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...
Photograph · Tet · CC BY 4.0
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
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.
Checked 2026-08-25
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
Seasonal closures come from recorded opening hours.
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
117 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
Parque Henrique Lage
Parque Lage is a public park at the edge of Tijuca Forest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It centres on a historic mansion that houses a visual-arts school, the Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage.
Jardim Botânico de São Paulo
São Paulo Botanical Garden, Jardim Botânico de São Paulo, is a substantial green and scientific landscape within Brazil’s largest city. The garden protects and presents Atlantic Forest vegetation while also offering formal landscaped grounds for public visits.
Quinta da Boa Vista is a large historic public park in Rio de Janeiro, occupying former imperial grounds associated with the Portuguese royal family and the Brazilian imperial family.
Ilha Fiscal
Ilha Fiscal is a small island in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, notable for its distinctive neo-Gothic palace that formerly served as a customs house.
Pateo do Collegio
Pátio do Colégio marks the foundational site of São Paulo, established by Jesuit priests Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta in 1554. The name references the original Jesuit college courtyard where the city began.
Mercado Municipal de São Paulo
The Municipal Market of São Paulo, locally called Mercadão, is a historic public market in the city centre. Built in the early twentieth century, it occupies a prominent building with distinctive architecture.
Aterro do Flamengo
Flamengo Park, known locally as Parque do Flamengo, is a vast bayfront landscape in Rio de Janeiro designed by Roberto Burle Marx. The park stretches along Guanabara Bay, connecting multiple districts through green space.
Theatro Municipal
The Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro is Rio de Janeiro's principal opera house and one of the defining Beaux-Arts monuments of the Cinelândia district.
Parque da Independência
Independence Park, known locally as Parque da Independência, is a monumental public landscape in São Paulo. The park encompasses the historic site where Brazilian independence was proclaimed in 1822.
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.
Edifício Martinelli
The Martinelli Building, or Edifício Martinelli, is a landmark skyscraper in central São Paulo. Built in the early twentieth century, it represents the city's first major skyscraper ambition and the commercial expansion that reshaped downtown.
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.
Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Candelária
The Candelaria Church, known locally as Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Candelária, is a monumental domed church marking the northern approach to Rio de Janeiro's historic centre.
Two Brothers Hill, known locally as Morro Dois Irmãos, is a prominent mountain peak in Rio de Janeiro's South Zone. The summit rises above the Vidigal favela and offers panoramic vistas of the city's famous coastline.
Praça Quinze de Novembro
Fifteenth of November Square, or Praça XV de Novembro, is a historic public square in Rio de Janeiro’s Centro district. It stands beside Guanabara Bay and has long connected civic life, maritime movement and the city’s historic core.
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.
Penha Church, formally Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Penha, is a Catholic pilgrimage sanctuary on a granite outcrop in Rio de Janeiro’s Penha neighborhood. Its defining feature is the long ceremonial staircase leading up to the church.
The Selaron Steps, known locally as Escadaria Selarón, comprise a world-famous tiled staircase connecting the Lapa and Santa Teresa neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro.
Campo de Santana is a historic public park in central Rio de Janeiro. The green space has served as a civic setting through major phases of Brazilian history and remains an important pause within the dense downtown fabric.
Parque da Aclimação
Aclimação Park, Parque da Aclimação, is a traditional public green space in São Paulo’s central-south Aclimação district. Its main landscape feature is a lake surrounded by planted grounds, giving the neighbourhood a calm outdoor focus within the wider metropolis.
Viaduto do Chá is a historic bridge in central São Paulo, crossing the Vale do Anhangabaú between the older city centre and newer downtown. Built in the late nineteenth century, it reflects the rapid urban growth of the coffee-boom era.
Passeio Público, represented here as Public Promenade, is a historic public park in central Rio de Janeiro.
Teleférico do Pão de Açúcar
Sugarloaf Cable Car is the aerial route through Parque Bondinho Pão de Açúcar, connecting the ground station at Praia Vermelha with Morro da Urca and Sugarloaf Mountain.
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.
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.
