Tips for Traveling to Brazil
Posted on | December 22, 2009 | 18 Comments
If you’re thinking about traveling to Brazil, there are a few things that you should check into to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible. First, with all of the different restrictions that exist for traveling to another country, you’ll want to get all of your travel documentation is in order months in advance. If you’re traveling from North America, you’ll need to have a current passport and a tourist visa to visit Brazil, no matter how short your stay is going to be. One of the biggest problems that people run into when they look at traveling to a different country is that they wait until the last minute before they file their paperwork, putting all of their vacation plans on hold.
In addition, since Brazil has its own currency, you’ll also want to make sure that you have some spending money on hand when you get there so that you won’t have to worry about changing your money right away. Plus, in most cases, you’ll actually be able to get a better exchange rate when you change your money at your own bank. When you first get into Brazil, you may find yourself overwhelmed by simply trying to find your way around in a new country. So save yourself the stress and get some money changed ahead of time.
Make sure that you do your research on the area you plan to visit ahead of time and set up a loose schedule so that you don’t miss out on anything that’s interesting to you. However, before you set solid plans, do some online searches to find user reviews of the experiences you’re planning for yourself. You may find that some of the activities you’re most looking forward to are nothing but major tourist traps – doing your research will help to prevent some let-downs on your trip. But whatever you do, don’t plan out every minute of your vacation ahead of time – be sure to leave some time for hanging out and soaking in the Brazilian culture.
When you’re in Brazil, you’ll want to fully enjoy the experience, and one way to do this is to get away from the normal tourist destinations. There are actually a lot of things to see and do in Brazil besides those that are commonly visited by tourists. If you want to see more of the local areas, visit with people in the area to get a feel for what they like to do. If you take the time to travel a little off of the beaten path, you’ll definitely get more out of your time in Brazil.
You should also make sure that you take the time to experience the local cuisine. There are a lot of different things that you can do to get the most out of your trip, but nothing compares with soaking up the culture by eating something you normally wouldn’t. If you’re worried about making sure that you don’t eat anything bad for you, ask the hotel staff for suggestions. They live in the area, so they’ll know how to get the best, safest food in the area without too many problems.
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18 Responses to “Tips for Traveling to Brazil”
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December 22nd, 2009 @ 9:42 am
I don't think you will be able to take your dog with you in the passengers cabin, he will be placed along with the luggage. Just give him something for airsickness.
December 22nd, 2009 @ 9:44 am
lemme just say… you are my new hero.
December 22nd, 2009 @ 10:05 am
hermosisimooooooooo !!!
December 22nd, 2009 @ 11:06 am
December 22nd, 2009 @ 3:56 pm
superb!!
December 22nd, 2009 @ 10:19 pm
I cant offer any that would be useful and, Im not sure that the animals could even understand your travel tips. For example if you met prey and predator on a jungle trail warning them would do no good and perhaps put yourself in harms way as well.
December 23rd, 2009 @ 2:29 am
Hmm, all I can tell you is that I am planning to go to Brazil but have already been to Peru. It was a university tour, going through Lima, Cusco, Puno, Lake Titicaca, Aguas Caliente, and Machu Picchu. We had a lot of free time and I can say:
Lima: Not too pleasant, but at the same time, better that I expected. The city center and where our hotel was, Miraflores (affluent area) are fairly clean and nice, some nice restaurants and all. Can't really swim in the cold ocean, though, although we still did a little… Just saying, you'd be the only one trying it. Sandless beach with cold water. There was nothing wrong with Lima, just nothing great. Felt safe.
Cusco: Very different from Lima, almost no Spanish influence here as most of the residents aren't of Spanish descent. Felt very safe, at any time of day.
Puno/LakeTiticaca: Puno is like the jump-off town for a Lake Titicaca adventure. I would say Puno was by fat the most shady city we went to. It was scary because me and a girl went out to the local market at around 8pm and by that time, all the mainstream shops and such were locked with big metal gates, and the streets were deserted. We wandered about the city and were in area that was deserted and we both swear to this day that we heard gunshots seemingly 3-4 blocks away, but somehow, since we never felt a target on our trip, we reacted calmly and just headed back to the market and then our hotel. But LOL, when we got to the hotel, it also was now shut with a metal gate and we got in only after knocking on the bars and explaining, in broken Spanish, to the gaurds that we stay at this hotel. Whew!
Lake Titicaca was pretty great, with underrated views. That big island you end up going to on a boat, the views are just awesome.
Aguanas Caliented/MachuPicchu: Again, Aguanas Caliente, roughly "hot springs", is a jump-off point. It is humid and is in the subtropics, or a forest that transitions from a regular forest into a tropical jungle (which would be the Amazon jungle, in this case). Town seemed to be 75% tourists, but had a very nice jungle feel, houses built on hills and surrounded by lush vegetation, with clothes hanging out and drying on ropes. Very cool, like in an adventure movie.
And Machu Picchu was AMAZING, best part of the trip for me, by far.
General: Everyone will ask to sell you something. A positive is that no one asked me for money straight up, they always wanted to sell something, so that's good. Buy a few things here and there (it's cheap), but you'll also learn to say "no" because you will have tons and tons of people trying to sell you stuff.
-In Puno, we had no warm water and the heating seemed to be working at half-speed, and the temp. up so high is always cold, so taking cold showers was uncomfortable in this setting.
