Travel and Tourism in Brazil

The Amazon Region

The Amazon is the largest river system on earth by discharge volume, carrying approximately 20 percent of all fresh water that flows into the world's oceans. Its main channel, which stretches over 6,400 kilometers from its headwaters in the Peruvian Andes to its mouth near Belém in Brazil, is navigable by ocean-going vessels for over 3,500 kilometers. The river basin it drains covers approximately 7 million square kilometers — an area larger than the contiguous United States — and the forest that covers most of this basin is the most biodiverse terrestrial ecosystem on the planet, estimated to contain approximately 390 billion individual trees representing some 16,000 species, along with millions of species of insects, an estimated 3,000 species of freshwater fish, and thousands of species of birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles.

Manaus, a city of over two million people deep in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, is the primary gateway for most visitors to the Brazilian Amazon. The city's existence in the middle of the jungle was made possible — and made impossibly grand — by the rubber boom of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the Amazon's wild rubber trees made Manaus one of the wealthiest cities in the world. The fortunes accumulated during the rubber boom were spent with extravagant flamboyance, most famously on the Teatro Amazonas, the Opera House that remains the city's defining monument. Completed in 1896 after fifteen years of construction using materials imported entirely from Europe — Portuguese tiles, Italian marble, English cast iron, Belgian crystal chandeliers, French furniture — the Teatro Amazonas was a declaration that the jungle city had arrived as a world-class metropolis. After the collapse of the rubber boom around 1912, when British-grown plantation rubber from Asia destroyed the Amazon's monopoly, the Teatro Amazonas fell into disrepair before being magnificently restored in 1990. Today it is one of Brazil's finest concert halls and the centerpiece of the annual Amazon Opera Festival, which runs every April and May.

The Meeting of the Waters (Encontro das Águas) is one of the most remarkable natural phenomena in the Amazon and can be visited on a day trip from Manaus. At the point approximately 15 kilometers east of the city where the dark, acidic, slow-moving waters of the Rio Negro meet the sandy-brown, faster-flowing, warmer waters of the Amazon (technically called the Solimões in Brazil upstream of this confluence), the two rivers flow side by side for approximately six kilometers without mixing, creating a visible boundary between two distinct rivers within the same channel. The different temperatures (the Rio Negro is about 28 degrees Celsius, the Solimões about 22 degrees), speeds, and chemical compositions of the two rivers explain this phenomenon, which is visible from boats throughout the year and is particularly dramatic during the wet season when the water levels are high.

Jungle lodges are the standard accommodation for experiencing the Amazon wilderness around Manaus, ranging from very basic to extraordinarily luxurious. The Anavilhanas Lodge on the Anavilhanas archipelago, the Amazon Ecopark Lodge, the Ariaú Amazon Towers (built on platforms in the treetops), and the Juma Lodge are among the most well-regarded. All offer guided excursions including boat trips to spot caimans and pink river dolphins, piranha fishing (piranha fishing is a genuine Amazon experience — the fish are plentiful, easy to catch with simple lines, and delicious to eat), night walks in the forest to spot tree frogs, tarantulas, and sleeping birds, visits to Indigenous communities, and early morning birdwatching from elevated viewing platforms.

The pink river dolphin, known in Brazil as the boto, is one of the Amazon's most iconic and mythologically significant creatures. These freshwater cetaceans, formally called Amazon river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis), are the largest of the world's five species of river dolphin and are unmistakable for their distinctly pinkish coloration, which deepens with age and in males, who develop a more pronounced pink than females. In Brazilian Amazon mythology, the boto is a powerful and ambiguous supernatural figure who transforms into a handsome man at night, wearing a hat to conceal his blowhole, and seduces women — any unexplained pregnancy in a riverside community could traditionally be attributed to the boto. Today, seeing pink dolphins in the wild remains one of the most sought-after Amazon experiences, and several locations around Manaus, particularly the Novo Airão village on the Rio Negro, are known for habituated populations of dolphins that approach tourist boats reliably.

The Jau National Park, covering approximately 2.3 million hectares west of Manaus, is the largest national park in Brazil and one of the largest in the world. Together with the adjacent Anavilhanas Ecological Station, it forms the Central Amazon Conservation Complex recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2000 and expanded in 2003. The park protects a vast expanse of terra firme (upland) forest as well as extensive várzea (seasonally flooded) and igapó (permanently flooded black-water) forest ecosystems, and it contains populations of virtually all major Amazon species including jaguars, giant river otters, black caimans, Amazon manatees, and hundreds of species of birds. Access is difficult and requires advance planning, typically through a licensed operator in Manaus.

The Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, located at the confluence of the Japurá and Solimões rivers, is one of the largest flooded forest reserves in the Amazon and an important model for community-based ecotourism. The reserve is accessible only by boat and is most commonly visited via the Uakari Lodge, a floating lodge that rises and falls with the river level and offers guided excursions into some of the most pristine flooded forest in the Amazon. In the wet season, the entire reserve is several meters under water and travel is entirely by canoe beneath the forest canopy, an experience of extraordinary intimacy with the forest. Among the species regularly seen at Mamirauá are the uakari monkey (for which the lodge is named), with its distinctive bald red face; the pirarucú or arapaima, one of the world's largest freshwater fish; and large populations of pink and grey river dolphins.

The anaconda (Eunectes murinus), the largest snake in the world by mass and the longest (alongside the reticulated python), inhabits the flooded grasslands and shallow lakes of the Amazon basin. Anacondas can reach lengths of six to seven meters and weights of over 200 kilograms, and while they are not aggressive toward humans under normal circumstances, their size alone makes an encounter memorable. Anaconda spotting is offered at several Amazon lodges, typically involving guided boat trips through flooded grasslands where the snakes rest near the surface.

Victoria amazonica, the giant water lily of the Amazon, grows leaves that can reach three meters in diameter — large enough to support the weight of a small child. The plant grows in shallow, still waters across the Amazon basin and blooms nocturnally in white flowers that shift to pink by the following day. Seeing these extraordinary plants in their natural habitat, particularly at the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi in Belém which maintains a living collection, is one of the distinctive botanical experiences of the Amazon region.

Belém, the capital of the state of Pará and the major city at the mouth of the Amazon, is often overlooked by visitors in favor of Manaus but deserves extended attention. Founded in 1616 by the Portuguese, Belém has a magnificent colonial heritage including the Forte do Presépio (the original Portuguese fort), the neo-Gothic Basílica de Nossa Senhora de Nazaré (site of the Círio de Nazaré, Brazil's largest religious procession, held each October), and the Ver-o-Peso market — one of the largest open-air markets in Latin America and a UNESCO-listed cultural heritage site — where boats arrive daily from across the Amazon estuary laden with fish, tropical fruits, medicinal herbs, regional spices, and forest products. Belém is also considered the world capital of açaí — the purple palm berry is consumed here in vast quantities in ways quite different from the Rio de Janeiro version: in Belém, açaí is traditionally eaten with shrimp and tapioca rather than as a sweet dessert, reflecting its role as a staple food rather than a health product.

Santarém, located at the confluence of the Tapajós and Amazon rivers approximately halfway between Belém and Manaus, is a growing ecotourism destination and the gateway to the extraordinary beaches of Alter do Chão. This small town on the banks of the Tapajós River has white sand beaches with crystal-clear warm water that appear each year as the river level drops in the dry season, creating a landscape of extraordinary beauty sometimes called the Caribbean of the Amazon. The Tapajós River here is deep blue due to its clear, low-sediment water, and the combination of white sand, blue water, and surrounding forest is uniquely beautiful.

The Northeast — Beaches and Culture

The Northeast of Brazil — the Nordeste — is often described as the country's most Brazilian region, meaning the place where the African and Indigenous elements of Brazilian culture are most strongly preserved and where the heat, color, and intensity of the tropical experience are at their most concentrated. Stretching from Maranhão in the west to Bahia in the south, the Northeast encompasses nine states with very different characters: the sleek beach resorts of Ceará, the traditional fishing communities of Rio Grande do Norte, the sophisticated urban culture of Recife and Olinda, and the deep African cultural roots of Salvador da Bahia. What unites the region is a combination of stunning natural beauty, intense cultural vitality, and some of the most profound historical weight in all of Brazil — for it was in the Northeast that most of the enslaved Africans brought to Brazil arrived, and it was here that their descendants built the cultural foundations of modern Brazilian civilization.

Salvador da Bahia, known simply as Salvador or Bahia, was the first capital of colonial Brazil and served in that role from 1549 to 1763. It was the largest city in the Americas in the seventeenth century and the primary entry point for the estimated three to four million enslaved Africans brought to Brazil between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. Today Salvador is a city of over three million people with an overwhelmingly African-descended population, and it is widely considered the most African city outside Africa itself. The culture of Salvador — its music, religion, cuisine, martial arts, and visual arts — is profoundly and deliberately shaped by this African heritage.

