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There are frequent flights to Rio from all major cities in South America. Other gateway airports in Brazil include São Paulo, Recife, popular with German package tourists, and Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas, which is halfway between Rio and Miami. Varig, Brazil's national airline, flies to many major cities in the world. For international flights, the departure tax is a whopping US$36.

Brazil has land borders with every other country in South America, with the exceptions of Ecuador and Chile, so while some travelers may bus in from Uruguay in the south, others arrive via the trem da morte (death train) from Bolivia. By river, many travelers take a slow boat down the Amazon from Iquitos in Peru or into the Pantanal via the Rio Paraguay from Asunçion.

Money and Costs

Currency: real (plural 'reais')

Meals


• Budget: US$5-10

• Mid-range: US$10-20

• Top-end: US$20 and upwards
  
  Lodging
  

• Budget: US$5-20

• Mid-range: US$20-70

• Top-end: US$70 and upwards

After the long-expected devaluation of the real in 1999, many people anticipated explosive inflation. So far, however, exchange rates and prices have held steady. If you're traveling on buses every couple of days, staying in hotels for US$20 a night, and eating in restaurants and/or drinking in bars every night, US$50 is a rough estimate of what you would need. If you plan to lie on a beach for a month, eating rice and beans every day, US$25 would be enough. Bear in mind that prices for accommodation increase 25-30% from December to February.

Credit cards are now accepted all over Brazil. Visa is the best card to carry for cash advances. Changing cash and travelers' checks is simple - there are cambios in all but the tiniest towns. Unfortunately, it has become harder to exchange cash since the devaluation. It's worth having enough cash to tide you over the weekend, when finding a change bureau, even in big cities, can be difficult. When buying cash, ask for lots of small bills as change is often unavailable for small transactions.

Most services get tipped a mandatory 10%, often included in the bill. If a waiter is friendly and helpful, you may like to give more. Because of the massive amount of unemployment in Brazil, services that may seem superfluous are customarily tipped. Parking assistants are the most notable as they receive no wages, but petrol-station attendants, shoe shiners and barbers are also frequently tipped. Taxi drivers are an exception: most people round the price up, but a tip is not expected.

Bargaining for hotel rooms should become second nature - always ask for a better price. You should also haggle in markets and unmetered taxis.