Safety in Brazil

Street robbery. Never take an expensive phone out on a busy street in Rio. Thieves on bicycles snatch devices from your hands in a second and vanish into the crowd.
How you look. Leave jewellery and a branded watch in the hotel safe. Dressing down, in shorts and flip-flops, is the most effective thing you can do.
After dark. Move by Uber once the sun is down, even for a couple of blocks. Empty streets in the centres of the big cities become genuinely risky.
On the beach. At Copacabana never leave belongings unattended while you swim. Take minimal cash and the cheapest phone you own.
Favelas. Visiting poorer neighbourhoods is fine on an organised tour with a guide. Walking into an unfamiliar favela on your own can end very badly.
Card skimming. In small shops keep your card in sight, and pay contactless by phone where you can, which is the safest option available now.
Mosquitoes. Dengue and Zika are carried by mosquitoes in the jungle and in the cities alike. Use a repellent with at least 30% DEET, wear covered clothing in the forest, and check whether a yellow fever vaccination is advised for your route.

Brazil is a country where street crime is real but entirely manageable with the right behaviour. The key difference from Europe: here you are robbed rather than quietly pickpocketed.

Motorcycle robbery. A phone in your hand on a street in Rio or São Paulo is an invitation. Two riders pull up, show a weapon and take it. The local rule: take your phone out only inside a cafe or shop, never in the street.

Express kidnapping. You are put in a car and driven around cash machines while your daily limits are withdrawn. The defence: do not get into cars off the street, use apps, and do not carry all your cards at once.

Beach theft. On Copacabana and Ipanema, belongings left on the sand vanish instantly, and sometimes an arrastão occurs — a group of youths sweeping the beach and grabbing everything. Take the minimum: a little cash and flip-flops.

Card cloning. The terminal should come to your table and the card never leave your hand. Use ATMs only inside banks and malls, and not at night.

Favela tours. Go only with a licensed operator and never independently, even if the map shows a shortcut.

Petrol stations and exchange. Watch the pump display and change money at banks.

Drugs. The Supreme Court decriminalised possession of cannabis for personal use in 2024, but selling remains a crime. The practical conclusion matters more than the legal one: buying drugs means contact with people backed by the armed groups that control the favelas. It is the fastest way to stop being a tourist.

Documents. Carry a passport copy and keep the original in the safe. Police may establish your identity.

Drones. Registration with ANAC is required, and flights over people and in cities are restricted.

Wildlife. Exporting animal products, feathers, shells and timber is prohibited.

Yellow fever. Not a law but a border formality: some neighbouring countries require a certificate from arrivals out of Brazil. If you are continuing across the continent, check the requirements in advance.

Driving. Do not drive between cities at night. In Rio and São Paulo, locals do not always come to a full stop at night-time lights — an unwritten practice because of robberies, though a foreigner is better off not risking the offence.

Favelas. Entering unaccompanied is not prohibited but genuinely dangerous: navigation apps routinely route through them, and tourists have been caught in gunfire.

Yellow fever. Vaccination is strongly advised: outbreaks have occurred in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais, including the outskirts of major cities. It must be given at least ten days before travel.

Dengue. Brazil experiences the world's largest dengue epidemics, running to millions of cases a year. The mosquito bites by day. Repellent is essential, in cities included. A high fever means a blood test.

Other vaccinations. Hepatitis A and typhoid are advised, plus malaria prophylaxis and rabies for the Amazon.

Water. Not from the tap. Bottled water is everywhere.

The sea. Currents on Rio's beaches are strong. Recife deserves separate mention: sharks attack people off Boa Viagem, one of the most dangerous stretches in the world, and swimming is prohibited by signage. The signs are not decorative.

Sun. Tropical UV burns you in forty minutes.

Healthcare. Private hospitals in São Paulo and Rio are excellent — Albert Einstein, Sírio-Libanês. The public SUS system is overloaded. Private facilities require a payment guarantee. Insurance is essential.

Emergency numbers: 192 ambulance, 193 fire.

Brazil sits in the lower half of the Corruption Perceptions Index, the police are overstretched, and clearance rates are low.

The main rule in a robbery is to hand everything over and not resist. Attackers are armed, and most tragedies happen precisely when someone tries to keep hold of a phone. It is the first thing any Brazilian will tell you.

Different police forces. The Military Police (PM) on 190 patrol the streets. The Civil Police on 197 investigate and take reports.

Tourist police. Rio has DEAT, a dedicated station for foreigners with English-speaking officers, in Leblon. That is where you go for a report for your insurer.

Reporting theft. A boletim de ocorrência can be filed online in several states, Rio and São Paulo included. That satisfies insurers.

Geography. Ipanema, Leblon and Copacabana by day, Jardins in São Paulo, and Salvador's historic centre during tourist hours are one country. Central Rio after the offices close, Cracolândia in São Paulo and the outskirts are another.

What works. Minimal valuables, no phone in the street, taxis by app, a car at night, and cash split between two places. With that discipline Brazil passes calmly.