The Pelourinho (the whipping post) is the historic center of Salvador and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. This hilly neighborhood of cobblestone streets and brilliantly colored colonial baroque buildings is one of the finest ensembles of Portuguese colonial architecture in the world, and its churches — particularly the Church of São Francisco with its interior of extraordinary gilded woodcarving, and the Church of Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos, built by enslaved people in honor of a Black Madonna — are among Brazil's most magnificent. The name Pelourinho refers to the pillory that stood in the central square where enslaved people were publicly punished — a dark reminder of the neighborhood's historical purpose as the commercial center of the slave trade. Today the Pelourinho is a center of Bahian culture, home to music venues, capoeira academies, museums, restaurants, and artisan workshops.

Candomblé, the Afro-Brazilian religion that developed among enslaved Africans in Bahia and has spread throughout Brazil, is one of the most important and complex religious traditions in the Americas. Rooted in the Yoruba, Fon, and Bantu religious traditions of West and Central Africa, Candomblé centers on the relationship between initiates and a pantheon of divine spirits called orixás, each associated with specific forces of nature, colors, days of the week, foods, and personality characteristics. Exu is the orixá of crossroads and communication; Yemanjá governs the sea; Oxum rules fresh water and love; Ogum is the deity of iron and war; Oxalá is the supreme sky deity. Candomblé ceremonies, which involve drumming, singing, dance, and spirit possession, are conducted in terreiros (ceremonial houses) throughout Salvador and across Brazil. While some terreiros welcome respectful visitors, attendance at ceremonies should always be arranged through appropriate cultural guides and conducted with complete respect for the religious seriousness of what is being witnessed.

Capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art that disguises combat techniques within a flowing dance-like movement vocabulary, was developed by enslaved Africans in Brazil as a way to practice self-defense while disguising it from slave owners as a cultural performance. Today it is practiced worldwide, but the tradition is most vigorously alive in Salvador, where the major capoeira schools — the Associação Brasileira de Apoio e Desenvolvimento da Arte-Capoeira (ABADÁ-Capoeira), Mestre Pastinha's Angola school, and Mestre Bimba's Regional school — maintain training facilities and perform public demonstrations. Watching a capoeira roda (circle), with its mesmerizing interplay of acrobatics, combat, and the rhythms of the berimbau (a single-stringed musical bow), is one of Salvador's defining cultural experiences.

Bahian cuisine is one of the most distinctive and celebrated regional cuisines in Brazil, and it owes its character almost entirely to the African heritage of the Bahian population. Acarajé, the most iconic Bahian street food, is a fritter made from black-eyed pea paste that is deep-fried in dendê (palm) oil and filled with vatapá (a spiced paste of bread, peanuts, coconut milk, and dendê oil), caruru (okra-based sauce), dried shrimp, and hot pepper. It is sold by baianas — traditionally dressed women in white, descendants of the priestesses of Candomblé — at street stands throughout Salvador. Moqueca baiana is a richly flavored seafood stew made with coconut milk and dendê oil, fundamentally different from the moqueca capixaba of Espírito Santo which uses neither. Vatapá, a thick, spiced paste of extraordinary complexity; xinxim de galinha, chicken cooked with dried shrimp and palm oil; and bobó de camarão, shrimp in a sauce of cassava and coconut milk, are other essential Bahian dishes. These foods are not merely traditional — they are the living expression of an African cultural heritage maintained through centuries of slavery and discrimination.

Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará state with a population of over 2.7 million, is one of Brazil's major beach resort cities. Its urban beaches are heavily developed but the surrounding coast of Ceará is extraordinary, featuring extensive white dunes, warm, calm waters colored brilliant turquoise and green, and consistent trade winds that make it one of the world's premier kitesurfing and windsurfing destinations. The Praia do Futuro is Fortaleza's most popular urban beach, while Cumbuco, 35 kilometers to the northwest, is the most accessible world-class kitesurf spot. Further afield, the fishing villages and dune-backed beaches of Camocim, Tatajuba, and Jericoacoara reward the journey.

