Country Information

Flights to Brazil are served by the main national carriers TAM Airlines (JJ) (www.tam.com.br) and Gol (www.voegol.com.br). Tam Airlines has direct flights from the UK, as do British Airways (www.ba.com).

The most expensive time to fly to Brazil is during the main high seasons: in the two weeks before Christmas; during Carnival (dates vary, five days between February and March); and during July and August. Fares don't actually go down the rest of the year, but with less demand cheaper flights are easier to find outside of the high seasons.

Mercosul Airpass: valid within Argentina, Brazil, Chile (except Easter Island), Paraguay and Uruguay. Participating airlines include Aerolíneas Argentinas (AR), Aerolíneas Del Sur (AS) and Pluna (PU). The pass can only be purchased by non-residents of South America and must be booked in conjunction with a return international ticket originating outside of South America. It is valid for a minimum of seven to a maximum of 45 days. At least two countries must be visited, with a maximum of nine destinations/stopovers. Prices range from US$632 for four destinations, up to US$1252 for nine destinations. Dates can be changed but the flight route cannot. A maximum of three stopovers is allowed per country.

OneworldVisitSouth AmericaPass: valid within Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile (except Easter Island), Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Participating airlines are airberlin (AB), American Airlines (AA), British Airways (BA), Cathay Pacific (CX), Finnair (AY), Iberia (IB), Japan Airlines (JL), LAN (LA), Malaysia Airlines (MH), Qantas (QF), Qatar (QR), Royal Jordanian (RJ) and S7 Airlines (S7). The pass must be bought outside South America in the country of residence. It allows unlimited travel to 65 destinations. Passengers must book the pass in advance, in conjunction with the international flight on one of the participating airlines. A minimum of three flights must be booked, with a maximum of 20; prices depend on the amount of flight zones. For further details, contact one of the participating airlines. Seewww.oneworld.com.

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Brasilia International Airport (BSB). (www.bsb.aero) Brasilia International Airport is situated 15km (9 miles) south of Brasilia. Tel: <p>(61) 364 9000.</p>.

Rio de Janeiro-Galeão (Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport) (GIG). (www.infraero.gov.br) Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Airport is located 20km (13 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro, on Governador Island. Tel: <p>(21) 3398 5050.</p>.

São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport (GRU). (www.gru.com.br) São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport is situated 25km (18 miles) northeast of São Paulo. Tel: <p>(11) 2445 2945.</p>.

Salvador International Airport (SSA). (www.infraero.gov.br) Salvador International Airport is located 28km (17 miles) northeast of central Salvador. Tel: <p>(71) 3204 1010.</p>.

The main passenger port is Rio de Janeiro (www.portosrio.gov.br), which is used by many international cruise ships. Other popular ports include Santos in Sao Paulo (www.portodesantos.com.br), Manaus (www.portodemanaus.com.br), Fortaleza (www.docasdoceara.com.br), Recife (www.portodorecife.pe.gov.br), Salvador (www.codeba.com.br) and Vitória (www.portodevitoria.com.br). Passenger services on cargo vessels are limited but Grimaldi Freighter (tel: (39) 81 496 203; www.grimaldi-freightercruises.com) offers departures from European ports, including Tilbury and Hamburg. A specialist agency in the UK is Strand Voyages (tel: (44) 20 7953 7607; http://www.strandtravelltd.co.uk). Most major international cruise lines sail to Brazilian ports.

The most popular ports of call are Rio de Janeiro, with a brand new dockside complex, Porto Maravilha (http://portomaravilha.com.br), as well as Santos (São Paulo) and Manaus.

Rail travel is not a viable way of getting to or from Brazil, but there is the historically nicknamed Trem da Morte (Train of Death) route between Santa Cruz in Bolivia and Corumbá in Brazil. These days the overnight journey is a bum-numbing rather than life-threatening experience, going through mostly featureless scrubland. It's a popular route though with adventure travellers en route to the Pantanal or Bolivia. Contact Ferroviaria Oriental (www.fo.com.bo) for more information.

It is possible to drive or travel by bus to Brazil from all surrounding countries. Entry points include the border with Argentina and Paraguay near to Foz de Iguaçu, the border with Uruguay at Jaguarão and from Venezuela via Santa Elena de Uairén. There are plenty of bus routes from surrounding countries, and there are regular services to Brazil from Montevideo (Uruguay), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Asunción (Paraguay), Santiago (Chile), and Lima (Peru). Several reputable bus companies offer international connections, including Pluma (tel: 0800 646 0300, www.pluma.com.br) and Crucero del Norte (tel: (11) 6221 0277; www.crucerodelnorte.com.ar).