Brazil

[cheekychopz]

We are looking at going on a family holiday to Brazil. Anyone have any recommendations please for best parts to visit? Time of year to go? Is it safe?

I would read the FCO advice on Brazil re safety and security.

www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/brazil

Thanks! Guess we won't be going then!

Honestly - it’s fine if you are sensible! It says most visits are trouble free and they are if you are sensible.

Best time of year is our autumn or spring. Summer (our winter) is very hot. Don’t go wandering off and don’t go to a favella. Stick to populated tourist areas.

There is the Amazon Basin, Rio, San Salvador, fantastic beach resorts and more colonial churches than you can believe. Iguazu falls is a must. Go with a reliable agent or take a guided trip.

You can go safely as long as you take precautions. We had no problems at all!

For South America with a family, I would probably choose Peru and Ecuador first. Both family friendly and companies such as Family Adventures do good trips to Peru and the summer holidays are a good time to go. We went to Ecuador at Easter and the rainforest there was amazing. The Galapagos is unbeatable too. I have friends who have been to Argentina with their children several times. They love it.

I've been to Brazil on my own - Rio de Janeiro and Iguassu. It's gorgeous, Rio is the most stunning city, BUT I did get mugged, despite taking sensible precautions (no displays of wealth etc). If you go, go with your eyes open and research carefully how to keep yourself safe.

I live in Brazil, lived in Rio and never had a single incident. I walked everywhere alone or with my children who were babies at the time. I think Rio is worse at the moment, most Brazilians would tell you to give it the slip, but it is an amazing city.
I don't personally find Brazil anymore dangerous than Argentina, in fact I know many people that have travelled there and been mugged, having lived in Brazil all their lives without incident. Things are a bit unstable at the moment with them cleansing the country of every single politician. I would advise going on rural holiday, it's not the normal path for Europeans to take but it's far nicer. Consider rural hotel fazendas, in the South or southeast. Also best time of year is now, it's coming into winter but still warm and sunny for Brits.

I would not travel as a woman on my own in most of Latin America. I think that’s just not sensible. If you go on an organised holiday with a reputable company, take every precaution about where you go, you will be ok.

We are going to Argentina on Tuesday. Memo to self - remove jewellery!

Brazil is quite a big country, so it depends how much travelling around you want to do. Most international tourists go to Rio, Bahia and Iguacu, so outside of these places you will find it is mostly Brazilian tourists, but note that those three places are all a long way from each other.

It really depends what sort of thing you like, but the Pantanal might be good with kids. Hard to get to though.

It may be worth just picking a region and exploring it.

The whole of the coast has beaches, so they are easily found although it depends on the time of year. The south isn't warm in the winter.

Be aware of the crime levels, so you take precautions, but don't let it put you off.

Also, and not really relevant to this, but plenty of lone women travel around South America without any problems.

I travel on my own for work all the time, so does almost every woman I know.
The only women I know that don't travel alone are poor, but if they had the money they wouldn't think twice, it's not that bad here . I agree though, it's quite safe if you're a resident or native, but tourists might not know what's safe and what's not. So best avoided for lone tourists.

Have a look at Belize. Honestly hardly any Brits go there on holiday and I have no idea why because we had an absolutely fab trip when we went. Snorkelling in shallow waters, manatee watching, howler monkey treks through the rainforest, mayan ruins absolutely everywhere with virtually no tourist, jungle zip lining, river floats - yep I could go on and on and on. it was really easy to drive around, most people spoke English, the food was really good and we felt incredibly safe there with our kids.

Belize doesn’t have Rio though! Or San Salvador. I think Belize is great, but it’s not Brazil. Costa Rica has similar attributes to Belize.

I didn’t mean to suggest that women were not able to travel in South America safely, but DIY around Brazil would not float my boat as a lone woman traveller. I would feel safer in a group.

Been to Brazil about 10 years ago, no incidents but careful, Rio and Paraty, could hear people being shot and men negotiating prostitute deals at hotel at breakfast though, not sure I would take kids. Was lovely though.

Costa Rica is great with kids and safer, more wildlife and ziplines. I would go there over Brazil with family.

We go to Rio every summer (their winter) and so far, I've never had a problem in over 10 years. I'm a risk adverse person so always cautious, but apart from the first time, I've never felt worried about being there. We now go with our 8 and 6 year old and pretty much stick to the beaches area, copacabana and ipanema areas (we visit family). I aim to not look like a tourist (hard as I'm so pale!), don't wear any jewellery including rings and don't obviously carry a camera/phone. We tend to avoid buses and tubes and just use taxies. So I think if you are sensible and don't go off into the favelas then you should be fine.
We also go down the coast to Buzios which is delightful and relaxing!