Language · 11 published
Country guide
Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth largest on earth, with over 213 million people, 26 states and a Federal District built to hold the capital, Brasília. Its Atlantic coastline runs 7,491 kilometres and it borders every country on the continent except Ecuador and Chile. Most of the Amazon basin is Brazilian, including the world's largest river system and the most extensive virgin tropical forest left standing; the same country also holds wetlands, savanna, plateau and low mountains. São Paulo is the most populous city and Rio de Janeiro the second. The distance between any two of these is the planning problem.
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Thomas Hobbs · CC BY-SA 2.0
Photograph · Rafael Rabello de Barros · CC BY-SA 3.0
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
44 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
Avenida Paulista
Paulista Avenue is São Paulo's signature thoroughfare, stretching approximately 2. 8 kilometres through the city centre. The avenue functions as a cultural and commercial corridor connecting multiple neighbourhoods.
Estádio do Maracanã is Brazil's most famous football stadium and a landmark of global sporting history. Located in Rio de Janeiro, it has hosted two FIFA World Cup finals and numerous historic matches.
The Santa Teresa Tram, known locally as Bondinho de Santa Teresa, is a historic tramway system operating in Rio de Janeiro. It serves the hillside neighbourhood of Santa Teresa, connecting it to the city centre.
Liberdade is São Paulo's historically Japanese-Brazilian district, the largest such community outside Japan. The area developed through twentieth-century immigration and retains distinct cultural markers in its streetscape, commerce, and public spaces.
The National Museum of Fine Arts, locally known as Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, stands as Brazil's premier institution for visual arts. Located in Cinelândia, central Rio de Janeiro, it occupies a monumental building that anchors this historic cultural square.
Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo
The Pinacoteca de São Paulo stands as the city's oldest major art museum, housed within the restored Luz building. This institution holds nationally important significance for Brazilian art, serving as a cornerstone of São Paulo's cultural landscape.
Museu Histórico Nacional
The National Historical Museum, locally known as Museu Histórico Nacional, occupies a former colonial fort and arsenal complex in central Rio de Janeiro. Its buildings represent layered military and imperial history spanning several centuries.
Museu do Amanhã
The Museum of Tomorrow, known locally as Museu do Amanhã, is a science museum situated on the Mauá waterfront in Rio de Janeiro's Porto Maravilha district.
Paço Imperial is a historic palace in Rio de Janeiro's Centro district, facing Praça XV de Novembro. It served as the colonial vice-regal residence, later becoming the seat of the Portuguese royal court and the Brazilian imperial family.
Real Gabinete Português de Leitura
The Real Gabinete Português de Leitura is a neo-Manueline library in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Founded in 1837 by Portuguese immigrants, the institution preserves cultural ties between Brazil and Portugal.
Memorial da América Latina
The Latin America Memorial is a civic-cultural complex in São Paulo designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer. It was conceived as a space dedicated to Latin American culture, integration, and identity.
Museu Lasar Segall
Lasar Segall Museum, or Museu Lasar Segall, is a house-museum and cultural centre in Vila Mariana, São Paulo. The museum occupies the former residence and studio of Lasar Segall, a Lithuanian-born Brazilian painter and engraver.
Casa das Rosas is a preserved mansion on Avenida Paulista in São Paulo, now used as a cultural centre devoted to poetry and literature. The building brings historic architecture into one of the city’s busiest commercial and cultural corridors.
Museu Paulista
The Museu do Ipiranga is a Brazilian history museum located in São Paulo. It stands as the anchor institution of Independence Park, a monumental green space in the city.
Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo
The São Paulo Museum of Modern Art, known locally as Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM), is a leading institution dedicated to modern and contemporary art.
Museu Afro-Brasil
The Afro Brazil Emanoel Araujo Museum is a separately entered institution located within Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo. The museum is dedicated to preserving and showcasing Afro-Brazilian culture, history, and artistic production.
Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM)
The Museum of Modern Art Rio, locally Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, is a modernist museum and gardens forming a major arts complex beside Flamengo Park.
Museu da Língua Portuguesa
The Museum of the Portuguese Language is an interactive museum dedicated to the Portuguese language, located inside the historic Luz Station in São Paulo. Its Portuguese name is Museu da Língua Portuguesa.
Casa Brasil
Casa França-Brasil is a neoclassical building in Rio de Janeiro that formerly served as a customs house. The structure represents an important example of colonial-era architecture adapted for civic use.
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil São Paulo
The Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil São Paulo (CCBB SP) is a major cultural institution operated by Banco do Brasil, one of Brazil's largest public banks.
Museu da Imigração do Estado de São Paulo
The Museum of Immigration of the State of São Paulo occupies the former immigrant hostel in Mooca, where newcomers stayed after arriving in Brazil. The site connects São Paulo’s modern multicultural identity with the personal experience of migration.
Museu de Arte Sacra de São Paulo
The Museum of Sacred Art of São Paulo occupies the historic Luz monastery complex in central São Paulo. The former religious setting gives the museum a strong architectural identity alongside its collection of Brazilian sacred art.
