Planning a trip to Brazil: the decisions that matter

The four decisions

Most planning advice is a list of tips. The useful version is shorter: pick the regions, pick the months for those regions, book the things that cannot be bought on arrival, and sort the documents. Everything else can be improvised on the ground.

Season is regional

There is no national best time. In most of the interior and the south-east it rains in the southern summer, from December to March. On much of the north-eastern coast the wettest months fall around the middle of the year. In the Amazon the relevant division is high water or low water.

Because of that, the choice of destination and the choice of dates are the same decision. A month that is excellent in one region can be the worst possible in another.

Distance and its consequences

There is no useful long-distance passenger rail. Between regions the options are flying or very long bus journeys, and most flights connect through a few hubs. Inside a region, attractions are rural and the roads are often unpaved, so a map distance is not a travel time.

What has to be booked ahead

• Any attraction with a daily visitor quota, which in high season sells out weeks in advance.
• Accommodation with very few rooms, which sells out regardless of season.
• Domestic flights around Brazilian holiday weeks.
• Activities that require training on a previous day, which occupy two slots rather than one.

Documents and health

Entry requirements depend on nationality, on the purpose of travel and sometimes on your onward route, and they change. The authoritative sources are the Brazilian consular authority for your country and your own airline — not a travel site, including this one.

The requirement that most often catches families out is documentation for children travelling without both parents. Those rules are enforced and the paperwork cannot be improvised at the airport.

Practical things visitors underestimate

• The sun. Much of the country sits near the equator and the UV index is high all year.
• The heat combined with humidity, which makes a short walk longer than it looks.
• Cash. Card works widely, but rural attractions and small towns are not always connected.
• Power sockets and voltage, which vary between regions of the same country.
• The size of the country, which is the single most common planning error.