Street crime is the real risk and the rule is simple: never resist an armed robber. Do not walk into a favela, including on a tour, and keep your phone out of your hand on the pavement.
- If you are robbed, hand it over. Armed robbery is the main risk to visitors in Brazilian cities, and resistance is what turns a theft into an injury.
- Phone snatching from the hand is the routine crime, from a motorbike or bicycle on the pavement. Navigate before you walk, not while walking.
- Do not walk into a favela, including on an organised tour. They are controlled by armed groups, and navigation apps will sometimes route you through one - do not follow that.
- Take almost nothing to the beach. Arrastao raids run through Copacabana and Ipanema grabbing bags, phones and jewellery.
- Pedestrians do not have right of way at crossings unless a signal has stopped the traffic, and motorbikes filter aggressively between lanes. Do not step out expecting cars to yield.
If you are robbed, hand it over. Armed robbery is the main risk to visitors in Brazilian cities and resistance is what turns a theft into an injury. Carry a cheap phone and a small amount of cash if that helps you comply calmly.
What actually happens
- Phone snatching from your hand on the pavement, by someone on a motorbike or bicycle. Navigate before you walk, not while walking.
- Arrastao on the Rio beaches: a group runs through Copacabana or Ipanema grabbing bags, phones and jewellery. Take almost nothing to the beach.
- Express kidnapping (sequestro relampago): held for a few hours and driven between ATMs, or forced to make Pix transfers on your own phone. This is why night ATM limits exist.
- Drink spiking (boa noite, Cinderela) in nightlife districts - Lapa in Rio, Rua Augusta in Sao Paulo. Watch your drink being poured.
Where not to go
- Favelas - all of them, including on an organised tour. Rocinha, Vidigal, Complexo do Alemao and the rest are controlled by armed groups and wandering in accidentally is genuinely dangerous. Navigation apps will sometimes route you through one; do not follow that.
- Sao Paulo: Cracolandia around Estacao da Luz, and the historic centre - Praca da Se, Praca da Republica - after business hours.
- Rio de Janeiro: back streets of Lapa and Santa Teresa after dark, and the Corcovado walking trail, where muggings are common. Take the train or a van to Christ the Redeemer.
- Western Amazonas: the UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to river corridors including the upper Amazon, the Itaquai, the Japura and the Rio Negro above Barcelos, because of drug trafficking and river piracy.
Everything else
- Traffic: motorbikes filter aggressively between lanes and pedestrians do not have right of way at crossings unless a signal has stopped the traffic. Do not step out expecting cars to yield.
- Advisories: the US State Department has Brazil at Level 2, the UK FCDO advises high vigilance with regional do-not-travel zones.
- Solo and female travellers: street comments are common; the standard advice is not to walk alone at night and to use Uber or 99 door to door.
- LGBTQ+: same-sex marriage has been legal since 2013 and discrimination is a federal crime. Big-city acceptance is high; outer suburbs and rural areas are more conservative.
- Drugs: the Supreme Court decriminalised possession of small amounts of cannabis in 2024 as an administrative matter, but trafficking carries 5 to 15 years and the line between the two is drawn by police at the scene.
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