Jericoacoara, known universally as Jeri, is a small village in western Ceará that has become one of Brazil's most famous beach destinations while somehow retaining much of its original character as a fishing community. The village, which can be reached only by four-wheel-drive vehicles crossing the dunes or by buggies along the beach, sits among a landscape of extraordinary beauty: towering sand dunes dotted with fresh-water lagoons colored brilliant blue and green, a beach with consistent wind for kite and windsurfing, and a lagoon called the Lagoa do Paraíso (Paradise Lagoon) surrounded by cashew trees where hammocks hang above the warm, clear water. Sunset from the top of the main dune, with kite surfers performing aerial maneuvers against the setting sun, is one of Brazil's most beautiful natural spectacles.

The Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, in the state of Maranhão, is one of the most surreal and beautiful landscapes in Brazil. The name translates roughly as "Maranhão's bed sheets," referring to the appearance of the vast field of brilliant white sand dunes — stretching over 1,550 square kilometers — from the air, where they look like an undulating white sheet spread over the land. Between the dunes, particularly from about February to September after the rains, thousands of fresh-water lagoons collect in the hollows, colored in shades of brilliant blue and green that contrast spectacularly with the white sand. The lagoons are surprisingly deep — up to three meters — and swimming in them, surrounded by white dune walls under a bright blue sky, is an experience of dreamlike beauty.

Recife, the capital of Pernambuco state and the Northeast's most cosmopolitan city, is sometimes called the Venice of Brazil due to the rivers, channels, and bridges that divide its historic center into multiple islands. The city has a distinctive architectural and cultural character shaped by its Dutch colonial period — the Dutch occupied Recife and much of northeastern Brazil between 1630 and 1654 — as well as by its position as the capital of the sugarcane economy that made Pernambuco one of the most prosperous regions of colonial Brazil. The Recife Antigo historic neighborhood, on the island of Recife at the mouth of the Capibaribe River, is being revitalized and contains important historic buildings including the Marco Zero (the official point of origin of the city), the magnificent Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue (the oldest in the Americas), and the extraordinary Officina Brennand ceramics studio.

The frevo, an explosively energetic musical form that was declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, originated in Recife in the early twentieth century. Frevo music is characterized by its extremely fast tempo and complex syncopated rhythms, and it is accompanied by the frevo dance, in which performers execute acrobatic twirls and jumps using tiny colorful umbrellas as props. The Carnival of Recife is among the most energetic in Brazil, with enormous street parties featuring frevo, maracatu, caboclinho, and forró.

Olinda, immediately north of Recife and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982, is a perfectly preserved colonial hilltop town that served as the capital of the Dutch colony of New Holland in the seventeenth century. Its cobblestone streets, baroque churches (including the imposing Sé Cathedral with its sweeping Atlantic Ocean views), colorful colonial houses, and panoramic hilltop setting make it one of the most picturesque towns in Brazil. Olinda is particularly famous for its Carnival, which is characterized by giant papier-mâché puppets called bonecos de Olinda, representing caricatures of local celebrities and politicians, carried through the town's narrow streets by their creators while surrounded by costumed revelers.

Fernando de Noronha, an archipelago of 21 islands and islets located approximately 345 kilometers off the coast of Pernambuco, is one of Brazil's most extraordinary natural environments and is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The main island, the only inhabited one, has permanent residents numbering only about 3,000, and strict quotas limit the number of visitors who can be present at any time. The waters surrounding Fernando de Noronha are among the most pristine in the Atlantic Ocean, with remarkable visibility and exceptional marine biodiversity. Spinner dolphins come in extraordinary numbers to the Baía dos Golfinhos (Bay of Dolphins) each morning, often numbering in the hundreds. Sea turtles nest on the beaches in large numbers from late October through March, and the island also serves as the primary nesting site for several species of seabirds in the South Atlantic. The diving and snorkeling around Fernando de Noronha is considered the best in Brazil, with encounters with turtles, sharks, rays, and enormous schools of fish commonplace.

São Luís, the capital of Maranhão and the only Brazilian state capital founded by the French (in 1612, though the Portuguese soon took control), is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its extraordinary historic center, which contains thousands of colonial buildings decorated with Portuguese azulejo tiles in brilliant patterns of blue, white, and other colors. This azulejo-covered architecture, reminiscent of Lisbon, gives São Luís an atmosphere unlike any other Brazilian city. The city is also the home of the Bumba Meu Boi, a traditional festivity declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, which takes place primarily in June and features theatrical performances, music, and processions centered on the legend of a sacrificed and resurrected ox.

