Broadly safe for most visitors, with only routine travel precautions needed. Public health and infrastructure are well developed.
Regional breakdown
Big cities are where most travellers spend time, and where most incidents happen. Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Salvador all see street robberies, phone snatching and opportunistic theft. Trouble often clusters around favelas and the routes in and out of them. Visitors are warned to stay out of informal communities unless they are with a vetted local guide. Police operations inside these areas can flare up with little notice. Brasília has its own pattern. The planned core is calm, but the outer satellite towns of Ceilândia, Santa Maria. São Sebastião and Paranoá are flagged by official advisory guidance as higher risk after dark. In the northeast, Recife and Fortaleza have seen periods of elevated street crime. Beach areas can feel relaxed by day and very different at night. The Amazon basin is a separate story. The official advisory guidance warns about specific river stretches in Amazonas State, including parts of the Amazon River west of Codajás. The Itaquaí, the Japurá and the Rio Negro north or west of Barcelos. Land borders with Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Guyana. French Guiana and Suriname are flagged by the US within a 100-mile zone because of smuggling. Armed groups and limited policing.
Recent advisory changes
The official advisory guidance updated its Brazil guidance on 10 December 2025. It still warns against all but essential travel to several remote river areas in Amazonas State. Following the 2022 killings of journalist Dom Phillips and researcher Bruno Pereira. The wording has been steady through 2025, with refreshed detail on entry rules, health and natural hazards rather than a change in risk level. There is no ordered departure of UK staff or dependants. The official advisory guidance reissued its Brazil advisory on 29 May 2025 at Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution. Inside that, several zones sit at Level 4, Do Not Travel, including the 100-mile border strip and all favelas. The official advisory guidance flags violent crime in urban areas day and night, and notes recent kidnapping-for-ransom cases involving travellers. Both governments are aligned on the broad picture: most of Brazil is open to travellers who plan carefully. With a small set of areas where the warnings are firm.
What travellers should know
Plan transport door to door in the big cities. Pre-book airport transfers, use licensed taxis or trusted ride apps, and avoid walking with bags or visible phones at night. Carry a small amount of cash to hand over if stopped, and keep cards and passports separate. ATM skimming and express kidnappings, where victims are driven between cash machines, have been reported in several cities. For the Amazon and Pantanal, book through established operators who file route plans and carry communications gear. River journeys in official advisory guidance-flagged stretches need permits and local knowledge. Yellow fever vaccination is required for many parts of the country and should be arranged at least ten days before travel. Dengue activity has been high through recent summers, so pack repellent and cover up at dusk. Keep an eye on local news around protests, football fixtures and Carnival, when crowds and pickpocketing both spike. Register with your embassy if you are staying for an extended period. And make sure travel insurance covers the specific regions and activities on your itinerary. Since cover can lapse in zones where official advisory guidance warns against travel.