3 Experts, and Many Tips for Visiting Brazil
By SETH KUGEL
To supplement my seven rules for lowering the cost of a trip to Brazil, I asked three Brazil-based colleagues to come up with their own tips. They are Ricardo Freire, widely regarded as the dean of Brazilian travel bloggers; Fábio Peixoto, the editor of a Brazilian travel guide; and Kevin Raub, a Lonely Planet author who lives in São Paulo.
I’ve condensed and edited their tips, and in the first two cases, translated them from Portuguese.
Mr. Freire blogs in Portuguese at viajenaviagem.com and is working on an English-language site for foreign visitors to Brazil. Follow his travels on Instagram (@riqfreire). Here are his tips:
TRAVEL WHEN BRAZILIANS DON’T
International travel to Brazil is relatively minimal; the country as a whole receives about as many visitors per year as Cancún. That means the tourism industry is dependent on the enormous domestic market, which has a particular quirk: Brazilians all seem to travel at the same time. That’s during January and June school vacations, Carnival (Feb. 9 to 12 next year), and onnational holidays that become long weekends no matter on what day they fall.
For the rest of the year, a majority of Brazilian destinations (with the notable exception of Rio) are nearly empty — even though in many cases the climate is actually better during the off-season. So plan wisely.
WAIT FOR THE MAGIC DATE
Jan. 10 is the magic date that the Brazilian summer stops being so expensive. Families have emptied their bank accounts to be on the beach during New Year’s and must begin to save for Carnival. Prices drop appreciably, and innkeepers and small-hotel owners are open to negotiations.
The best place to be is in Bahia state, in beautiful coastal villages like Morro de São Paulo, Barra Grande, Itacaré, Santo André and others that aren’t as expensive as upscale spots like Trancoso. You can combine that trip with agreat excursion to Chapada Diamantina National Park (seven hours by bus from Salvador, the state capital).
FALL IN RIO
Southern Hemisphere fall, that is. In winter (July and August), Rio de Janeiro can actually get cold, so the ideal time to visit is in autumn, after Easter. May, with hot, dry days and cool nights, is the perfect time, with only one Brazilian holiday (May 1) drawing visitors. It’s also the perfect time for a side trip to the colonial town of Paraty, where things get rainy in spring and summer.
TAKE THE BUS
Upper-middle-class Brazilians won’t tell you this, because they can’t imagine themselves on an intercity bus. But the fact is that the Brazilian bus system works well, especially if you are traveling less than 200 miles. Alas, there is little information about bus trips online (and practically none in English) so your best bet is to go to the bus station where each company’s ticket booth has clear signs listing destinations it serves. A key word in Portuguese is “direto” (gee-REH-tew), which refers to a route with fewer stops. Keep your valuables close at hand (and gadgets in your pockets) in the stations.
USE THE PANAMA CONNECTION
The most convenient airline from the United States to Brazil is probablyPanama’s Copa, which has a code-share agreement with United, meaning a customer can buy a ticket with one airline but end up flying on a plane operated by the other. You can reach seven Brazilian destinations via a usually brief connection in Panama City, allowing you to, for example, arrive in Manaus in the Amazon and return from Recife in the northeast.
INTERNATIONAL SITES ARE GAINING HOLD
Booking.com has expanded rapidly in Brazil, registering pousadas (inns) and small hotels in remote places, saving foreigners from the complicated system of reservations Brazilians have invented (involving wiring deposits to innkeepers’ bank accounts). Hostelworld works well for hostels, and Airbnb is also making inroads for apartment rentals.
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Fábio Peixoto is the editor of the Brazilian guidebook series “Guia Quatro Rodas” which publishes the Viajar Bem e Barato (“Travel Well, Travel Cheap”) guide. Here are his tips:
Fábio Peixoto is the editor of the Brazilian guidebook series “Guia Quatro Rodas” which publishes the Viajar Bem e Barato (“Travel Well, Travel Cheap”) guide. Here are his tips:
GO AGAINST THE FLOW
With Brazil’s strong economy, a new middle class has emerged with access to many modern comforts, including travel. That means that in season, destinations are more packed than ever. Hotel prices can triple over New Year’s and Carnival, and it doesn’t help much to book in advance. Weekends and holidays during summer (December to March) are usually hellish in terms of prices, availability and traffic. A good strategy if you’re here then is to go against the flow: spend the weekends in the big cities and weekdays on the beach. In the northeast, rains can be heavy from April to July, so September and October are great times to visit.
SNACK TRADITIONALLY
A good tip to eat for less is to focus on traditional quitutes or small, traditional dishes. In Salvador, there are dozens of street stands where baianas (women in traditional white dress) sell acarajé — a black-eyed pea fritter stuffed with shrimp, a sauce called vatapá and vegetables — for about 6 reais ($3 at 2 reais to the dollar).
