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Best time to visit Brazil

For many, the best time to visit Brazil is summer (December to March). Which month you choose may well be swayed by the carnival in Rio de Janeiro or rainfall predictions in the Amazon. Read our guide on the best time of year to visit Brazil for weather charts, month by month highlights, and our favourite seasons in Brazil.

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Best time to visit Brazil

While some of Brazil's attractions can be visited year-round, others are rather more seasonal, the movements of wildlife and people halted by heat or floods.

The best time to visit Brazil is between December and March for most travellers. Although there are regional weather variations, this is the hot, sunny summer season in large parts of the country. The cooler winter months are June to September, with heat and humidity rising the further north you go. This time is popular with families on their school break. We’d also recommend September and October if you want to avoid major (busy) holiday periods, the chilly southern winter and soggy season in the Pantanal – and enjoy cheaper prices. The Amazon is sweltering year-round; the January-May floods just mean you’ll travel by canoe rather than on foot.

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A month by month guide on when to go to Brazil

January in Brazil

Iguazu Falls

Higher prices

Hot, wet conditions

January is midsummer in Brazil, and though the Christmas holidays are over, the warm weather still nudges up prices. It’s also a very wet month in places like the Amazon and Pantanal, with the latter particularly hard to navigate due to annual flooding. Consequently, there aren’t many wildlife-watching trips in Brazil in January. January is also a great time to admire the majestic wonder of Iguazu Falls in full torrent.

February in Brazil

Rio Carnival

Busy beaches

Rainy season

February can be the best time to visit Rio de Janeiro, and also one of the busiest and most expensive months. The reason is: Carnival! It’s an epic event but remember that Carnival is celebrated across Brazil – you can find equally fun events in cities such as Salvador and Paraty. Elsewhere in Brazil in February, the beaches are packed with sunbathers, and the Pantanal and Amazon are flooded. You can explore both by boat, but the wildlife is harder to find.

March in Brazil

Sunny and warm

Pantanal for wildlife

Amazon Opera Festival

It being high summer in Brazil in March, the forest is hot, sticky and flooded. But while you need a canoe to get around, the high water levels bring you several metres closer to the tree canopy where much of the wildlife dwells. Built during Brazil’s ‘rubber boom’ in the late 19th century, the Amazon Theatre in Manaus is a spectacular setting for the annual opera festival, held here in the gateway to the Amazon Rainforest between March and May.

April in Brazil

Rains easing up

Fewer crowds

Good trekking temps

Temperatures, and rainfall, start to ease in April, though this is still the wettest month of the year in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest, and both the temperature and the humidity are consistently high here all year-round. Brazil in April is ideal for trekking in places like Ilha Grande or the Tijuca Forest on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. As the summer ends, you’ll also find that popular destinations around the country get a little less busy.

May in Brazil

Start of dry season

Mild temperatures

Shoulder month

A shoulder month leading into the dry season, May can be the best time to visit Brazil for the weather as it’s pleasantly warm and sunny, but showers are increasingly sporadic. If you’re coming to Brazil in May for wildlife watching you’ll find the Pantanal region is beginning to dry out by now, though you’ll still need a 4WD to tackle the Transpantaneira, the road that crosses the region.

June in Brazil

City touring

Dry and mild

Harvest festivals

Brazil in June faces the start of winter, but the climate is akin to that of northern Europe in summer – generally dry, mild and sunny, with cloudy days and the odd shower. It’s a good month for exploring cities like Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, but Brazil’s dry season starts in June and tourist numbers drop, so hotels, restaurants and bars in many coastal resorts close. June harvest festivals take place across Brazil, celebrating rural life and giving thanks for the rain.

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The Amazon is a year-round destination but in the dry season the water levels are low so wildlife congregates around the river banks.

– Tristan Whitworth from our partner Natural World Safaris

July in Brazil

Winter

Cooler nights

Wildlife watching

It’s low season in Brazil in July but actually this can be a very good time to visit. It’s rare for temperatures to fall below 20°C and this is the dry(ish) season for both the Pantanal and the Amazon. In the Pantanal you can trek, canoe or ride horses in search of wildlife such as jaguars and capybaras. Temperatures drop off a little after nightfall, so you’ll want a jacket, and more northerly areas tend to be warmer and more humid.

August in Brazil

Pantanal jaguars

Family activity breaks

Amazon dry season

If you’re hoping to see jaguars in the Pantanal then August is a good time to visit Brazil as water levels are lower and vegetation thinner making them easier to observe. August is dry season in the Amazon as well (note that doesn’t mean it doesn’t stop raining, it’s just less rainy!) and you can hike trails with local guides to learn about wildlife and medicinal plants. With little rain, and mild temperatures, Brazil in August is also great for family holidays and activity holidays.

September in Brazil

Low season

Pantanal and Amazon

Temperatures rising

September can be the best time to go to Brazil for more active pursuits, with generally dry and cool weather in the mid to high 20°Cs. Hikes and bike rides around the Iguazu Falls, rainforest trekking in the Amazon, and horseback safaris in the Pantanal are all hallmarks of the dry season in Brazil. Come to Brazil in September for shoulder season prices, quieter beaches and excellent wildlife-spotting, before the rains of summer.

September is great for our jaguar safari holiday in the Pantanal

October in Brazil

Dry spring weather

Ilha Grande

City sightseeing

Visit Brazil in October and you should catch the last of the dry weather while avoiding the summer heat. The Pantanal and the Amazon Rainforest don’t tend to experience dramatic fluctuations in temperature during the year but by October Rio de Janeiro is starting to feel distinctly warmer. October is a fantastic month for trekking in Ilha Grande, or for quieter city sightseeing between the crowds of school holidays and summer.

