Travel to Brazil

Flying to Brazil

Flights to Brazil are served by the main national carriers LATAM (www.latam.com), Azul (www.voeazul.com.br) and Gol (www.voegol.com.br).

Major airports are: Rio de Janeiro-Galeao (Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport, Salvador International Airport, Sao Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport and Brasilia International Airport.

Airport Guides

Flight times

To São Paulo: from London - 11 hours 45 minutes; New York - 9 hours 30 minutes.

To Rio de Janeiro: from London - 11 hours 30 minutes; New York - 9 hours 45 minutes.

Air passes

The GOL South America Pass (www.voegol.com.br) is valid on GOL flights within Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. The pass can only be purchased by Brazilian citizens and passengers who live outside South America. It must be booked in conjunction with an international ticket and is valid for five to 30 days.

The Oneworld Visit South America Pass (www.oneworld.com) is valid within Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile (except Easter Island), Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Participating airlines are American Airlines (AA), British Airways (BA), LAN (LA), Qatar Airways (QR), TAM (KK) and their affiliates. The pass must be bought outside South America in the country of residence. It allows unlimited travel to over 60 destinations. You can take as many flights as you like, but a you must book a minimum of three flights.

Departure tax

None.

Travelling to Brazil by Rail

Rail travel is not a viable way of getting to or from Brazil, but there is the historically nicknamed Trem da Morte (Train of Death) route between Santa Cruz in Bolivia and Corumbá in Brazil. These days the overnight journey is a bum-numbing rather than life-threatening experience, going through mostly featureless scrubland. It’s a popular route though with adventure travellers en route to the Pantanal or Bolivia. Contact Ferroviaria Oriental (www.fo.com.bo) for more information.

Driving to Brazil

It is possible to drive or travel by bus to Brazil from all surrounding countries. Entry points include the border with Argentina and Paraguay near to Foz de Iguaçu, the border with Uruguay at Jaguarão and from Venezuela via Santa Elena de Uairén.

There are plenty of bus routes from surrounding countries, and there are regular services to Brazil from Montevideo (Uruguay), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Asunción (Paraguay), Santiago (Chile), and Lima (Peru). Several reputable bus companies offer international connections, including Pluma (tel: +55 41 3212 2689, www.pluma.com.br) and Crucero del Norte (tel: +54 11 5258 5000, in Argentina; www.crucerodelnorte.com.ar).

Getting to Brazil by boat

The main passenger port is Rio de Janeiro (www.portosrio.gov.br), which is used by many international cruise ships. Other popular ports include Santos in Sao Paulo (www.portodesantos.com.br), Manaus (www.portodemanaus.com.br), Fortaleza (www.docasdoceara.com.br), Recife (www.portodorecife.pe.gov.br), Salvador (www.codeba.com.br) and Vitória.

Passenger services on cargo vessels are limited but Grimaldi Freighter (tel: +39 081 496 444, in Italy; www.grimaldi-freightercruises.com) offers departures from European ports, including Tilbury, Antwerp and Hamburg. A specialist agency in the UK is The Cruise People (tel: +44 20 7723 2450; www.cruisepeople.co.uk). Most major international cruise lines sail to Brazilian ports.

Cruise ships

The most popular ports of call are Rio de Janeiro, with a modern dockside complex, Porto Maravilha (www.portomaravilha.com.br), as well as Santos (São Paulo) and Manaus.