Breaking into the top five for the first time this year, Brazil scored highly for happiness, ease of settling in, local friendliness and culture, with many expats saying it's the warmth of the people that makes them feel at home.

"You could meet someone for the first time on a Thursday and be at their home having churrasco (barbecued meat) by Saturday," said Clint Manning, who moved from Barbados to São Paulo to build his business. "Being from Barbados and having a similar lifestyle there, it felt very much like home, but on a significantly larger scale."

He notes that English isn't widely spoken here, which he sees as a plus. "For someone truly interested in learning the language, it [is] a fantastic experience as you [are] forced to communicate in Portuguese out of necessity," he said. "I became fluent significantly faster than I would've if I had been trying to learn Danish or German in Denmark or Germany."

To best experience São Paulo, he recommends visiting the bars and padarias in Vila Madalena and Bela Vista, eating sushi in Liberdade (the city's Japanese neighborhood) and exercising in Ibirapuera Park, one of Latin America's largest urban parks.

But more than any scenery or site, expats say it is the locals who create the greatest sense of belonging. "They were genuinely interested and curious in getting to know me and made me feel included from the beginning," said Chris Kohl, who lived in São Paulo for 12 years. "Instead of making me feel like an outsider, Brazilians made me feel like I belonged."

Hi. I am from Afghanistan and wants to go to Brazil. Because of my beliefs I don't feel safe here. And I also want to get education so that in future I can help my little nieces and all the girls in my family to have freedom and go to school.

Can i get a visa if i get an invitation letter from Brazil ?

Why is the legendary saci Pererê sometimes represented as a human bird hybrid instead of a one legged human with a Hat?

I tried Hellotalk and other live chatrooms but those don’t give much opportunities to speak and it’s hard to keep up with the conversations so I’m looking for a space that pushes individuals to speak.

Hey everyone,

How are you? I hope you are well. I have been in São Paulo living for 2 months for work. I was sent here because I speak Spanish, English, and Portuguese and do trainings for companies.

I have enjoyed my time here - I like big cities. I really enjoy the public transportation, art museums, and different neighborhoods. I also love to eat out and there is a lot of variety here. I haven't found the food to be as delicious as Lima or CDMX though.

One thing that has surprised me is that I am not finding it very friendly. Most people are quite .. I am not sure of the word in English. Not necessarily rude but cold. Very quick and distant. I have been working in most of the major capital cities in South America and have found São Paulo to be the least friendly (waayyy behind CDMX, Bogotá, Lima, and Buenos Aires).

Also because I am here alone I often go out by myself and have a drink at the bar and have found it more difficult to have conversations compared to the other cities.

With that said I am still enjoying my time. I am going to the litoral norte this weekend to explore the beach and I am very excited.

Abrazos. Abraços.

Just to make sure that we are talking about the leaves, not the seeds that are used to season things like salami, bologna etc. And they taste completely different from the leaves.
The subject here is about the leaves.

Do you agree with the map? Do you think that there are areas of transition between some states?

How long has it taken to you to learn Brazilian Portuguese 🇧🇷 ?

Any tips will be of great use. I have recently started off it :) Obrigado 🙏

Hey guys, so my friends and I are US citizens and are trying to buy sambadrome tickets. However when we get to the payment method and try to fill out our billing information we keep being met with errors. I’m assuming it’s because the billing details are in Brazilian format ( telephone, zip code, address line 1, number, complement, neighborhood, city, state, country). Does anyone know how to properly fill this out? I’ve already tried putting the street number in place of “number” but it still does not work. Thanks!

I am going to Maceio in 20 days and i will be staying for 10 days.

On my vaccination card i have tetanus, polio, hepatitis b and mmr.

Do i need some other vaccinations for visiting that part of brazil?

Article Summary / Key Takeaways:

• Brazilian Electoral Court Justice Dias Toffoli issued a ruling restricting online campaign advertising for presidential candidate Renan Santos (Mission party) due to late disclosure of 16 social media accounts.

• The decision temporarily bars Santos from attending broadcast and digital debates, freezes R$ 3.3 million in public campaign funds, and orders platforms to suspend irregular accounts, while his overall candidacy remains valid.

• The candidate and his party were given 24 hours to respond or risk losing the candidacy registration entirely.

• Other TSE judges internally criticized the decision, arguing the measures are disproportionate for a registration proceeding and should be submitted to the full plenary court.

Source: Valor International (Hard Paywall)

Hi everyone! Long time lurker now and I have searched for the answer here without getting much wiser.