November in Brazil

Start of summer

Wetter weather

Day of the Dead

November is the start of summer. If you’re coming to Brazil in November you’ll find temperatures, and rain levels, on the rise across the country with northern regions the warmest. The Day of the Dead takes place in early November, with people leaving offerings at the graves of their ancestors and loved ones, and gathering for family events, but it’s a much more subdued and sombre affair than the famous celebrations in Mexico.

December in Brazil

Peak season

New Year fireworks

Hot, humid weather

The weather in Brazil in December is hot, humid and rainy. This is peak season, with beaches packed out for summer. Speaking of beaches, Rio’s Copacabana Beach is the place to be on New Year’s Eve, where upwards of two million revellers don white to watch a huge firework display. Summer is a good time to visit Brazil and Argentina together, with some epic overland journeys available for the adventurous.

December is great for our Chile, Argentina and Brazil overland tour

Rio de Janeiro Weather Chart

MIN °C

MAX °C

RAIN (mm)

JAN

203

FEB

186

MAR

183

APR

146

MAY

107

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

129

NOV

159

DEC

207

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Best times to visit Brazil for festivals & events

Carnival (February or early March)

Carnival – the ‘Celebration of Life’ – comes with high prices and heaving crowds, so we suggest doing it with a twist. Salvador and Paraty also hold carnivals, complete with floats filled with costumed dancers, drummers and singers – but on a much more manageable scale, and with an atmospheric historical backdrop. Do be aware that you may get smothered in mud by revellers in Paraty though… There are also many pre-carnival events so you can always enjoy the buildup in Rio before heading to a more tranquil spot once the party really kicks off.

Amazon Opera Festival (March to May)

The Amazon Opera Festival is a thing of beauty born of a tragic and violent past. The Amazon Theatre was built in Manaus during the late 19th century at the behest of the rubber barons, whose booming industry was driving the genocide and slavery of Indigenous groups such as the Toyeri people. This pinkish structure, decorated with Portuguese and Italian marble, hosts three months of events featuring prestigious names on the opera circuit – even Pavarotti performed here in the 1990s.

Parintins Folklore Festival (June)

Held in the Amazonian city of Parintins, this festival has grown from a folkloric legend where to please his pregnant wife, an enslaved person killed his master’s prized ox. Faced with prison, he is eventually freed after a priest brings the ox back to life. Today, two teams, the Caprichosos and the Garantidos, fiercely compete against each other to recreate the story using dance, music, costumes, floats and storytelling. It’s an incredible storytelling event that thousands of people come to Parintins to witness every June.

Cachaça Festival (August)

Similar to rum, and distilled from sugarcane, cachaça is the most popular spirit in Brazil, fundamental to the refreshing the caipirinha cocktail. The area around the lovely town of Paraty, on the coast between Rio and São Paulo, is well-known for producing excellent cachaça, and the third weekend of August Paraty hosts a lively festival showcasing workshops on how to prepare drinks, concerts, and of course lots of tastings.

Rock in Rio (every other September)

Rock in Rio is one of the biggest music festivals in the world, and attracts some of the biggest names in rock to headline. Everyone from Prince to Guns N’ Roses, Coldplay to the Foo Fighters have performed at a purpose-built venue, the City of Rock. It takes places every other year, with alternate years being held in Lisbon, Portugal. You don’t need to fight for your right to party here, it’s taken for granted.

New Year’s Eve (31 December)

Brazil’s New Year celebrations are an intoxicating mix of cultural beliefs, and an epic spectacle. Millions of people throng the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, often dressed in white as a symbol of purity and renewal. At the stroke of midnight many will rush into the sea to leap over seven waves, a nod to the seven divine spirits of Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomble. Meanwhile, many Brazilians plan their underwear choice carefully, in the belief that different colours can affect their fortune over the year to come.

Our travellers also ask…

What month is best to go to Brazil?

December to March tends to be the best time to travel to Brazil, with hot and sunny weather the norm. However, the dry season from July to October is best for wildlife spotting in the Amazon Rainforest and the Pantanal region, while April to June is a shoulder season when you can find reasonably fine weather with fewer crowds, and some good value travel deals. Given the size of Brazil, there isn’t really a bad time to visit; it all depends on the reason for your trip.

What time of year is best weather in Brazil?

Summer in Brazil (December to March) is warm and sunny, while winter (June to August) is milder but typically much drier. It’s worth noting that even in the depths of winter Brazil will feel pleasantly warm to many European travellers, with temperatures rarely dipping below the 20°Cs during the daytime. Also, it never actually stops raining in the Amazon Rainforest, hence the name, but during the dry season it simply rains a bit less.

What is Brazil’s rainy season?

Rainy season in Brazil is typically from around November through to April, with the summer months of December to March the wettest. The north of the country, including the Amazon Rainforest, has an equatorial climate so it’s hot, humid and damp all year-round, while further to the south and east there is a distinct dry season, roughly corresponding with May to October.

What months is Brazil hottest?

The summer months of December to March are the hottest in Brazil, broadly speaking, with highs into the mid-late 30°Cs. But if you’re looking for warmth when you travel, you can consider Brazil a year-round destination, as even in winter it’s pleasantly mild. You’ll likely want a jacket for the evenings from May to September, but in the daytimes it is still perfectly warm enough for shorts and t-shirts.

Which part of Brazil has the best weather?

Southern and central Brazil tend to have the best weather with distinct wet and dry seasons, and pleasant temperatures year-round. The Amazon Rainforest in the north of Brazil is humid and wet year-round, and is best explored during the dry season from May through to October. The same goes for the Pantanal region further south. Rio de Janeiro on the southeast coast, meanwhile, is most popular during the hot and wet summer months.