7 Best Places to Visit in Brazil

Brazil is large enough that no single trip covers it — the flight from Rio to Manaus takes about as long as London to Cairo. That means choosing a region rather than a country, and the seven places below sit across most of the ones worth choosing.

Each is genuinely distinct from the others, which is the useful thing about them.

1. Rio de Janeiro

Sugarloaf Mountain rises at the mouth of Guanabara Bay and is reached by a two-stage cable car; Christ the Redeemer stands on the Corcovado ridge above the city. The setting itself — the mountains meeting the sea around the bay — is inscribed by UNESCO as the Carioca Landscapes. Copacabana and Ipanema are within the city, a metro ride from the centre.

2. Iguaçu Falls

The falls sit on the border with Argentina and consist of hundreds of separate cascades spread along nearly three kilometres of the Iguaçu River. Iguaçu National Park on the Brazilian side is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as is its Argentine counterpart. The Brazilian bank gives the wide panoramic view; the Argentine side puts you on walkways directly above the Devil's Throat.

3. Lençóis Maranhenses

In Maranhão state, a field of white sand dunes stretches for more than a thousand square kilometres — and despite appearances it is not a desert. The region gets heavy seasonal rain, and because a hard layer beneath the sand stops it draining, the valleys between the dunes fill into thousands of freshwater lagoons, generally at their best between June and September.

4. Fernando de Noronha

This volcanic archipelago lies roughly 350 kilometres off the northeast coast and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The twin peaks of Morro Dois Irmãos are its signature, and the surrounding waters are among the clearest in the Atlantic. Visitor numbers are capped and an environmental preservation fee is charged per day of stay, which is exactly why it stays the way it is.

5. Salvador

Salvador was Brazil's first capital and remains the centre of Afro-Brazilian culture. Its historic centre, the Pelourinho, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site — steep cobbled streets lined with colonial buildings painted in saturated colours. Capoeira, candomblé and the city's own musical traditions are all rooted here rather than imported for visitors.

6. The Amazon and Manaus

Manaus, a city of more than two million deep in the rainforest, is the gateway for Amazon river trips and is reached almost exclusively by air or boat. Just downstream is the Meeting of the Waters, where the dark Rio Negro and the pale, sediment-heavy Solimões flow side by side for several kilometres without mixing, divided by a visible line. Lodges upriver are the usual base for wildlife trips.

7. São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil and in the southern hemisphere, and it is where people go for food, art and nightlife rather than scenery. MASP on Avenida Paulista holds the most significant art collection in Latin America, suspended above an open plaza. The city's restaurant scene reflects waves of Japanese, Italian and Lebanese immigration.

Staying connected while you travel

Mobile coverage is strong across Rio, São Paulo, Salvador and the whole coastal strip, and fine in Foz do Iguaçu. It thins quickly in the interior: expect little or nothing on Amazon river trips beyond Manaus, and patchy service across the Lençóis Maranhenses dune field.

Running a promo code for Brazil right now:

Telekonek

15% off your first order — WELCOME15

-15%

Stay connected in 200+ countries the moment you land — skip the roaming bills and SIM swaps on your very first trip.

Public promo Ends Oct 21, 2026

WELCOME15 Get this deal

Airalo

15% off your first Airalo eSIM with NEWTOAIRALO15

-15%

New customers only, first order; the discount is capped at $3 per Airalo's terms.

Public promo Ends Dec 31, 2026

NEWTOAIRALO15 Get this deal

Roamless

Welcome Gift — Free Single Global eSIM + 10% off

-10%

Get your free Single Global eSIM now. Use code WEB101 for 10% off your first purchase.

Public promo

WEB101 Get this deal

New to this? Our beginner's guide to how eSIMs work covers the compatibility check and the install in a few minutes. The full, always-current list of every plan we track is on the Brazil eSIM page.