I am an EU citizen entering Brazil with:

2 phones

1 Ipad

1 Ebook reader

And I was wondering if I will have issues at the border? I'm bribging the second old phone for going out and such so that I still have a phone in case of anything. But I'm a bit worried since it is pretty clearly stated that you may only enter with one cellphone.

I'm also hella confused about how this all fits in with the quota? Will the Ipad and ebook reader count for that quota? Will they be counting with Brazilian price in mind? They're both quite old so how does that fit into the equation?

I'm entering on a Tourist visa for three months but I don't really understand if my Ipad can be seen as a notebook type thing or what the deal is.

Thank you so much for any insight whatsoever!

I am not getting accurate ranking or data online, hence i want to ask Brazilians. I am a foreigner and LOVES the Brazilian culture, I will be going for a PhD in Engineering in Brazil next year. which of these schools is ranked higher locally, and in terms of more prestige in the job market. Standard of living in the cities, and what’s it like getting work in industry after graduating if you don’t want to go the professor path.

Hello everyone, next week i’m going at Lençois Maranhenses and Jericoacoara. I’m wondering (especially for the first place) how is the nightlife in this two places, is there something to party like clubs or bars with music that stays open until late in the night? Is there a lot of people?

Just got back from Brazil and wanted to share a little about our trip. We spent time in both São Paulo and Rio, and I really enjoyed how different the two cities felt.

We did a little hotel hopping and stayed at the Hilton São Paulo Morumbi, Grand Hyatt São Paulo, and Grand Hyatt Rio. I put together a short video showing some of the trip and hotels for anyone interested:

https://youtu.be/9SHDD8CTrKY?is=A-2r_Y9-iHJqVeyr

What other parts of Brazil should we visit next?

Hi everyone! My wife and I are planning a 5-day trip to Northeast Brazil in January and would love some recommendations.

We’re looking for somewhere with:

-Beautiful beaches and clear/warm water
-Good weather in January (ideally somewhere that isn’t in its rainy season)
-Upscale boutique hotels or pousadas
-A hotel nice enough that we can spend a good amount of time relaxing there, since I’ll be pregnant
-A safe, charming area where we can also walk around, go out for dinner, etc., without needing activities planned all day
-LGBTQ+ friendly or at least somewhere where we’d feel completely comfortable traveling as a same-sex couple

We’re not looking for nightlife or a huge city. Quiet is totally fine, we just don’t want somewhere that feels completely dead or isolated.

Right now, São Miguel dos Milagres / Praia do Patacho is at the top of our list, but we’re very open to other areas in the Northeast.

We’ll be coming from São Paulo (GRU) airport, so somewhere relatively easy to reach from an airport would be a plus.

For anyone familiar with the Northeast: where would you choose for this type of trip? And are there any specific boutique hotels or pousadas you’d recommend?

Hello all,

So, I have to relocate to Brazil for work and I have a 6 year old domestic bunny (he was actually born in Brazil, and we moved to Canada, and now we're moving back to Sao Paulo for a little bit) The issue is that I'm finding it quite difficult to bring him back to Brazil and I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with this.

My first major issue is getting the documents MAPA needs. The import permit seems awfully strict for a domestic pet rabbit, the third most popular animal in the world, when cats or dogs get in the country with just a vet certificate. I've travelled to multiple places in the world with my bunny (Europe, the Middle East and other places because of work relocations) and it's always been a simple vet certificate of health. What MAPA's asking me feels more fit for a hippo than a bunny lol. Basically, do you think it would even be worth it sending a letter to MAPA and asking them to maybe review their rules regarding domestic bunnies? Rules that would better reflect reality?

Second, no airlines flying to Brazil allows him in cabin— I have to put him in cargo, but I don't feel like a small animal like that does well in cargo. I know there are a few court cases in brazil where airlines were forced to allow rabbits in the cabin, so I'm wondering if I can use this to my advantage in any way as I'm relocating? Would it be worth writing to a congressional representative, or authority, or anyone for that matter? I'm aware I can fly private, but I simply do not have the money for private.

I don't want to cause any issues, and I understand Brazil has many other things to worry about than someone's domestic rabbit, but I do need to relocate to Brazil and my bunny stops eating completely when I'm separated from him for over a week. I can't rehome him, he's an integral part of my life, and he certainly doesn't deserve to be in the cargo hold of a plane.

Rabbits are so much more rewarding, intelligent, affectionate, hilarious and loving than people give them credit. I'm hoping someone knows what to do!