Brazil's UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Brazil has one of the largest numbers of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Americas, reflecting both the extraordinary richness of its natural environments and the historical and architectural importance of its colonial and pre-colonial heritage. As of 2025, Brazil has 25 UNESCO World Heritage Sites — making it one of the top-ranked countries in the world for World Heritage designations.

The Historic Town of Ouro Preto was inscribed in 1980 as the first Brazilian site on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The inscription recognized the exceptional conservation of the eighteenth-century baroque architecture of what was once the most important city in colonial Brazil and the extraordinary quality of its churches, sculptures, and urban fabric. Ouro Preto represents the flowering of a uniquely Brazilian baroque tradition that synthesized European artistic influences with local materials, labor, and creative energy to produce something genuinely original.

The Historic Centre of the Town of Olinda was inscribed in 1982 in recognition of the exceptionally well-preserved colonial Portuguese urban planning of this hilltop town near Recife. The town's seventeen baroque churches, combined with its organic urban structure adapted to the topography, represent the finest surviving example of Portuguese colonial urbanism in Brazil.

The Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis, shared with Argentina and inscribed in 1983, recognizes the ruins of five Jesuit missions (São Miguel das Missões is the most significant Brazilian site) established by the Society of Jesus in the seventeenth century to evangelize and protect the Guaraní people of the Rio de la Plata region. The missions, known as reducciones or reduções, combined Guaraní architectural traditions with European baroque elements to create a unique syncretic culture.

The Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia was inscribed in 1985 as one of the finest examples of Portuguese colonial architecture in the Americas and the site of the first slave market in the New World, making it a location of profound historical significance for the understanding of the transatlantic slave trade.

The Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Matosinhos at Congonhas do Campo (Santuário do Bom Jesus do Matosinhos) was inscribed in 1985 in recognition of Aleijadinho's extraordinary soapstone sculptures — the 66 Passion figures and 12 prophets — which represent the peak of Brazilian baroque art.

The Iguaçu National Park was inscribed in 1986 for its natural values, specifically the extraordinary waterfalls and the surrounding Atlantic Forest ecosystem, which supports important populations of giant otters, ocelots, and large numbers of bird species including the critically endangered helmeted woodpecker.

Brasília was inscribed in 1987 in recognition of its outstanding achievement as a planned city representing the high point of twentieth-century urbanism, specifically the synthesis of Lúcio Costa's urban planning, Oscar Niemeyer's architecture, and Roberto Burle Marx's landscape design.

The Serra da Capivara National Park in Piauí state was inscribed in 1991 as a site of extraordinary archaeological importance, containing thousands of prehistoric rock paintings and engravings dating back as far as 25,000 years — among the oldest evidence of human habitation in the Americas and challenging long-held assumptions about the timing of human migration into the New World.

The Historic Centre of São Luís was inscribed in 1997 for its exceptional collection of nineteenth-century architecture decorated with azulejo tiles in a style that has no parallel anywhere else in Brazil and represents a unique blend of Portuguese colonial and local building traditions.

The Historic Centre of Diamantina was inscribed in 1999 for its remarkably well-preserved example of a Brazilian colonial diamond-mining town, including the unique balcão architectural feature and the rich cultural traditions of the town.

The Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves were inscribed in 1999 as a World Heritage Site recognizing the extraordinary biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest biome in Bahia and Espírito Santo states. This area, which includes the region where the Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral first landed in Brazil in 1500, protects fragments of the Atlantic Forest that support extraordinary endemic biodiversity.

The Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves were inscribed in 1999 as a World Heritage Site recognizing the largest remaining fragments of the Atlantic Forest biome, concentrated in the Serra do Mar and surrounding mountains of São Paulo and Paraná states. These forests represent the most extensive contiguous Atlantic Forest remaining and contain extraordinary biodiversity.

The Central Amazon Conservation Complex was inscribed in 2000 and extended in 2003 to cover approximately 6 million hectares of protected areas including the Jaú National Park, the Anavilhanas Ecological Station, the Amaná Sustainable Development Reserve, and the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve. Together these form the largest protected area in the tropical Amazon.

The Pantanal Conservation Area was inscribed in 2000 in recognition of the extraordinary wildlife values of the Pantanal wetlands and the ecological processes that create them. The inscribed area covers approximately 187,000 hectares and includes Pantanal National Park and the surrounding areas.

Fernando de Noronha and the Atol das Rocas Reserves were inscribed in 2001 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognizing the ecological importance of these oceanic archipelagos for marine biodiversity, particularly as the breeding and feeding ground for large numbers of sea turtles, spinner dolphins, and seabirds.

The Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks were inscribed in 2001 in recognition of the extraordinary biological diversity and endemism of the Cerrado biome and the ancient geological heritage of the quartzite formations of the Chapada dos Veadeiros.

The Historic Centre of the Town of Goiás was inscribed in 2001 as an exceptionally well-preserved example of a Portuguese colonial gold-mining settlement in the interior of Brazil, representing the penetration of European settlement into the Brazilian interior during the eighteenth century.

Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea was inscribed in 2012 as a cultural landscape recognizing the unique relationship between the human-built environment of Rio de Janeiro and its extraordinary natural setting of mountains, forests, beaches, and bay. This inscription covers Guanabara Bay, the Tijuca National Park, the Corcovado, and the urban landscape including the work of Burle Marx and others.

The Pampulha Modern Ensemble in Belo Horizonte was inscribed in 2016 in recognition of the pivotal role of this architectural complex — designed by Niemeyer and Burle Marx in the early 1940s — in the development of Brazilian modernist architecture and landscape design and its influence on subsequent urban planning worldwide.

The Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site in Rio de Janeiro was inscribed in 2017 as a site of exceptional historical significance, representing the primary landing point of enslaved Africans brought to Brazil and, by extension, the largest port of entry for enslaved people in the Americas. The archaeological remains of the wharf, uncovered during construction work in 2011, bear direct physical witness to the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.

Paraty and Ilha Grande — Culture and Biodiversity was inscribed in 2019 as a mixed site recognizing both the cultural significance of the historic colonial town of Paraty (one of Brazil's finest preserved colonial settlements) and the extraordinary natural values of the surrounding Atlantic Forest and marine environment of Ilha Grande bay.

The Sítio Roberto Burle Marx in Rio de Janeiro was inscribed in 2021 as the former residence and working estate of the landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994), who is widely considered the most important landscape designer of the twentieth century. The estate, located in Barra de Guaratiba on the western outskirts of Rio, served as Burle Marx's laboratory for experimentation with Brazilian plants, particularly bromeliads and palms, and contains the world's largest private collection of tropical plants, with over 3,500 species.

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (2024) — Inscribed at the 46th session in 2024, Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in the state of Maranhão encompasses 155,000 hectares of extraordinary coastal desert dunes intersected by freshwater lagoons that appear seasonally following the rains. The contrast between brilliant white sand dunes and the crystalline blue and green lagoons creates one of Brazil's most otherworldly landscapes. The park protects a unique ecosystem where life emerges spectacularly in the rainy season, including rare fish species that survive dry periods buried in the sand.

Peruaçu River Canyon — Cavernas do Peruaçu National Park (2025) — Inscribed as a mixed (natural and cultural) property at the 47th session in Paris in July 2025, the Peruaçu River Canyon in Minas Gerais state encompasses one of Brazil's most extraordinary cave systems. The park contains more than 140 limestone caves sculpted by the Peruaçu River over millions of years, featuring dramatic stalactites, stalagmites, and subterranean formations of exceptional beauty. The site also preserves prehistoric rock art dating back approximately 12,000 years, including paintings and engravings left by the region's earliest human inhabitants, making it one of South America's most significant archaeological and natural heritage sites.

Wildlife and Nature

Brazil's position as one of the world's megadiverse nations — one of only 17 countries considered to have the highest possible levels of biodiversity — means that its wildlife is extraordinary in both quantity and variety. The country is home to approximately 3,500 species of fish (more than anywhere else on earth), 740 species of amphibians, 700 species of reptiles, 530 species of mammals, and over 1,800 species of birds — making it the country with the third-highest avian diversity in the world after Colombia and Peru. For the wildlife traveler, Brazil offers some of the most accessible and spectacular wildlife viewing on the planet.

Birdwatching in Brazil is world-class, and the country attracts serious birders from around the globe seeking its many endemic and rare species. The Atlantic Forest supports a particularly high level of endemism, with dozens of species found nowhere else including the colorful tanagers and cotingas that inhabit the forest interior, the red-billed curassow, the harpy eagle, and many others. The Pantanal offers easy viewing of large birds including jabiru storks, roseate spoonbills, great egrets, limpkins, and the hyacinth macaw. The Amazon basin holds an extraordinary diversity of parrots, toucans, hummingbirds, antbirds, woodcreepers, and the extraordinary cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola rupicola), whose brilliant orange males gather in leks to display for females in one of the most dramatic avian courtship ceremonies in the world. The Cerrado has its own distinctive avian fauna including the campo flicker, the burrowing owl, the seriema, and the fiery-shouldered parakeet.

