Brazil Guides
13 comprehensive guides for destinations across Brazil.
Explore by Destination
All Guides
Lençóis Maranhenses: Where the Desert Drowns in Fresh Water for Four Months a Year
A remote Brazilian national park where 1,550 square kilometers of white quartz dunes transform into thousands of seasonal freshwater lagoons between June and September—accessible only by 4x4, best explored on foot, and completely unforgiving if you get the timing wrong.
Food & DrinkBelo Horizonte: Brazil's Best-Kept Food Secret, Where the Botecos Outnumber the Tourists
A food lover's guide to Belo Horizonte: boteco culture, Mercado Central, Mineira classics from Xapuri to Cantina do Lucas, Glouton and the new chef guard, Comida di Buteco 2026, cachaça, and the neighborhoods where BH eats best.
Sustainable TravelBonito, Brazil: The Town That Built an Economy by Saying No to Tourists
A sustainable travel guide to Bonito, Brazil — the world's first carbon-neutral ecotourism destination, where limestone-filtered rivers, strict visitor limits, and community-based tourism create one of South America's most successful conservation models.
Food & DrinkRio de Janeiro: Feijoada, Chopp, and the Art of Eating With Sand on Your Feet
A food and drink guide to Rio de Janeiro: Saturday feijoada rituals, boteco chopp culture, rodizio strategy, beach acai, tapioca stands, moqueca, and the samba bars where the city appetite never sleeps. Updated for 2026 with prices, addresses, and e-visa rules.
AdventureManaus: Where the Meeting of Waters Begins and the Concrete Gives Up — An Amazon Adventure Guide
An adventure guide to Manaus, Brazil — the Meeting of Waters, Teatro Amazonas rubber-boom architecture, tacaca and tambaqui food culture, MUSA and INPA city rainforest, Anavilhanas archipelago trips, and practical 2026 logistics with prices, addresses, and what to skip.
Culture & HistoryOuro Preto: Where Colonial Brazil Hid Its Gold, Executed Its Revolutionaries, and Built Churches That Weigh in Gold
Brazil's most significant colonial city — a UNESCO World Heritage baroque masterpiece built on slavery, revolution, and 18th-century gold wealth that funded half of Europe.
ArchitectureBrasília, Brazil: Oscar Niemeyer's Concrete Cathedral — A City Built from Nothing in 41 Months
A comprehensive architectural guide to Brasília, from Oscar Niemeyer's government palaces and hyperboloid cathedral to the Cerrado savanna that was bulldozed to make room for it. With specific addresses, prices, opening hours, and what to skip.
Sustainable TravelPantanal, Brazil: Where Jaguars Outnumber Tourists and the Wetland Still Rules
A comprehensive sustainable travel guide to Brazil's Pantanal wetland, featuring specific lodges, jaguar tracking, pantaneiro culture, and what to skip. With addresses, prices, and practical logistics.
Culture & HistoryRecife: Where Dutch Canals, African Drums, and the First Synagogue in the Americas Share the Same Street
Finn O'Sullivan's guide to Recife, Brazil's most overlooked city — where Dutch canals, African drumming, Jewish heritage, and Afro-Brazilian religion share the same streets. With specific addresses, prices, opening hours, and what to skip.
Food & DrinkSão Paulo: Where a Century of Immigrants Built the World's Most Overlooked Food City
A comprehensive food guide to São Paulo: Japanese-Brazilian sushi in Liberdade, century-old Italian cantinas in Bixiga, Lebanese bakeries, Saturday feijoada rituals, boteco culture, and the fine dining scene redefining Brazilian cuisine.
Culture & HistorySão Paulo: Coffee Fortunes, Immigrant Dreams, and the 12-Million-Person City That Refuses to Be Pretty
A culture and history guide to São Paulo — coffee fortunes at the Bolsa in Santos, Japanese-Brazilian Liberdade, Bixiga Italian heart, MASP, Ibirapuera street art, and honest 2026 prices and logistics.
Culture & HistorySalvador de Bahia: The Complete Guide to Brazil's Most African City — Churches, Capoeira, and the Flavors That Survived Slavery
A 2026 fact-checked guide to Salvador de Bahia: Pelourinho's baroque churches and the Sao Francisco closure, capoeira schools, acaraje stalls, Candomble traditions, beaches, Carnival dates, and honest daily budgets.
Culture & HistoryRio de Janeiro: Where Imperial Palaces Crumble Into Samba Bars — A Culture & History Deep Dive
Beyond the beach postcards lies a city that governed Brazil for 197 years — imperial palaces, baroque churches, the cradle of samba, and the wharf where half a million enslaved Africans landed. This guide digs into Rio's historic core: Centro, Lapa, Santa Teresa, and the port zone.