10 Brazil Vacation Tips The Top Travel Blogs Missed

If you’re planning a Brazil vacation, hopefully one of the first things you’ll notice is, at least for US citizens, there’s a travel advisory for Brazil (as of 2022/2023 – check the latest here). Though we were warned in advance of pick pockets and the travel advisory, it wasn’t until we actually spent some time in Brazil that it actually hit us – we were not prepared. We had read a lot of blogs about Brazil to figure out the top spots to visit, top destinations, what areas were safe, etc. But, there were a lot of tips and warnings even the top blog posts missed. Which is why, we’re going to fill the gap and hopefully help a few travelers along the way.

Safety Tips

Is Brazil Safe to Vacation and Travel?

Let’s start with how safe Brazil actually is, from our experience. The US government has it listed as a Level 2, exercise increased caution. But, what does this REALLY mean, in practice?

• The US government basically says don’t travel to border lands with other countries due to crime (Iguazu Falls does not count). This is easy to follow if you’re going to the top destinations in Brazil: Rio, Salvador, and Iguazu Falls don’t fall into this category. If you’re visiting the Amazon, hopefully you’re going on a guided tour.
• Stay away from housing developments, satellite cities, favelas, vilas, etc – but did you know there’s a whole tourism industry around VISITING favelas?? More on this later.

TLDR: Don’t go outside a major city without a guided tour. Don’t walk around alone at night.

Tip #1: Do Not Visit a Favela on Your Own!

Funnily enough, I was reading a blog post that encouraged visiting a favela outside of Rio. A favela is what we might call in the US a “suburb” or “neighborhood” outside the major city where more people reside. It’s appealing for tourists, because you get more authentic visibility into Brazilian culture. It’s not appealing, however, people they are typically lower income, which means greater crime. So, please don’t do a DIY visit of a favela. Instead, plan a guided tour of a favela on your Brazil vacation.

Yes, you CAN visit a favela, but do so on a guided tour, NOT ON YOUR OWN.

Pickpocketing

Fortunately, we were warned in advance that pickpocketing is bad in Brazil. But, what we didn’t expect, is how it would happen. We’ve travelled to plenty of big cities where pickpocketing is bad – typically it’s a hand in an open pocket you can’t feel, unzipping a backpack that’s on your back instead of your front, grabbing a purse that’s dangling on your shoulder. None of these traditional pickpockets happened to us.

Instead, we had a group of thieves try to knock our phone out of our hands to steal it from the ground. Fortunately, it didn’t work. Nonetheless, huge lesson learned –

Tip #2: Do Not Underestimate Pickpockets/Put Your New iPhone Away!

Our situation was unfortunately a perfect storm for a pickpocket:

• We were at a huge NYE celebration at Copacabana.
• We were drunk.
• Satish was holding my phone is his hands to watch the Michigan football game (a mistake).
• The phone had credit cards sticking out the back.
• The phone was a huge and eye-catching iPhone 13 Max Pro (pickpockets target the three lens phones because they know they’re more expensive).
• Satish was wearing glasses – they actually knocked these off his face, likely to disorient him.

Pickpockets target flashy objects with vulnerable tourists, regardless of how public or private place you are in or where the flashy object is on your body.

After our vacation in Brazil, we learned that iPhones are more expensive in Brazil than in the US, which is why iPhones are specifically targeted. In fact, in Florida you’ll see Brazilians flying in, buying 10 iPhones, and taking them back to Brazil to sell.

To protect you from pickpockets, we recommend carrying a strategic bag for your belongings. For example, a backpack, a fanny pack, or this Lululemon cross-body bag dupe from Amazon (paid link). Don’t carry your passport on you! Save a picture on your phone and lock it up in your hotel/hostel room. Remember to wear your bag somewhere you can see it (not on your back) and somewhere secure (not loosely on your shoulder).

Is it Safe to Solo Vacation in Brazil?

Despite our pickpocket incident, we would’ve each felt comfortable traveling through Brazil on our own if that was our travel style (assuming we were visiting the same places and if not, on a guided tour). If you’re going solo, we would recommend not walking around at night by yourself. Consider staying at a hostel or joining free walking tours around the major cities.

Tip #3: Ubers are Safe!

This one we did find online after some digging, so it is common knowledge to feel safe to grab an Uber in the major cities.

Know that Ubers are affordable ($5-10 average ride) and safe. Use Ubers instead of haggling with Taxi drivers or walking in the dark.

Brazil Airport Tips for Your Vacation

Tip #4: Avoid GOL Airlines if You Can

Coming from Chicago, we booked our trip through United, who doesn’t operate flights within Brazil, only to Sao Paulo. You’ll notice most flights to Brazil send you to Sao Paulo, where you can then take a connection to your final destination.

United booked our connection through GOL airlines, which, inconveniently, is NOT a United partner (it is an American partner, get your miles there). But that meant anytime GOL messed up (and they did on almost every flight), United was very much “not my problem!”

For our Brazil vacation, we had a total of 5 flights and two connections with GOL airlines. Every flight was delayed, and we missed both connections. For one of the connections, we even asked two gate agents if we would make our connection. They both reassured us our next flight was delayed and we would make it. Well, we didn’t!

