9 things to know before visiting Brazil
Brazil is a fascinating country to visit. It has everything a traveller could dream of from Iguazu Falls and exotic wildlife, to cities, food and culture. If you wanted to see and experience it all you would need at least a year. But, even if you only see a small portion of Brazil, there’s no doubt that you will leave amazed. Unfortunately, the country often receives some bad press that makes people a little more hesitant to visit. So, what’s it really like? Well we loved it! and have put together 9 things you need to know before visiting Brazil.
1 - Portuguese isn’t Spanish
Before we arrived in Brazil from Argentina many people told us that Portuguese would be easy to pick. “It’s just Spanish with a different accent”. But that really isn’t the case. The languages are similar, but they are still two separate languages. So, whether you are planning to just visit Brazil or all of South America learning at least a few common phrases will go a long way. It’s also polite and respectful to at least try and speak a little bit of the local language, even if it is very poorly.
2 - Brazilian's love to travel
Brazilians are very proud of their country and they love to travel. Which is great, they will always offer the best insider tips on what to do and see in the area. But this means that weekends and holidays can get busy so you need to plan and book in advance. The busiest times will also see prices rise considerably so try and avoid holidays if you can.
9 things to know before visiting Brazil
3 - Brazilians love to party
Whether it’s for Carnival or just a regular Saturday night Samba. The Brazilians know how to party and it won’t be long before someone offers you a Caipirinha – a cocktail prepared using cachaça, lime juice and sugar.
4 - entry Visas
As of 17 June 2019 citizens from the USA, Canada, Australia and Japan no longer need visas to enter Brazil for tourism or business. Making travel to this beautiful country cheaper and less hassle-some than ever before.
5 - Paying with card
After the torture that getting and needing cash is in Argentina it was fantastic to arrive in Brazil. Everything here works just like home. You are able to pay for almost everything with card. If you have a good international bank card where you don’t get charged any fees this is excellent as you can avoid having to withdraw large amounts from ATM’s. We use ING bank and love their everyday card for travel. You can read more about that here.
9 things to know before visiting Brazil
9 things to know before visiting Brazil
6 - Brazil is a huge country
Brazil is the 5th largest country in the world. This can make travel long and expensive. Consider taking domestic flights or only travelling in one region if you don’t have a lot of time. Or maybe buying a car in South America could be an option?
7 - transport in Brazil
The ride share app BlaBlaCar is really popular and makes getting around easy. They also have really great infrastructure so getting around is a breeze.
8 - skin & flesh
Brazilians aren’t afraid to show a little bit of skin. It doesn’t matter the age, shape or sex. Brazilians love to flaunt it on the beach.
9 - safety in brazil
I really love Brazilians and their culture. While we were here, we had many people invite us to their home for BBQ’s and drinks. They are some of the friendliest people we met in South America. Overall Brazil is a safe country for most tourists. But it does have a lot of violence and a high crime rate. Using common sense and taking general precautions will usually help you stay out of trouble. We never felt unsafe once during our two and a half months here but were generally more cautious than usual.