I’m not Brazilian so please excuse my ignorance, but I am posting this for my partner who is. We have been living in Portugal for the past four years and are moving back to Brazil, but we are going to a state that is different from where he is from. He wants to get back into the medical system but doesn’t know where to start, which is why I’m here. Do you know where we can look to find out this information or does somebody have any personal experience about this? Because we will be in a different state does he have to apply somewhere for medical care again? Does he have to be living in the country with a permanent address for certain amount of time to reactivate medical care? Thank you in advance.

Hi everyone!
My girlfriend and I are planning our first trip to Brazil for around 17–19 days in early/mid August 2027, and we’d love to get some advice from locals and experienced Brazil travelers.
We definitely want to visit Rio de Janeiro, but apart from that we’re still very flexible and don’t want to try to squeeze too much into the trip.
A few questions:
Rio: How many days would you recommend for a first visit? Would 4–5 nights be enough?
Other cities/places: Which places would you consider a must-see on a first trip to Brazil? Are cities like Salvador, São Paulo, Florianópolis, etc. worth including, or would you rather focus on smaller towns/nature?
Beaches: Where would you recommend going for really beautiful beaches in August? We’d especially like somewhere a bit more relaxed after Rio.
Amazon: Would you recommend an Amazon tour if we only have 17–19 days in total? Is it worth the additional flights/travel time, and where would you start from?
Getting around: What’s the best way to travel between different regions? Domestic flights, buses, rental car, or a combination?
Safety: What should first-time visitors realistically keep in mind regarding safety? Are there specific areas, situations or common scams we should be aware of?
August: Are there any regions you would particularly recommend or avoid at this time of year because of weather, sea conditions, etc.?
General tips: Anything you wish you had known before traveling around Brazil?

Thanks a lot!

So I have very basic Portuguese, and practice everyday with lessons twice a week.

I'm considering looking at moving to Brazil next year at the least for 3 months to see where I like and considering long term movements.

I have enough to buy what i guess is a reasonable house (say 300k usd) and say two rental units (at 60-120k usd each).

Obviously I would have to qualify for permanent residency and, be looking at a long term income. I have spent my life as a Rigger (montador), crane driver and carpenter.

Would rental income be enough from the two units to sustain a reasonable income or, would I have to look at more income streams? Some of the houses i have looked at have a 'guest house' in that price range withing an almost compound (pool bbq area).

I'm pretty simple, playing guitar, gym and travel is pretty much me. I have an attraction to Florianopolis as the climate, location (similar latitude to where I grew up and i grew up on a beach) and is there anywhere else I should consider?

I'm 51 and in reasonably good health and active. Big lover of music , nature (especially big cats) and obviously plan immersion to improve the Portuguese as well as continued lessons. I do also make guitars and have a business in Australia for selling wood for guitars specifically.

I'm planning my first trip to Brazil for in October/November

I'm trying to get a good mix of big cities, nightlife, beaches/islands, nature, culture and get some decent time in each place rather than rushing through many places.

My current itinerary is, I fear sao Paulo may be too long but dont know not sure where best to add extra days or where else to include:

I keep hearing from Americans who have traveled to Brazil say that Brazilian food leaves a lot to be desired. They also mention that many international cuisine are adapted to suit the Brazilian palate, sometimes to the point where it bears little resemblance to the original cuisine. What international cuisines are generally the most authentic in Brazil?

https://www.instagram.com/igneis.nightscapes/

One of the places that has impressed me the most, with its stunning views of endless dunes and lagoons. Nothing but that for miles and miles. To get this view, I used the drone in a spot where the arch naturally aligns. I wanted the perspective of the endless lagoons and the vastness of this place.

Not everything was so easy, though. When I arrived, my suitcase got lost, so I was missing important parts of my equipment: no cables, no tripod, no clothes. Most nights I could do nothing more than stare at the sky, just hoping that tomorrow would be better. One morning my suitcase finally appeared, and in the last few days I was able to take this shot and a few more. Even under difficult circumstances, I just wanted to go back home with the amazing sky from this place… and now it’s just a fun memory of Murphy’s law.

Equipment:

Sony a7IV astromodified

Sony 20mm f1.8G

DJI mini 5 pro

Benro Polaris

(No generative AI involved, for real I travelled half of the world from Spain for something)

Hello guys, after a long time thinking about visiting Brazil, I finally decided to do it. I’m Italian and I’m currently based in Switzerland, my girlfriend lives in Salvador.

Situation here was kind of overwhelming so I finally decided to leave for some time without waiting for the perfect moment that probably will never come.

I’m gonna be there from September until December and if possible stay another 3 months to start, after that I will see how everything goes.

I’m trying to understand if living there with a monthly budget of 6500-7000 reais would be enough, in the meanwhile I’m looking for a remote job so that I could stay there while earning either USD or EUR.