The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), the world's most powerful bird of prey, inhabits the Amazon rainforest and is one of the most sought-after wildlife sightings in Brazil. With a wingspan of up to 2.4 meters and talons larger than grizzly bear claws, the harpy eagle preys primarily on monkeys and sloths, hunting within the forest canopy. Sightings are rare because of the eagle's low density and wide home range, but several lodges in the Amazon offer guided excursions to known nesting trees.

Marine life in Brazil is spectacular along much of its 7,400-kilometer coastline. Humpback whales migrate to the warm, calm waters of the Abrolhos Marine National Park, off the coast of Bahia, to breed and give birth between June and November, and whale-watching excursions from the Abrolhos archipelago offer extraordinary encounters with mothers and calves. Whale sharks, the world's largest fish, aggregate seasonally off the coast of Bahia near Ilha de Tinharé. Manatees (sea cows) inhabit the coastal lagoons of the Northeast, and the Projeto Peixe-Boi (Manatee Project) in Paraíba runs rehabilitation and release programs for injured manatees that can be visited.

Outdoor Activities and Sports

Football (soccer) is not merely the national sport of Brazil but the closest thing the country has to a universal religion, transcending class, race, and region in a way that no other cultural phenomenon does. Brazil has won the FIFA World Cup five times — 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002 — more than any other nation. The 1970 Brazilian team, featuring Pelé, Jairzinho, Tostão, Gérson, Rivellino, and Carlos Alberto Torres, is widely considered the greatest national team in the history of the sport. The tradition continues: Brazil has produced generations of players including Zico, Sócrates, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romário, Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Kaká, Neymar, and Vinicius Júnior who have played and continue to play at the highest levels of the global game. Attending a football match in Brazil — whether at the Maracanã in Rio, the Arena Corinthians or Allianz Parque in São Paulo, the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, or any of the other major stadiums — is one of the most authentic and energetic cultural experiences available to a visitor.

Surfing in Brazil benefits from over 7,000 kilometers of Atlantic coastline that produces waves for every level of surfer. The most famous surf beaches include Fernando de Noronha, which receives powerful swells from the South Atlantic, Itacaré in Bahia, Joaquina in Florianópolis, Saquarema in Rio state (host to international surfing competitions), Maresias in São Paulo state, and numerous spots along the Santa Catarina coast. Brazilian surfers including Gabriel Medina (world champion in 2014, 2018, and 2021), Ítalo Ferreira (world champion in 2019), and Tatiana Weston-Webb have established Brazil as one of the dominant forces in professional surfing.

Kitesurfing and windsurfing in Brazil take advantage of the powerful, consistent trade winds that blow along the northeastern coast from approximately September to March. Jericoacoara in Ceará is one of the world's top kitesurfing destinations, regularly featured in international rankings of the best spots globally. Cumbuco, also in Ceará, is another world-class kite spot. Cabarete Beach in the state of Maranhão and the lagoons of Lençóis Maranhenses are increasingly popular for kitesurfing in more unusual settings.

Hiking and trekking in Brazil offers experiences from easy walks to serious multi-day expeditions. The Travessia do Rosário in the Espinhaço Mountains of Minas Gerais, the Roraima Trek to the flat-topped tepui mountain on the Brazil-Venezuela border, the Chapada Diamantina trekking routes, the Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos near Petropolis in Rio state, and the Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Guimarães in Mato Grosso all offer excellent hiking through dramatic scenery. Rock climbing is excellent throughout the Serra do Mar range and particularly in the Bocaina National Park and the Serra dos Órgãos, where granite formations offer challenging routes.

Diving and snorkeling in Brazil are excellent at several locations. Fernando de Noronha, as described, offers the best diving in Brazil with extraordinary visibility and marine biodiversity. The Abrolhos archipelago in Bahia is another important dive site, with warm, relatively clear water and concentrations of coral reef that are the most extensive in the South Atlantic. The Arraial do Cabo area in Rio de Janeiro state offers surprisingly clear, cold water (the Falkland Current keeps water temperatures lower here than further north) and excellent underwater visibility.

