Unfortunately for holders of US Passports, Brazil requires all tourists to get a Visa before coming. This is mostly due to reasons of reciprocity, as the US government requires Brazilian citizens to get a visa (and pay the subsequent fee) to come to the USA, and therefore they have implemented the same policy for USA citizens traveling there. The good news is that it's a relatively easy process that Debora and I can easily walk you through. For my elite group of international friends who will be traveling with the passport of another country, you can check the visa requirements on the Brazilian embassy website here.
The fee for the tourism visa is currently a cool $160.00 USD (for US citizens, for other citizens it can be only $20). If you live somewhere close to a Brazilian Embassy or Consulate, great, because you can make your appointment and go there in person to have your visa. However, if the nearest embassy is not conveniently located nearby (ie: Pennsylvania citizens must go to the Brazilian Consulate in NYC) you can use a 3rd-party service to acquire the visa on your behalf. There are some additional fees for this, but generally it's well-worth it. I got my Brazilian visa in person at the consulate in San Francisco. However, I've also gotten a visa for China using a 3rd-party service. The only good news about the visa is that it's typically valid for 10 years, so if you ever want to go back again, you won't need to repeat this process.
U.S Department of State – Bureau of Consular Affairs
Consulate General of Brazil in New York (check the website of the closest Consulate or Embassy – schedules might change)
A Briggs – Third party company highly recomended by Jonathan.
While Brazil is a very populous country, and has some of the largest cities in South America, it's really playing catch-up on its infrastructure. Basically, this is a nice way of saying that all the airports are way too small/crowded/understaffed for the amount of people they are servicing. Traveling by air has only become accessible to Brazilians outside of the elite rich in the past ~15 years, so even though Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Belo Horizonte each have millions of citizens and a high volume of tourism, the airports you will be in will be similar in size to Erie, State College, and Buffalo.
However, just because the airports are small, that doesn't stop them from cramming them full with aircraft. Belo Horizonte is very well connected (hourly flights) to Brasilia, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro which are all about a ~1hr flight away. Belo Horizonte also features one non-stop flight into the USA, which is served by American Airlines into Miami International Airport. Debora regularly takes this flight and highly recommends it for those looking for the easiest route in and out of her city.
For those looking for a more flexible option, Delta Airlines offers flights to São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasilia daily, from Atlanta and JFK Airport in NYC. Once in Brazil, you'll transfer to a local air carrier (GOL is one of the most popular, partnered with Delta) for the short hop to Belo Horizonte. The local airlines are all on large, modern Airbus/Boeing jets so don't worry about getting on a 1940s single-prop puddle-jumper.
GOL Airlines (Partners with Delta)
TAM (Partners with American Airlines)
Azul (Partners with United Airlines)
Also a great tool to use in researching your flights is Google Flights - this will help you find the lowest fairs and the best routes.
Lastly, once you've booked your flights, please contact Debora or I and let us know your flight details for arrival & departure so that we can do our bests to coordinate transportation for you between airport and hotel.
After exploring a number of options for hotels, we've ended up with what we think will be the most comfortable for our guests and also makes economical sense too. The hotel is located in the Savassi neighborhood, which is safe and features a number of things to do within a few blocks.
Here's a link to the hotel's reservation page for our event: MaxSavassi Reservations. But first, please read through our guide on booking your stay, below.
The website has an option to switch to "English" in the top corner, however this only works for seeing the other pages of the website. The reservation page for our event, which allows you to book at our group rate, is only available in Portuguese. Consider this a good primer for your trip to Brazil! Don't worry though, the next few paragraphs will explain everything, and of course, if you still have questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Basically here's what you need to know:
--No payment will be required to reserve the room. However any cancellation after July 31 or no-show will have the first night charged (charged to us, and then we will hunt you down for the money, or perhaps send Dog The Bounty Hunter, or Boba Fett.)
--Check-in: 12:00pm Check- out: 12:00pm -- however they said that they will be as flexible as possible for our guests and special arrangements can be made upon arrival.
