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (gov.br) and the official VFS e-visa portal. Checked 10 Aug 2026.

2. The best time to visit Brazil

Brazil is roughly the size of a continent, so "the best time" depends entirely on where you're going. Remember the seasons are flipped: summer runs December to March, winter June to September.

If you're coming for Carnival or New Year's, you're locked to those dates — and that's peak season, so book early.

3. What a trip to Brazil actually costs

Good news for most visitors: the Brazilian real (BRL) makes Brazil affordable if you're earning in dollars, euros or pounds. A meal at a decent restaurant, a taxi across town, a beer on the beach — all cost noticeably less than in North America or Western Europe.

What isn't cheap: domestic flights (the country is enormous), and anything during Carnival or New Year's, when hotel rates in Rio and Salvador multiply.

4. Is Brazil safe? An honest answer

We're not going to tell you Brazil has no crime — it does, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. But millions of tourists visit every year without incident, and the practical reality is that most problems are opportunistic and avoidable.

• Don't walk around with your phone out in a crowd. This is the single most common incident.
• Take a rideshare or taxi at night instead of walking unfamiliar streets.
• Leave the expensive watch and jewellery at the hotel. Beach days need almost nothing.
• Carry a little cash separately and keep cards elsewhere.
• Ask your hotel which areas to avoid. They'll tell you honestly — they want you to come back.

Travelling with a local operator helps here in a way that's hard to overstate: transfers arranged, tours vetted, and someone reachable in your language if something goes wrong.

5. Carnival and New Year's — the two big ones

New Year's Eve (Réveillon)

Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro. Around two million people, almost everyone dressed in white, and fireworks launched from barges across the bay at midnight. It's free to attend — the cost is the flight and, above all, the hotel, which fills up months ahead.

Carnival

Carnival 2027 falls on Tuesday, 9 February. The celebration runs from the weekend before (6–7 Feb) through Ash Wednesday on 10 February. The date moves every year — it is always 47 days before Easter. It isn't one event but several very different ones:

• Rio — the Sambadrome parades. A ticketed stadium show, the most photographed version.
• Salvador — street carnival with trios elétricos. No stadium, no seats; you buy an abadá and follow the truck through the crowd.
• São Paulo — its own Sambadrome at Anhembi, with world-class samba schools and fewer international tourists.
• Olinda and Recife — the traditional, family-friendly version, with giant puppets in colonial streets.

→ Full Carnival guide: official dates, real ticket prices, and Rio vs Salvador vs São Paulo

6. Where to go on a first trip

The classic mistake is trying to see everything. Brazil is bigger than the contiguous United States — pick two or three places and enjoy them.

• Rio de Janeiro — the postcard. Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, Copacabana and Ipanema. Three to four days.
• Salvador (Bahia) — the cultural heart: Afro-Brazilian music, food and the colonial Pelourinho.
• Iguazu Falls — 275 waterfalls on the Argentine border. Two days is plenty and worth every hour.
• The Amazon (Manaus) — jungle lodges and the Meeting of the Waters. Give it four to five days.
• Bonito — snorkelling in rivers so clear they look computer-generated. Brazil's best-kept secret.
• Pantanal — the world's best place to see wild jaguars, and easier wildlife spotting than the Amazon.

Browse all of them, with real video from each destination, in our Brazil destination guide.

7. Practical stuff nobody tells you

• Plugs — Brazil uses type N (three round pins), 127V or 220V depending on the city. Bring a universal adapter.
• Payment — cards are accepted almost everywhere, even from beach vendors. Carry a little cash anyway.
• Language — it's Portuguese, not Spanish, and English is not widely spoken outside hotels. Learning ten words goes a very long way.
• Tipping — restaurants usually add 10%; it's customary to pay it. No need to tip beyond that.
• Distances — Rio to Manaus is a four-hour flight. Check a map before planning a route.
• Yellow fever — vaccination is recommended for the Amazon and Pantanal, and some countries ask for proof when you return. Check well before you fly.

Common questions

Go deeper

• Carnival 2027 guide — official dates, real ticket prices, Rio vs Salvador vs São Paulo
• Rio de Janeiro guide — Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf prices, beaches, where to stay
• Amazon guide — Manaus, seasons, jungle lodges and the vaccine question
• Live currency converter — today's rate for your currency
• Free e-visa checker — find out in seconds if you need one

Sources

Everything factual on this page is checked against official sources, with the date we last verified it. Entry rules and fees change — always confirm before you book, or ask us and we'll confirm for you.

• Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs — e-visa rules (checked 10 Aug 2026)
• Official Brazil e-visa portal (VFS Global) — fee and application requirements (checked 10 Aug 2026)
• Carnival 2027 dates — calculated from the ecclesiastical calendar (47 days before Easter) and confirmed against Brazilian holiday calendars (checked 10 Aug 2026)