Festivals and Events

Brazil's calendar of festivals and cultural events is one of the most richly varied in the world, reflecting the country's extraordinary cultural diversity and its deep tradition of communal celebration. Festivals in Brazil are not merely tourist events but living expressions of cultural identity maintained with genuine passion and participation.

Carnival is the defining festival of Brazil and one of the world's greatest cultural events. It takes place in the period before Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Catholic Lent), with the peak celebrations occurring in the four or five days immediately preceding Ash Wednesday — typically in late February or early March, varying by year. While Carnival is celebrated throughout Brazil with enormous energy and variety, the carnivals of Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Recife-Olinda, and São Paulo are the largest and most internationally famous. Rio's Sambódromo parades have already been described in detail, but Salvador's Carnival deserves special mention: it is a primarily street-based Carnival centered on the Circuito Osmar along the Barra-Ondina route, where enormous electric trios (stages on wheels) supporting Bahian music acts called axé move slowly along the route while hundreds of thousands of revelers dance in designated areas called camarotes or in the more democratic pipoca (popcorn) areas between the trios.

Festa Junina (June Festival) is the second most important Brazilian festival tradition, celebrated throughout June — particularly on the feast days of Saints Anthony, John, and Peter — primarily in the Northeast but with great energy throughout the country. The celebration combines Catholic religious traditions with rural folklore in a festival featuring quadrilha (a folk dance resembling a square dance), forró music, traditional food and drink including quentão (a hot spiced sugarcane drink), canjica (sweet corn pudding), pé de moleque (peanut brittle), bolo de fubá (cornmeal cake), and pamonha (corn tamale). Participants dress in the stereotyped clothing of the sertão (checkered shirts, straw hats) and the celebrations include mock country weddings and fireworks. The Festa Junina of Caruaru, Pernambuco, and the Micarande of Campina Grande in Paraíba are the largest in the world.

Círio de Nazaré in Belém, held on the second Sunday of October, is Brazil's largest Catholic festival, drawing an estimated two million participants to the procession of the image of Nossa Senhora de Nazaré (Our Lady of Nazareth) through the streets of the city. The festival extends for two weeks, and the Thursday before the main procession is celebrated with a fluvial procession on the Guamá River and Guajará Bay. The devotion to Nossa Senhora de Nazaré runs extraordinarily deep in Pará state, and the Círio combines intense religious emotion with the festive spirit of the Amazon city.

Bumba Meu Boi, celebrated primarily in June in São Luís and throughout Maranhão, is a traditional festival incorporating music, dance, theater, and the retelling of the legend of a bull who is killed, mourned, and miraculously resurrected. The various groups (sotaques) of Bumba Meu Boi in Maranhão maintain distinct regional styles of costume, music, and choreography, and the UNESCO recognition of the tradition as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011 reflects its importance as a living cultural practice.

Oktoberfest in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, held in October, is the second largest beer festival in the world and a remarkable expression of the German cultural heritage of southern Brazil. The seventeen-day festival draws over a million visitors to the city's beer tents for traditional German music, food, and beer, all within a Brazilian framework that gives the event a unique hybrid character.

New Year's Eve at Copacabana Beach is one of the world's most famous New Year celebrations. Millions of people — many dressed in white, the color associated with the Candomblé deity Yemanjá who rules the sea, as an offering for the new year — gather on the four-kilometer beach to watch an enormous fireworks display launched from barges offshore. Offerings of flowers, candles, and small boats laden with perfume, mirrors, combs, and other gifts are launched into the sea at midnight as offerings to Yemanjá, and the mixture of Catholic new year celebration, Afro-Brazilian religious devotion, and pure carnival spirit makes Copacabana on December 31 one of the most remarkable public gatherings anywhere in the world.

The Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos in São Paulo, held in November, is one of the most beloved races on the Formula 1 calendar. The Autodromo José Carlos Pace at Interlagos (named after the Brazilian F1 driver who died in a 1977 plane crash), with its challenging, technically demanding circuit and unpredictable weather that can vary from blazing sunshine to torrential rain within a single race, has been the site of some of the most dramatic races in Formula 1 history. The Brazilian crowd, passionate and knowledgeable, creates an atmosphere unlike any other race on the calendar.

The São Paulo Biennial, held in even-numbered years at the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, is one of the world's most important contemporary art events. Founded in 1951 — the second oldest biennial in the world after the Venice Biennale — the São Paulo Biennial is a major platform for contemporary art from Latin America and beyond, with each edition curated around a different theme and featuring artists from throughout the world.