-In Aguas Calientes, had a nice little room, but there was a spider in our shower. I don't know if it was dangerous, and its presence didn't bother us (me or my traveling roomie), but just so you know…
-Everything is very cheap, in general. A lot of stores, however, won't have posted prices and they will obviously try to hustle you, and there's not much you'll be able to do. Just pay the slightly higher than expected price… Still lower than what you're used to, assuming you come from a "Western" nation.
-Some people will try to just make friendly convo with you. Most of it will just be that, friendly convo. They are just curious about you and are an easy-going people. Not always the case, though. me and a friend on the trip had a 14-yr old (she told us) girl in Cusco try to sell us some little dolls or something like that, and we didn't want one, but eventually bought from her. Anyways, she didn't go away, kept talking (in fairly good English. they teach English at their school) and started asking us where my hotel was. I refused to tell her at first, because I didn't want her to stand outside the hotel in the morning and wait for me to come out (this happened ALL the time in Cusco. A women trying to sell us stuff upon our arrival in Cusco airport actually kept appearing at our hotel every morning and evening and would show up outside of restaurants. There will be sellers literally stalking you like this, all of them elderly females in our case, and harmless, but still…), but then we realized that she is a harmless 14 year old girl, and we are walking to our hotel anyways, so eventually she will get there anyways, so we might as well tell her where we are staying, so we say, "Savoy Cusco. That's where we stay, but we're not buying anything else from you today, okay? We don't have any more money, so if you want, come back tomorrow morning and we'll buy something." She says to us, "No, no, I have school tomorrow morning. Can come your hotel now, I can do something maybe? You pay now, then?" You get what she meant? Yeah, she was 14. Needless to say, we refused!!!
-One more thing about people selling you stuff in Cusco. They are not threatening, and you will appreciate that they are living very poorly and are actually trying to SELL you things, rather then beg for money, and so this will be very difficult to refuse at times. But sometimes, you will just have to, because you will end up paying them a lot of money as is.
-Those sellers that "stalk" you every day, as I was talking about above, are really good. Seriously, you wlll gain an appreciation! They will, upon your arrival at the airport or hotel, memerize your name, and then make sure to call you by this name every time you walk outside of a hotel, and eventually, they will start selling you paintings that will depict a natural scene in the area, and your name will be written, spelled as best they could spell it… And they will try to sell this, so this is difficult to say no to… Also, sometimes, when you say no, they will offer for you to still take the item and pay them the next day. Again, very hard to say no to.
-On that big island that most boats take you to on Lake Titicaca, you'll probably be treated to a music/dancing performance by the locals, at one point. Know that the youngest of them, the 3-4 year olds, are all well trained in their business! I took a digital pic of an adorable little girl and she came up to me right after their dance was done and opened her palms, asking for my payment for the pic. Embarrassingly, as I wasn't expecting a fee, I didn't have anything but a 20 nuevo sol on me, and so I had to borrow from a fellow traveler. Still, just watch out for stuff like that! Always have a little bit of coin change on you!
Anything else, emal me on here!
December 23rd, 2009 @ 4:26 am
Hello, I can give you some tips, first of all, you really don't need to use a travel agent to come here. Everything here is very cheap. The people normally don't speak English, but you will fell welcome in almost places you go.
Try to search another place to go, Rio de Janeiro is the most dangerous town in our country.
Recife is a very Beautiful place and it has a famous carnival parade, "o galo da madrugada". Where there are almost 2 million people walking, dancing and singing trough the streets for 3 miles.
The beaches around this town are marvelous. "Porto de Galinhas"…"Tamandare"….."Boa Viagem"….You will apreciate.
Good luck and be wellcome.
December 23rd, 2009 @ 8:31 am
Beautiful video!
December 23rd, 2009 @ 12:14 pm
I always love your art. Now I love your music
December 23rd, 2009 @ 12:51 pm
Usually safe for tourists that do not underestimate Rio´s violence. Violence is more common in suburban areas and favelas, but can happen in tourist sites. The tips are: avoid driving alone, because you could get lost and end up in a dangerous zone. Avoid the favelas, unless you are going on a tour. Always carry some money, so you can have something in case you are robbed. Never react in case of armed robery.
December 23rd, 2009 @ 2:39 pm
hi all everybody plz watches in my videos and rating .. plz plz plz !!!!!
December 23rd, 2009 @ 3:42 pm
You are amazing!
December 23rd, 2009 @ 11:10 pm
You should have the time of your life but be very weary of areas in South America. The borders of Colombia and Panama are known for being full of Gorillas (merceneries/private armies) who do a lot of kidnapping for ransom. Americans usually stick out from the locals and are targets. Though you're not going to Panama, it happens elsewhere too. Do the tourist thing but take a day and observe the things and way people act. Dress like the locals dress. I recommend no coach purses and designer clothes draped from your body. You wanna look like you belong there, unless you're in a nice area, then dress the way you want. Truthfully, every country has its bad spots. You should do the tourist thing with a friend though. Dont carry a large amount of cash on you or display valuables. I recommend going to the city hall or looking up a vacationers spot and ask questions like what to go see and where not to travel to. It will be a great experience! Good luck.
December 23rd, 2009 @ 11:51 pm
December 24th, 2009 @ 12:58 am
My suggestions are, bring the dog some toys, some snacks and if there is any way let him look out the window, that gets dogs very content and also pet him if its possible to do every now and then.
December 24th, 2009 @ 5:47 pm
Omfg, it just looks like a picture
December 25th, 2009 @ 12:11 am
wow!