Búzios
Brazil
A fishing village turned resort on a peninsula of twenty-odd beaches, in the driest corner of the Rio coast
Photo by Tadeu Jnr on Unsplash
Photos by Hernán Molinari, Tadeu Jnr, Roberto Huczek and Luca Lago on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Brazil
March to June, and September to November — warm and dry, without the summer crowds or the summer prices
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 101mm in Dec
Where it is
22.75°S, 41.88°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Stay three nights at least — it is three hours each way from Rio, and the point is the beaches, which take days
- Take a schooner round the peninsula once, then go back by water taxi to the beach you liked
- Snorkel at João Fernandes in the morning, before the wind
- Watch the sunset from the Orla Bardot, then eat on Rua das Pedras
- Spend a day at Ferradura for calm water, and one at Geribá for surf
- Drive to Arraial do Cabo for the clearest water on the coast
Búzios travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Brazil
ExpensiveCards everywhere, including most beach kiosks. Pix needs a Brazilian bank account, so as a visitor you are on cards and a little cash for the water taxis and the beach vendors. Plenty of places quote in Spanish for the Argentine visitors, but the price is in reais; check before you agree to one in dollars.
ATMs & cards
Use the bank machines in the centre, around Rua das Pedras and the main road into town, in daytime. Most beaches have none. Many machines stop serving foreign cards in the evening.
Avoid these
- standalone machines
- any withdrawal after dark
Use these instead
- Banco do Brasil
- Bradesco
- Itaú
Use the bank branches in the centre, in daylight. The beaches have no machines.
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
SafeA relaxed resort town, and walking Rua das Pedras at midnight is what everyone does. The usual Brazilian care with phones and bags on the busier beaches applies, and unattended things on the sand go. The roads between the beaches are narrow, unlit in places and shared with buggies; take a car at night rather than walking them.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Rua das Pedras — including late
- Orla Bardot
- Ferradura
- João Fernandes
Worth more attention
- Geribá — a busy beach where bags and phones left on the sand disappear
- Walking the unlit roads between beaches at night, which have no pavements and plenty of buggies
- Beaches facing the open sea when the swell is up
- The road from Rio on a Friday evening or a holiday weekend, when three hours becomes five
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Brazil visa rules
No visa neededup to 90 days
Other passports
e-Visa requiredup to 90 days$80
Brazil reintroduced visas for these three nationalities. It is an e-visa applied for online.
Visa required in advance
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Brazil
Good but costlyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Yellow fever — recommended for most of Brazil including the area around Rio
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
Getting treated
Public emergency care (SUS) is free to everyone including foreigners, but is crowded and slow. Private hospitals in Rio and São Paulo are excellent and expect insurance or payment up front.
Dengue, zika and chikungunya are all present and mosquito-borne — repellent matters. Yellow fever vaccination should be given at least 10 days before arrival.
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
Very goodFish and seafood, cooked well and priced for a resort: grilled whole fish at the beach kiosks in Ferradura and João Fernandes, and the more ambitious restaurants on Rua das Pedras in the evening. Lunch at the beach kiosks, where a moqueca for two feeds three, and dinner in town is the rhythm that keeps the bill sane.
Travel tipsNightlife
A resort evening: dinner late on Rua das Pedras, a bar after, and a club in the summer and on holiday weekends. Out of season it is mostly dinner.
- Rua das Pedras — the bars, and the clubs in season
- Orla Bardot — the waterfront at sunset and after
- Geribá — beach bars by day and early evening
Closing: Late in summer and on holiday weekends; much earlier the rest of the year.
Getting around
Limited- UberWorks here
- 99Works here
- inDriveWorks here
- BoltNot here
99 the Brazilian one, often cheaper
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than a taxi and, in the big cities, the default for everybody.
Some favela and periphery addresses will not be accepted by drivers at night; that is a driver safety decision, not a fare one.
Time zone and your working day
America/Sao Paulo — 1 hour ahead of you
7 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–16:00 your time, 10:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 08:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 08:00–16:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Brazil, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Portuguese (Brazilian)
- HelloOi / Oláoy / o-LA
- PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
- Thank youObrigado / Obrigadao-bree-GA-doo / -da
- Yes / NoSim / Nãoseeng / nowng
4 more phrases
- Excuse meCom licençakong lee-SEN-sa
- How much is it?Quanto custa?KWAN-too KOOS-ta
- The bill, pleaseA conta, por favora KON-ta
- Cheers!Saúde!sa-OO-djee
Softer and more open than European Portuguese, and the de sounds like "dje".
Travel tipsReligion
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.
Travel tipsDo'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
Where to stay in Búzios
No Holistay rentals in Búzios yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Búzios on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Rio de Janeiro Galeão GIG
2h 45mfrom the airport· 141 km as the crow flies
Two and a half to three hours by road, depending on the bridge and the weekend traffic.
Also worth pricing: Cabo Frio CFB — domestic flights only, and few of them; about half an hour by road.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