In Amazonian cities you can get tacacá, a soup of shrimp and jambu, a slightly anesthetic herb, for 10 reais. In São Paulo, pastéis de feira are fried pockets of dough filled with meat, cheese or heart of palm and sold at street fairs for about 3 reais. No matter where you are, look out for the word “rodízio,” or “all you can eat.” There are all kinds of rodizios, including pizza, Japanese food or grilled meats, the latter usually accompanied by salads and side dishes. It might cost you $20, but it will be the only meal you’ll need that day.
TO RENT OR NOT TO RENT
Renting a car in the big cities is synonymous with expense and stress. Parking is complicated, and you can pay 12 reais for one hour in some places. And guys called flanelinhas will try to charge you almost as much for “taking care” of your car even if you find free street parking. Instead, find alternatives: Rio’s and São Paulo’s subway lines are small but clean and practical for getting to tourist attractions; in the northeast taxis are relatively cheap. But outside major cities, say along the coast or in national parks, being without a car means making yourself dependent on tour groups, making car rental the more cost-conscious option.
HIT THREE ISLANDS
To step outside the typical tourist trail, try these three reasonably-priced islands: Ilha Grande (reasonably close to Rio de Janeiro, with beautiful beaches and cheap lodging); Ilha de Boipeba (paradise on Earth, a 30-minute flight from Salvador, cheap as can be, and many foreign-owned inns where English is spoken); and Ilha de Marajó (an Amazonian island in Pará state, where water buffalo and tropical birds outnumber people).
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Kevin Raub is the coordinating author for Brazil of Lonely Planet’s “South America on a Shoestring.” Follow him on Twitter @RaubOnTheRoad. Here are his tips:
Kevin Raub is the coordinating author for Brazil of Lonely Planet’s “South America on a Shoestring.” Follow him on Twitter @RaubOnTheRoad. Here are his tips:
HOSTELS OR BUST
If you’re on a really tight budget, it is hostels only, and even then you are going to pay more than you are accustomed to in North America or Europe. I’ve found some good value spots like Favela Chic in Foz de Iguaçu (Iguazu Falls), where you can sleep in a converted van with a double bed for 50 reais as a single traveler. It’s unique as well as affordable. In Rio, my favorite is a new place called Oztel in Botafogo, where it feels like you are sleeping in an art gallery curated by an Andy Warhol fan. Aside from the sleeping in a dorm part, you’re getting a boutique hotel for the price of a hostel.
CONSIDER THE CAPITAL
Though Brasília has a reputation of being about as friendly to budget-conscious travelers as a wasp-nest piñata, Brazil’s fascinating capital can actually be done affordably. Accommodations are expensive, but hotels slash prices on weekends. From there, it takes a little will but there is a way: buses comb the city, so you can get anywhere for two reais, flipping the script on a city that was designed for cars. Almost all the main attractions (including many monuments designed by modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer) are free, and restaurants serve all budgets.
WILDLIFE OUTSIDE THE AMAZON
The Pantanal is one of Brazil’s best-value spots to visit. Not only is it amazing in its own right, but it’s much more affordable than the Amazon and you will see much more wildlife for your money. After a one-day drive down the Transpantaneira highway, you’ll be sick of caimans, capybaras, macaws and toucans. In the Amazon you’ll pay five times the price and you’re lucky if a pink dolphin swims by once a week.
ORDER HALF
You’ll probably want to skip the traditional feijoada buffets, which are terribly good but always pricey, and go instead for the “por kilo” or pay-by-weight restaurants. Also look for PFs, or pratos feitos, homey set plates of a main course, rice, beans and juice for under 12 reais, or the slightly pricier and fancier pratos executivos or executive plates. Take advantage of the normally infuriating fact that restaurant dishes are priced and portioned generously for two. Single travelers ordering a half-portion (meia-porção) will pay 60 or 70 percent the price, but a party of three can beat Brazilian restaurants at their own illogical math game, ordering one dish and walking away with stomachs filled and wallets still stuffed.
AVOID AIRPORT TAXIS
Most big cities (including Rio, São Paulo and Brasília) offer direct and efficient airport shuttles for under 40 reais, which can offer considerable savings. I walk almost everywhere in Brazil — it’s free and you get a much better feel for Brazilian joie de vivre. Rio, São Paulo and Porto Alegre all have efficient metro systems that get you within striking distance of your destination; just leg it from there, and don’t forget about city buses. In São Paulo you can get accurate point-to-point bus directions from Google Maps, avoiding pricey taxis.
(Disclosure: Seth Kugel is speaking, unpaid, though his costs are covered, at a travel bloggers’ conference Mr. Freire has organized in Rio de Janeiro later this month.)
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