Curitiba
Brazil
Brazil’s orderly, chilly southern city, best used as the start of the train down the Serra do Mar
Photo by Marcelo Harassen do Ó on Unsplash
Photos by Vinicius Brasil, Alice Yamamura, Paulo Freitas and Feliphe Schiarolli on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Brazil
March to May, and September to November (the winter is cold and grey, the summer wet with afternoon storms)
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 210mm in Jan
Where it is
25.43°S, 49.27°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Book the Serra Verde Express for a weekday and sit on the left going down for the drops; it leaves at half past eight and takes about four and a half hours
- Ride the Linha Turismo once round to see where the parks are, then get off at the two you want
- Go to the Largo da Ordem on Sunday morning for the fair, and stay for lunch
- See the Jardim Botânico early, before the Sunday crowds, and the Museu Oscar Niemeyer the same day
- Pack a jumper whatever the forecast says
Curitiba travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Brazil
Good valueBrazil 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 accepted almost everywhere, including at most stalls in the Sunday fair; keep small notes for the rest of it and for Morretes.
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, and never let anyone help you at the machine.
Avoid these
- standalone machines on the street
- any withdrawal after dark
Use these instead
- Banco do Brasil
- Bradesco
- Itaú
- Santander
Use machines inside branches, shopping centres or the airport, in daylight. Many Brazilian ATMs restrict foreign cards in the evening as an anti-fraud measure.
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
Reasonably safeOne of Brazil’s calmer big cities, but still a big Brazilian city. The centre is busy and comfortable in the day and empties after the shops close, so take a car between neighbourhoods at night. Watch bags in the Sunday crowds at the Largo da Ordem. The weather is the thing people misjudge: winter nights are near freezing, few buildings have heating, and it can rain on any day of the year.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Batel
- Largo da Ordem — by day and in the early evening
- Jardim Botânico
- Rua XV de Novembro — in shop hours
Worth more attention
- Rua XV de Novembro — and the rest of the centre after the shops shut, when the streets empty
- Largo da Ordem — the Sunday fair crowds, and the lanes late on a weekend night
- Coming down the Serra do Mar by road in fog and rain, if you drive rather than take the train
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
GoodSanta Felicidade is the Italian immigrants’ quarter and does vast family-style dinners of polenta, chicken and pasta. In the cold months eat pinhão, the seed of the araucaria pines, boiled and sold in paper bags. Barreado, the slow-cooked beef stew of the coast, is best eaten where it comes from, in Morretes at the bottom of the train line.
Travel tipsNightlife
More of a bar city than a club one: historic-centre bars that fill with students, and smarter cocktail places in Batel.
- Largo da Ordem — the old-town bars, busiest at weekends
- Rua São Francisco — the bars just below the Largo
- Batel — the smarter bars and restaurants
Closing: Around one on weeknights; later on Friday and Saturday.
Getting around
Easy- 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 Curitiba
No Holistay rentals in Curitiba 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 Curitiba 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 Curitiba Afonso Pena CWB
35 minfrom the airport· 14 km as the crow flies
About 35 min by road to the centre.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