Museu do Futebol
The Football Museum, locally known as Museu do Futebol, is an interactive museum located beneath the historic Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo. It examines football's profound significance within Brazilian society and culture.
Museu Judaico de São Paulo
The Jewish Museum of São Paulo is a cultural museum devoted to Jewish life, migration, and heritage in Brazil. The institution occupies the restored Beth-El synagogue, giving the visit an architectural setting closely connected with the community history presented inside.
Museu Chácara do Céu
Chácara do Céu Museum is a former residence in Santa Teresa, one of Rio de Janeiro’s hillside neighborhoods. It belongs to the Castro Maya Museums network and combines a historic domestic setting with collections of Brazilian and European art.
Solar da Marquesa de Santos
Solar da Marquesa de Santos is a rare surviving eighteenth-century urban residence in São Paulo. It serves as a core site of the City Museum, preserving historical architecture from the colonial period.
Museu de Zoologia da USP
The Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo is a natural-history museum beside Independence Park. The University of São Paulo operates the institution as a place where zoological research, scientific collections, and public education meet.
The Museu Aeroespacial, known in English as the Aerospace Museum, stands at Campo dos Afonsos in Rio de Janeiro. It serves as Brazil's principal institution dedicated to preserving and exhibiting the nation's aviation and aerospace heritage.
Museu de Arte do Rio
The Rio Art Museum, known locally as Museu de Arte do Rio, is a cultural institution situated in Rio de Janeiro's port zone.
Catavento Cultural e Educacional
Catavento Museum, locally known as Museu Catavento, is a hands-on science museum housed in the historic Palácio das Indústrias in São Paulo.
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil is a cultural institution housed in a historic building in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Formerly a bank headquarters, the neoclassical structure has been adapted for contemporary cultural use.
Museu dos Transportes Públicos Gaetano Ferolla
São Paulo Railway Museum, also known as Museu dos Transportes Públicos Gaetano Ferolla, preserves vehicles and infrastructure connected with the history of public transport in São Paulo.
Museu da Vida
Museum of Life Fiocruz is an interactive science museum operated by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro. The visit connects public health, biology, environmental science, and the history of Fiocruz, Brazil’s major public health research institution.
The Museum of Açude is a cultural institution within Rio de Janeiro's Tijuca Forest. It forms part of the Castro Maya Museums network, administered under Brazilian federal museum governance.
Museu Naval
Naval Museum is a downtown Rio de Janeiro museum devoted to Brazilian naval history. Operated by the Brazilian Navy, it places maritime heritage within reach of the central city and Guanabara Bay.
Duque de Caxias Fort stands on Morro do Leme above the eastern end of Copacabana Beach. The military fortification occupies a strategic height with views toward Copacabana and Guanabara Bay.
AquaRio, known locally as Aquário Marinho do Rio de Janeiro, is a large marine aquarium situated in Rio de Janeiro's port district. It serves as the area's principal family attraction, drawing visitors interested in marine life and aquatic ecosystems.
Jardim Zoológico de São Paulo
São Paulo Zoo, or Zoológico de São Paulo, is Brazil’s largest zoological park and a major family attraction in the city’s southern area. Its broad grounds create a full outdoor outing rather than a brief indoor visit.
Museu do Samba
The Museu do Samba is a community-rooted museum located beside Mangueira, one of Rio de Janeiro's most storied samba schools. It documents the history and makers of samba, Brazil's iconic musical genre.
Museu da República
Museum of the Republic occupies the former Catete Palace in Flamengo. The neoclassical palace served as Brazil’s presidential residence from 1897 until 1960, and its rooms preserve the setting of national political life during that period.
Farol Santander occupies the historic Edifício Altino Arantes, a landmark skyscraper in São Paulo's central Sé district.
Pontal Museum is a purpose-built cultural institution in Barra da Tijuca dedicated to Brazilian popular art.
Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo
The Museum of Contemporary Art, University of São Paulo (MAC USP) is a public art museum operated by the University of São Paulo. Its most visible presence is the iconic building in Ibirapuera Park, designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer.
Museu de Arte de São Paulo
The Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, universally known as MASP, stands as São Paulo's defining art institution and an architectural landmark designed by Lina Bo Bardi.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·
Brazil’s scale makes 10–16 days appropriate for one region rather than a national circuit. Build around a single gateway such as Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo, then add one coherent coastal, nature or cultural extension.
Visa information is maintained by Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its consular portal. Eligibility depends on nationality and visit purpose; use the ministry’s current table instead of relying on a past visa waiver.
São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro handle major international and domestic connections. Flights bridge the country’s long distances, coaches cover many regional corridors, and national passenger rail is not a general substitute for either.
Brazil has no single best month because Amazon, northeast-coast, Pantanal and southern conditions differ. April–June and August–October are broad shoulder periods, but the chosen region’s rainfall and access cycle should decide the dates.
The Brazilian real (BRL) is the unit used for prices. This guide does not record current bank fees or acceptance patterns; check the displayed total and conversion currency before authorising a card or cash transaction.
Brazil separates emergency services: 190 police, 192 ambulance and 193 fire. Type N sockets operate at either 127 or 220 V depending on location, and national tap-water suitability is Not recorded.
