Brasília

Currency budget Brazil

Brazil runs on cards and on Pix, the instant bank transfer, but Pix needs a Brazilian account, so as a visitor you are on cards and a little cash. Cards are taken almost everywhere here, including at the craft market under the TV tower. If you are going on to Chapada dos Veadeiros, take cash from here.

ATMs & cards

Use Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, Itaú or Santander machines inside branches, shopping centres or the airport, during the day. Many Brazilian ATMs restrict foreign cards in the evening. Decline the conversion.

Use machines inside branches, shopping centres or the airport, in daylight. Many Brazilian ATMs restrict foreign cards in the evening.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety all of Brazil

The Plano Piloto is calm by Brazilian standards, and the risks are mostly the city’s shape: the Esplanada and the monumental axis are empty and dark after office hours, and the motorways have few crossings, so take a car at night and do not try to walk between sectors. The central bus station is busy and pickpocketed. At the end of the dry winter the humidity can fall below 20%; drink water and expect dry eyes and nosebleeds.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa Brazil visa rules

Health & emergencies all of Brazil

Required to enter

• Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present

Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

Brasília was built by people from every state and eats like it: northeastern food, Goiás and Minas cooking, and good churrascarias. Try something with pequi, the cerrado fruit, in rice or chicken — and nibble it, never bite down, because the stone is full of fine spines. The Beirute in the south wing has been the city’s bar since the 1960s.

Getting around

• Uber and 99 — the only practical way round: the city was designed for the car, and distances that look like a stroll on the map are kilometres of motorway verge
• On foot — the length of the Esplanada dos Ministérios, from the cathedral to Congress, about two kilometres with little shade
• Metro — runs from the central bus station along the south wing and out to the satellite towns; useful for Asa Sul, not for the Esplanada
• Bus — the Rodoviária do Plano Piloto is the hub for city buses and for the coaches to Pirenópolis and Alto Paraíso
• Airport: Brasília (BSB) is about 20 min by road from the hotel sectors

eSIM

A data eSIM for Brazil, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:Works hereWorks hereRevolutIn the app

Must-see

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Portuguese (Brazilian)

• HelloOi / Oláoy / o-LA
• PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
• Thank youObrigado / Obrigadao-bree-GA-doo / -da
• Yes / NoSim / Nãoseeng / nowng

Softer and more open than European Portuguese, and the de sounds like "dje".

Religion

Catholic and Evangelical

The largest Catholic population in the world, with a fast-growing Evangelical share and Afro-Brazilian traditions such as Candomblé and Umbanda practised alongside.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Greet with a kiss on each cheek between women, or a woman and a man; a handshake between men
• Expect physical closeness in conversation — standing back reads as cold
• Arrive late to social invitations; on time is genuinely early
• Learn a few words of Portuguese, and never open in Spanish

Don't

• Do not make the OK sign with finger and thumb — it is obscene here
• Do not walk with a phone visible in the street
• Do not wear obvious jewellery or watches on the beach or in the city
• Do not call Brazilians Hispanic or assume they speak Spanish