Brazil Travel Guide
Practical, sourced answers for paying, shopping, getting around and using services in Brazil — so you can show up without fear and actually enjoy it.
This is a reference market rate, not necessarily what your card, ATM or exchange office will charge — those usually add a spread and, for card purchases, Brazil's IOF tax.
What it is, whether you actually need one as a tourist, and every real way to get one.
Read the guide → Money & PaymentsCards, cash, Pix — and the two questions every cashier in Brazil will ask you.
Read the guide → PixWhy most tourists can't send Pix directly, and every real workaround available right now.
Read the guide → Money & PaymentsIOF, spreads, and where to exchange dollars without losing money to a bad rate.
Read the guide → CPFA step-by-step for checkout screens, ticket sites and stores that assume you have one.
Read the guide → TourismWhere to go — from Rio's beaches to Chapada Diamantina's canyons — with real photos.
Explore destinations →Printable PDF manuals for the moments Wi-Fi won't save you — show them to a cashier, a driver, or read them on the plane before you land.
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The exact Portuguese phrases for checkout, taxis and restaurants, sent straight to your inbox as a PDF.
Every path: consulate, in-person, or online — with documents and timelines.
Cards, cash, Pix and the exact phrases cashiers use, decoded.
Real workarounds for the payment method every Brazilian store expects.
Best-to-worst exchange options, ranked, with a rate sanity-check method.
Online and in-person booking steps for intercity travel.
eSIM vs. physical SIM vs. roaming, compared, with setup steps for each.
Accounts, payment, safety checks — everything for your first ride.
No. A CPF is a tax registration number, not a travel or immigration document — you don't need one to enter Brazil as a tourist.
Not directly. Pix requires a Pix key linked to an account at a Brazilian financial institution, which requires a CPF — something most short-term foreign tourists don't have. A few tourist-Pix apps offer a workaround.
Yes, most international debit cards on the Visa/Mastercard networks work — confirm international transactions are enabled with your bank first.
190 (Polícia Militar). For an ambulance, call 192 (SAMU); for fire, 193.
It varies — more common among younger people, in tourist hubs, and in hospitality/business settings, but far from universal nationwide.
Everything you need to pay, shop and get around Brazil with confidence — in one place.