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Brazil

5 destinations & festivals · 2 etiquette rules

Photo: Wilfredor · CC0

Before you go

Read before you go

Red lineSafety

Brazil: don't go to city beaches after dark

  • Take only a little cash to the beach
  • If you are robbed, hand over your things and don't resist
  • Going to city beaches after dark
  • Taking valuables to the beach or using your phone in the street

Gangs carry out mass beach robberies known as 'arrastão'; phone snatching peaks between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: GOV.UK: Brazil travel advice

Red lineEntry

Brazil: e-cigarettes are completely illegal

  • Leave your e-cigarette at home before you travel
  • Carrying e-cigarettes, pods or accessories

All e-cigarettes and accessories are illegal, and customs confiscate them from checked and hand luggage.

Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: GOV.UK: Brazil travel advice

Places & local life

Landmarks, hidden gems & local life

Christ the Redeemer · photo 1

Classic landmarkRio de Janeiro, Brazil

Christ the Redeemer, Rio

Christ with open arms: the soul of Brazil on the summit of Corcovado

Iguazú Falls · photo 1

Classic landmarkParaná, Brazil / Misiones, Argentina

Iguazú Falls

A thunderous symphony of 275 cascades — the world's widest waterfall

Amazon rainforest · photo 1

Classic landmarkAmazonas, Brazil

Amazon rainforest

A green ocean, the lungs of the Earth — the ultimate sanctuary of biodiversity

Feijoada (Brazilian black-bean stew)

FoodRio de Janeiro, Brazil

Feijoada (Brazilian black-bean stew)

Black beans slow-cooked with pork, blending Portuguese, African and Indigenous food; Brazilians eat it on Saturdays.

Sugarloaf Mountain and its cable car

Classic landmarkRio de Janeiro (Urca), Brazil

Sugarloaf Mountain

A 396-m granite peak at the mouth of the bay; ride the cable car, opened in 1912, for a panorama of Rio.