--Breakfast and wi-fi included at no additional cost
--The hotel features a nice outdoor pool, on-site restaurant, and gym/sauna.
--All rooms are apartment suites with separate bedroom with tv and full bathroom, and then a kitchen with stove-top, fridge, and microwave, tv, table/bar area, couch, another tv, and a bathroom (no shower). Also there is a small balcony on the rooms as well.
Here's a walk-through of making the reservation from the link above, with each of items explained:
First, you'll see that there are several room options listed on that table, it looks like a lot of options but it's really not.
The difference between "Standard" and "Superior" is just that the "superior" rooms have slightly nicer / better quality furniture in them. The room facitilies, size, and layout is still the same.
I do not know the difference between mattress/bed quality, however I think that getting the best option will be in your best interest. Keep in mind that outside of the USA, box-springs under the mattresses is pretty much non-existence, so even the best bed will probably be less than your expectations.
The other option is basically room configuration:
"Solteiro" --> "Single", means the bed will be a queen bed, with one name on the room reservation.
"Casal" ---> "Married", means the bed will be a queen bed, with two names on the room reservation.
"Duplo" --> "Double", means the bedroom will have 2 twin beds, with two names on the room reservation.
"Triplo" ---> "Triple", means the bedroom will have 2 twin beds and the living room will have a couch bed, with three names on the room reservation.
You'll notice that the price for all the options except Triplo are the same, it's really just to let them know the room style you want.
About the pricing, there are two columns, the first column "DIÁRIA PADRÃO" means regular price, which you can ignore. The price you'll be paying is in the second price column, titled "DIÁRIA P/ CONVIDADOS". (As of May 25th, 158 BRL is currently equal to $51 USD.) Once you know what you want, Click the blue button on the page that says "FAÇA SUA RESERVA AGORA" to go to the reservation form.
In field marked "Nome" write your first name, in field marked "Sobrenome" write your last name.
The following two rows are for the 2nd and 3rd guests staying in the room with you. If not needed, please leave them blank.
You'll select your room type from the dropdown box labled "Tipo de Acomodação", the room types are mentioned above.
"Dt. Chegada" ==> Check-in Date
"Dt. Saída" --> Check-out Date
Please fill these two boxes in accordingly. The group rates are valid for our guests for the duration of your stay, no hard cutoff dates.
There is a section marked "Solicitações Especiais". These options are for guests coming with babies / toddlers.
"Berço" --> crib
"Cama Extra" ---> small bed for child/toddler
"Banheira (criança)" --> little tub for bathing babies
For "Forma de Pagamento", the two options are credit card (which you'll provide to them upon check in) or "Deposito", which is bank transfer. I'd highly recommend credit card ("Cartão de Crédito") unless you really like paying crazy high bank transfer fees and like paying up-front.
Then when you're done, click the "Enviar Reserva" button. This will send the info to the hotel manager that is coordinating our bookings.
That's it - after a few days you should receive an email from the hotel with some confirmation number and some other info. Please contact us if you don't receive anything from them after a week and Debora will follow up with the manager.
The neighborhood is called Savassi and is one of the most modern sections of the city. It's safe and well-served. You can find everything you need for a comfortable and enjoyable stay within a few minutes walk. There's also a fair amount of American establishments (McDonalds/Outback/TGI Fridays) as well as local eateries (recommended).
The venue for the ceremony/reception is also just a short ride away from this area, and we'll be organizing transportation for everyone to/from the hotel and the venue. We highly recommend staying here, but of course, you're free to choose another place to stay, however at your own risk ;-)
Name: República Federativa do Brasil
Capital: Brasília
Government Type: Federal Republic (Democracy)
Area and Population: 5th largest country in world
Economy: 7th largest economy in the world
Currency: Real (2.50 Real for 1 US dollar).
Language: Portuguese (spoken by nearly 100% of the population)
Football (soccer) is Brazil’s most popular sport. It was introduced to Brazil by an English sportsman named Charles Miller. Brazil has the most successful national football team in the history of the World Cup with five championships.
