Is Brazil worth the time, cost, and hassle of getting a visa? I wanted to spend 4 days in Rio and 3 in Sao Paulo.

I've thought about going to Brazil a few times but always decided on other destinations because the Brazilian visa didn't seem worth the trouble especially since the life of the visa was so short.

Unless they have changed it recently, the tourist visas are good for multiple entries for 5 years (but you must enter for the first time within 90 days of obtaining the visa).

Yep, it is 5 years.
http://www.traveldocs.com/br/vrtdc.htm

Definitely. I have only been to Rio, but it was incredible.

There is no reason I can see to go to Sao Paulo unless you have business there. That said, Brazil is hands down the most fantastic place I have ever been to. IMO, it would be worth $500 for a 30 day visa, but I shouldn't give them any ideas.

My husband and I went in 2000 when CO was running a OnePass special. Yes, the visa requirements are a pain in the a** and they mostly discourage tourist dollars, which are badly needed by their citizens.

We flew overnight from EWR on a Thursday and flew home Monday night. Definitely worth it- nice people, great food at low prices, and jewelry to die for. (Duty-free when you come back to the US if most of the stones are Brazilian.) Good Chilean wine abounds and the local poison (caiparinha) goes down like lemonade. Do heed the warnings about crime- we didn't flash money or jewelry and we were fine.

Edited to add: we were only in Rio but I've also heard what the previous poster said about Sao Paulo- it's mostly a business city. Use the extra time for an excursion to Iguassu Falls. We didn't have time for that.

[This message has been edited by Athena53 (edited Feb 13, 2004).]

Most definitely. Brasil as a whole is an incredibly interesting and diverse country. The people are great and the food is excellent. Plenty to see and do.

Yes and if you remove Sao Paolo and a few other undesirable places, there are literally dozens of cities and areas over hundreds and thousands of square kilometeres which are wonderful as well in Brazil (Fortaleza, Recife, Curitiba, Manaus, and dozens of others - there are Brazilian cities out there with more than 3 million people that are beautiful and that you have probably never even heard of.... it is a VERY BIG country).

Rio is definitely worth the hassle to get the visa. Our vacation in Rio still ranks as one of my favorite trips. Do yourself a favor and get one of the hotels on the beach in Rio...you won't regret it.

Brazil is amazing. The more times I go, the more often I enjoy it and feel like I am just scratching the surface of the country. I promise that you will use that visa more than you think you will. :-)

I found it very easy to get a visa -- I went to the Brazilian consulate in NYC and got it in about 15 minutes. I don't know how time consuming the process is in other places.

FYI, one thing the consulate told us was that you have to activate the visa within 90 days of issue. They warned us that if you cross the border into Brazil from Iguazu Falls (from Argentina), the border folks will not want to stamp your visa. They will just wave you through, thinking they are doing you a favor. But you need that validation stamp to activate the 5 year "clock" on the visa. Sure enough, we had to convince them to stamp our visa when we crossed.

Obviously if you enter at an airport (Rio, Sao Paulo, etc) they will stamp your visa. But at Iguzau Falls they may not. (they might not even care if you have one, if you're just going for the day, but technically you need one, and getting it at Iguazu Falls is more expensive and can be a hassle from what I've heard).

Bom viagem.

Absolutely, but skip Sap Paulo. Try Iguazu Falls -- it is like no other place and wonderful.

Although most folks are saying to skip Sao Pualo, I am going there on business. IS there anything fun to do there?

Well, let's see.....
Great food. Huge variety of restaurants.
I've heard there is good nightlife, but I never found it in 3 months.
Huge sex-tourism industry- if you're into that...
Nice Formula One track, if there are races when you're there.
I like the airport..
Uhmmm..........

Eat, go out at night, and shop. These three activities are in MASSIVE supply in SP, and very high quality too. I'm not much of a shopper normally but Brazil really has fantastic stuff, and very cheap too by US/EU standards. Get recommendations from Brazilians on where to go--there are great boutiques that you wouldn't necessarily find on your own. Same goes for restaurants--there are some really superb places tucked away in side streets.

No to Sao Paulo. Other than Rio and Iguassu Falls, do consider Salvador and Natal.

Brazil is affordable, exotic, friendly and all in all - FABULOUS!

Judging from the replies above, what else is holding you back?