Entry requirements | Organizing your trip | Visiting | Eating | Paying | Speaking |

Entry requirements

Passport and visa service

Federal police

Diplomatic representations

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

For more information

Embassy of Brazil in Greece
14, Filikis Eterias Square (KolonakiSq)
10673, Athens
Phone: +30 2107213039, +30 2107244434
Fax: +30 2107244731
embragre@embratenas.gr

Organizing your trip

Means of transport recommended in town

Recommendation

The Metro is an efficient means of transport in large cities. Taxi drivers speak very little English, Spanish or French but it is enough to state the place where you want to go. Late at night and for a woman alone, it may be useful to ask for the taxi's official number. In the daytime, outside the shanty towns, buses present no danger; you should just have your destination confirmed by the "cobrador", the ticket inspector, or another passenger. A bus journey costs 2 BRL, as opposed to 12 on average for a 10 to 15 minute taxi ride.

Maps of urban networks

Plan of the São Paulo metro
Plan of the Rio network
Plan of the Brasilia network

Means of transport recommended in the rest of the country

Recommendation

The safest and fastest is the airplane. Prices are within European standards. If you have time and a more limited budget, there is an excellent bus network all over the country. The train is almost nonexistent. There is an airport tax for travelers leaving Brazil by plane, which has to be paid in local currency at the day's rate, in dollars or in euros for a foreign company. Unless this is paid, the boarding card is not issued.

Rail companies

SuperVia

Flight from Greece

Several aircraft companies such as KLM, Iberia, Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa, Swiss Air and Alitalia offer air connections between Greece and Brazil, but there is not direct flight. In particular these companies operate regular flights from Athens to Sao Paulo. Tam also offer departures to Rio de Janeiro. To find out air connections from Greece to Brazil click here

Traveling by yourself

Recommendation

An extensive road network over 1.5 million km, but only 10% is asphalted. Expressways are rare, the roads are in bad condition and there are practically no road signs outside towns. Be careful and avoid driving at night.

Road maps

Road maps by State

Find an itinerary

Addresses and itineraries

Visiting

Different forms of tourism

Historical

Brazil has a very rich historical heritage, dating from colonial times, especially in the Nordeste (Salvador, Recife, Olinda, São Luis).

Cultural

A more contemporary artistic dynamism can be found in São Paulo, where the country's main museums are located. Modern art is also expressed in architecture, on the scale of a capital like Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer's Brasilia. Musical wealth is expressed everywhere.
The Carnival of Rio de Janeiro.

Nature

There are many natural parks, in particular the "Chapada Diamantina" in Bahia, the "Chapada dos Viadeiros" around the Federal District and the magnificent Pantanal region in the west of the country, not forgetting all the Amazon basin.

Religious

There is a strong Catholic tradition: churches dating from colonial times in all the historic towns of the Nordeste. It is also worth noting the Cathedral and the San Francisco Church by Niemeyer in Brasilia.

Thermal

There are several hot springs such as Caldas Novas, Rio Quente, Águas Mornas, Santo Amaro da Imperatriz.

Beach

There are thousands of kilometers of beach in the country. Some urban beaches, with crowds of people; others are more for families, or there are developing seaside resorts where people are banking on a pleasant, simple life style such as Pipa (Rio Grande do Norte) or Jericoacoara (Ceara).

Outdoor activities

Sport is widespread (jogging, body building, football, volleyball), as well as seaside activities (surfing, fishing, sailing) or walking in the natural parks.

Shopping

Beautiful craftsmanship in the north and Nordeste essentially. Foreigners generally buy wooden decorative items, stone jewelery, musical instruments, cloth, hammocks, off-the-rack beachwear.

Tourism organizations

Brazilian Tourism portal
Ministry of Tourism
Rio Convention Camp & Visitors Bureau

Eating

Food specialties

Arroz (white rice), feijão (black beans) and farofa (cassava flour) : the Brazilian staple diet. In addition there are three other components: carne (beef), peixe (fish) and galinha (chicken).

The feijoada, the national dish, is a stew of pork and black beans.
In the north there is strong Indian influence, with many fruits and tubers.
On the north-east coast, the cuisine has a more African flavour: chillis, spices and the delicious dendê oil (palm oil).
The moqueca, a sort of sea-food based sauce or stew, is a specialty of Bahia.
The acarajé, composed of peeled red beans, fried in palm oil and stuffed with vatapa (dried shrimp, with chilli and tomato), is sold by the Baianos on street corners.
In Minas Gerais, they prepare the comida mineira, pork and vegetable based cuisine with kuiabo (a sort of bean) and tutu (fried bean paste).
In the south, the comida gaucha is prepared with meat.

Drinks

The Brazilians are very fond of beer. Cachaça, sugar cane spirit, is a strong liqueur of which there are many varieties. The cheapest and most common strong alcohol in Brazil, it is the basis of many delicious cocktails including the famous caïpirinha. Wine is not so common and is generally only served in international cuisine restaurants.

Dietary restrictions

There are no dietary restrictions in the country.

Paying

Domestic currency

Brazilian Real

ISO Code

BRL

To obtain domestic currency

Foreign currency is rarely taken. There are ATMs which take foreign cards in all the towns in the country. You should plan to have cash on you when you go to more isolated places (seaside villages, parks, rural areas).

Possible means of payment

Credit cards are often taken in large cities, but not at all outside these. Traveler's cheques are taken in banks and some large hotels in Rio and São Paulo. Cash is the easiest means of payment when you are traveling. Debit/credit cards are useful if you have a bank account in Brazil.

Exchange rate on

Automatic Teller Machines (ATM)

To find out the locations of ATMs in in Brazil, click on the link to your credit card: Visa, Mastercard or American Express

Speaking

Official language

Portuguese

Other languages spoken

English is the first foreign language spoken in Brazil. Spanish is generally understood by the Brazilians. French is still spoken by around 570,000 people across the country.

Business language

Portuguese, English and Spanish.

Getting some knowledge

Use travlang.

Free translation tools

Lexilogos - Dictionnaire en ligne
Eurodicautom - Dictionnaire de l'UE
Lexilogo - Free Greek-Portuguese-Greek translator

We can translate your foreign-language documents.

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Last updates: May 2012