Brazil contains almost 60% of the Amazon rain forest.
There are more species of monkeys in Brazil than anywhere else in the world.
The Christ Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro is one of the 7 Wonders of the World.
Brazil has the world's largest beach at 24,606 feet long.
The Brazilian bikini wax was invented in New York in 1987 by seven Brazilian-born sisters.
Brazil is home to the largest Catholic population in the world. 64.6% of Brazilians identify themselves as Roman Catholic.
Brazil is the planet's top exporter of Raw Sugar, Coffee, ethanol, crude petroleum, Poultry Meat, soybeans, Fruit Juice, Frozen Bovine Meat, Raw Tobacco, Flexible Metal Tubing, Gelatin, and Waxes.
A very common dish is rice, beans, and steak. Brazil has a lot of beef. Make sure to try all their foods. Their street snacks include coxinha (a fried ball of dough filled with chicken and cheese) and corn on the cob. Caiprinha is the traditional Brazilian cocktail, made with cachaça (liquor distilled from sugar cane), sugar, and lime. It is served in bars, restaurants, and in Brazilian households. Other popular beverages are guarana, which is a soda rich in caffeine as well as acai berry juice, which is great in Brazil because of the fresh tropical fruit. For dessert, Brazilians love brigadeiro, a simple but delicious Brazilian chocolate truffle, or quindim, a popular coconut custard.
Brazil has the most famous and celebrated carnival festival in the world. In Salvador, Carnival is a massive street party where nearly two million people gather to celebrate. Carnival officially lasts for five days during which time bands play on top of trio electricos (18-wheeler trucks with mobile stages)
Please, do not get offended when you are treated informally. Brazilians are a very welcoming people, and they treat everyone like this – even authority figures such as the President – Dilma. Yes, she’s a woman. People will refer to you using your first name, probably mispronouncing it, but with the best intentions!
Brazilians kiss and hug everybody. It's customary for anybody introduced to an adult to provide a kiss on both cheeks or a hug -- and on leaving, too.
Brazilians have a hard time with English. Don’t come around expecting that you will be understood by everyone, because it is rare to find people who speak English. They will try their best to communicate with you, though, especially servers, taxi drivers and such.
Brazilians come in literally all shapes, sizes and colors. Don’t come expecting to meet stereotypical standards on how they look. You will probably be stunned by their diversity.
Brazilians do not speak Spanish. Diferently of the other south American countries, Brazil was colonized by Portugal. For that, the official language in Brazil is Portuguese. Although, Brazilians will understand you if you talk in Spanish. However, first, ask if you can do it. Otherwise, they might get offended.
The "O.K.’’ sign is considered vulgar or obscene in Brazil, thumbs up would be the more appropriate hand gesture. Snapping fingers means something was done long ago or for a long time.
You will be called “Gringo”. It is the name that Brazilians call any foreigner person, especially Americans and Europeans. It is not a negative or derogatory term.
Don’t drink water from the tap.
Water doesn’t come with ice. If you want to have water or any other drink with ice, you'll need to ask specifically for ice. Brazilians usually don’t put ice in their drinks so it's not an automatic thing like in the USA.
Water is not free at the restaurants and there are no refills. Sodas will come on cans or at some places it will be a 2 liter bottle, no self-serve soda fountains.
Don’t worry about tipping. It is only “mandatory” to hotel staff and waiters. However, it is appreciated.
You will probably be fine, if you: Don’t be the lost “gringo’ with a big camera around your neck. Don’t carry your original passport, carry a copy. Don’t pull wallets in the middle of the street. Keep money in two different pockets. Don’t walk around with anything flashy showing, keep the fancy jewelry off. If you feel something is wrong, just get into a restaurant or somewhere around other people. That said, there will be a lot of security so most probably it will be a very safe environment.
If you are planning on visiting Rio de Janeiro, do NOT visit the favelas by yourself. The people there are nice, yet the laws are vague since it is a drug territory. You can purchase guided tours through travel agencies, if you really want to go, just make sure that you are with a group of people who know the area very well.