On our flight back home from Rio de Janeiro, through Sao Paulo, to Chicago, our initial flight was on GOL. When we finally landed in Sao Paulo, it took us 30 minutes to deplane because the guys responsible for connection the stairs/jet bridge were arguing about logistics and contemplating making us all sit back down so they could taxi the plane to a different location. Very unorganized…

And to add to the mayhem, when we missed our connection at 10:00 PM in Sao Paulo, there were no GOL employees to help us in the international terminal, no United employees, and when we called GOL, we were left with a voicemail message saying their customer service hours end at 10:00 PM Brazilian time. Try booking with LATAM instead, hopefully you’ll have better luck than us.

Tip #5: Understand the International Terminal Location at GRU (Sao Paulo) in Advance of Your Vacation

Most international flights will arrive in GRU (Sao Paulo’s main international airport). Make sure your connection time is long enough, because the international terminal is separate from the domestic terminals. For us, it was typically a 20 minute walk or 10 minute bus ride over. Or, in the case where we were late, a 10 minute sprint across the airport.

Additionally, you have to collect your checked bags (if you have any), go through customs, re-check luggage, and go back through security. You need at least a 2 hour layover here. Here’s a link to a map if you want to save it for your travels.

Destination Tips for a Brazil Vacation

Tip #6: Sao Paulo isn’t Worth More than 4 Hours of Your Vacation in Brazil

We read some blogs who go in depth about visiting Sao Paulo and adding it to your list of places to visit in Brazil. That’s cool, but if you’re in Brazil for a limited-time, Sao Paulo should not be a top destination. Prioritize Rio de Janeiro, Iguazu Falls, Salvador, and the Amazon (in no particular order). We would only recommend visiting Sao Paulo if you get stuck with a layover or if you’re there for a work trip. We were forced to spend 24 hours in Sao Paulo because of a missed-connection and we struggled to fill a day. Don’t get us wrong, there are plenty of things to do. However, they’re pretty far from each other (lots of time in Ubers). From our experience, we didn’t find Sao Paulo as adventurous and cultural as places like Salvador and Rio de Janeiro.

Tip #7: Research and Buy Attraction Tickets in Advance – Especially in Rio

The blogs on Brazil will tell you where to go, but not a lot of them will warn you about tickets. We read one blog that mentioned getting tickets for Sugarloaf Mountain. But, after having visited, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting tickets for Sugarloaf Mountain. Same with Parque Lage in Rio de Janeiro, Iguazu falls, etc (these two are timed-entry). You’ll save time in lines. Long story short, research whether you need a ticket, and if its not needed but recommended, still get it. Check out Rio de Janeiro: Don’t Miss the Best of the City in this 3-Day Itinerary, for specific tips on tickets to get in advance in Rio.

Tip #8: Avoid the Brazil-Argentina Border Car Line (Iguazu Falls)

If you have plans to visit Iguazu Falls (we recommend it!), realize there are two sides to the falls. Similar to Niagara Falls, Iguazu Falls borders two countries. So, you can see it from both Brazil and Argentina. It’s worth seeing both sides. Afterall, its a 7 New Natural Wonder and both sides offer different experiences.

To cross the border between Brazil and Argentina, there’s a huge car line at customs. Our tour guide informed us this was because the gas in Argentina is cheaper than Brazil, which leads to a huge traffic pile-up at the border. Luckily for us, we had booked a transfer service that helped us skip the line. They essentially drove us to the border and directed us towards where to cross the border walking. Then, there was another driver on the other side waiting to pick us up. This service saved us hours and hours of waiting and was incredibly seamless. Check out our full post on how to see both sides of Iguazu Falls in 1 Day with a transfer service hack!

Other Brazil Vacation Tips

Tip #9: Check Your Cell Phone Plan for Latin America Coverage

With the ever-rising ease of getting cellular data in foreign countries, we never travel without data anymore. Because we HAD to stream the Michigan football game on NYE, we had already planned on using the AT&T Passport plan (its $10/day). Upon initial research, we realized a basic eSIM would not have gotten us enough data to stream a football game at a cheaper price (lol).

But, that research was a waste, because little did we know that one of our phones had AT&T unlimited premium (not sponsored). This AT&T plan keeps your US coverage while travelling in Latin America at no extra cost. It covers you in Mexico and South America, except for French Guiana.

Tip #10: Download the Google Translate App

We had assumed, which is always a mistake, that enough people in the tourism industry would speak at least one of either Spanish or English. We were surprised to find that, actually, 90% of the Brazilians we interacted with only spoke Portuguese. And, Satish’s 4 years of Spanish did not have enough crossover with the Portuguese language to get us through the trip.

If you’re staying at a Marriot, Hilton, Hyatt, etc you will have a much higher chance of working with someone who speaks English. But, even in Rio, the restaurants and Uber drivers we interacted with did not speak either English nor Spanish. So, download Google Translate.

Got Questions?

What additional questions do you have? Comment below and we’ll answer them for you from experience, or point you to a good resource!

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