When to go

Due to its vast size, Brazil has several recommended times to visit, depending on the regions you have in mind. South: avoid June to the end of August, the peak of winter in the regions of São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul when you can get very different temperatures – read low – from those normally associated with Brazil, easily minimal of 4th, 5th and 6°C. The high season for these regions is the summer, from December to February, which coincides with the school holidays, when most Brazilians take holidays and thus inflate the prices of almost everything in their favorite hideaways. Rio de Janeiro area: it is very hot and humid (maximums above 30ºC) throughout the summer when thunderstorms usually cool the environment in the late afternoon or evening. In winter, Rio has average temperatures of around 20ºC, but the region can be hit by cold fronts that bring long periods of rain. Northeast: during the summer, the region is even warmer than Rio, but less humid. It has much milder temperatures and little rain from September to February. Central Plateau and Minas Gerais: this continental region is almost always a little cooler than the coast. The climate of the Central Plateau is dictated by two well-defined seasons, one dry and the other rainy. Preferably visit from May to September, the winter and dry season in the region, when it rarely rains, the sky remains blue and the air is clear. Sertão (Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Alagoas, Sergipe, Piaui, Ceará, North of Minas Gerais: throughout the backlands region, it rains in abundance from December to April. Then, as a rule, there is a long drought that can be Amazon Basin: This region receives most of Brazil's rain. Belém is one of the wettest cities in the world. The Amazon is not exactly very hot – averages 27ºC – but, to compensate, it is very humid. most of the rain falls in March. From June to September the heat and rain decrease substantially Rondonia, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul: Temperatures are high from October to March, during these months it rains a lot. From May to September the temperatures are milder and rain becomes rarer.