Brazil: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Brazil feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 262 written places.
Physical warmth and improvisation; personal space is small and joy is public.
✓ Considered polite
- Greet with cheek kisses in most social settings - follow the local count
- Learn Portuguese basics - Spanish is understood but not loved
- Eat at por-kilo buffets - pay-by-weight lunch is the everyday institution
- Embrace jeitinho - the flexible workaround is how things happen
✗ Better avoided
- Make the OK hand sign - it is obscene here; thumbs up instead
- Flash phones and jewellery in city streets - discretion is street wisdom
- Expect punctuality at social events - an hour late is polite
- Confuse Rio with the whole country - Brazil is a continent inside a country
Worth knowing
- Cards and Pix dominate; cash is fading in cities
- Tipping: 10% is usually already on restaurant bills
- Domestic flights are the practical connector - distances are vast
- Acai, pao de queijo and a proper churrasco are mandatory homework
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.