Brazil Road trips
22 curated road trips in Brazil — Angra dos Reis to Santos: Costa Verde, Transpantaneira, Serra do Rio do Rastro. Mapped stops, distance, duration, best season, and practical route notes.
These 22 routes range from 40 to 1200 km and from 1 to 7 days, across 1 country. Top picks: Angra dos Reis to Santos: Costa Verde, Transpantaneira, Serra do Rio do Rastro.
No routes match these filters. Clear a filter or try a broader search.
IconicAngra dos Reis to Santos: Costa VerdeThe Rio–Santos coastal highway (BR-101) threads between the Serra do Mar mountains and the Atlantic, colonial fishing villages, the world's largest urban forest at Tijuca, islands, and Brazil's most spectacular beaches.EV-friendly
IconicTranspantaneiraThe only road into the Northern Pantanal, 147km of raised dirt track on 122 wooden bridges through the world's largest tropical wetland. In the dry season, caimans line every bridge, capybaras graze the shoulders, and the Cuiabá River banks are the best place on Earth to see a wild jaguar.4WD onlyOff-road sectionsPermit required
IconicSerra do Rio do RastroSC-438 climbs the Serra Geral escarpment in 18km of relentless hairpins, from the subtropical coastal plain to a cold gaucho plateau at 1400m. Above the clouds, apple orchards, frost-dusted dawns, and the sheer-walled canyons of Aparados da Serra await.EV-friendlyPermit required
IconicCaminho dos Diamantes, Estrada RealThe Royal Road built in the 1700s to carry gold and diamonds from the Minas interior to the coast. This stretch, the Caminho dos Diamantes, connects UNESCO Ouro Preto through the colonial hill towns of Tiradentes and São João del-Rei to the diamond capital of Diamantina, birthplace of President JK.EV-friendlySUV onlyOff-road sectionsPermit required
IconicBonito and Bodoquena Pantanal SulThis classic Mato Grosso do Sul road trip links Bonito’s clear rivers and sinkholes with the limestone hills of Bodoquena and the wildlife flats of the southern Pantanal. Expect good paved highways, short gravel detours, birdlife everywhere, and memorable stops for swimming, cave views, and ranch stays.SUV onlyOff-road sectionsPermit required
IconicBR-319 Manaus to Porto Velho ExpeditionAn expedition-only framework for the official BR-319 corridor from Manaus via Careiro, Igapó-Açu, Realidade and Humaitá to Porto Velho, with urban highlights only at the two bookends.4WD onlyOff-road sections
IconicChapada DiamantinaThe highland plateau of Bahia, Brazil's walking and driving heartland. Diamond-rush colonial villages, table-top cerrado mountains, 100m waterfalls into swimming holes, underground lakes glowing with refracted light, and the most extraordinary cerrado scenery in Brazil.SUV onlyOff-road sectionsPermit required
NotableChapada dos GuimaraesA classic self-drive from Cuiabá into the sandstone tablelands of Chapada dos Guimarães, where the road climbs from Mato Grosso’s heat into escarpments, waterfalls, and wide cerrado views. Base yourself in the park area and explore the rim, caves, and lookouts along short paved drives.SUV onlyOff-road sectionsPermit required
IconicChapada dos VeadeirosA UNESCO cerrado highland 250km north of Brasília, the ancient quartz-crystal plateau that generates one of the highest concentrations of natural crystal in the world. Waterfalls, cerrado canyons, the New Age capital of Alto Paraíso, and the clearest night skies in Central Brazil.EV-friendlySUV onlyOff-road sectionsPermit required
NotableCosta do Descobrimento Porto Seguro to CaraivaThis short Bahia coast drive links Porto Seguro with the rustic river village of Caraíva through the historic beaches of the Costa do Descobrimento. Expect coconut-lined shoreline, village stops, and a final stretch where the paved road gives way to sand, mud, and a simple boat crossing.
NotableCosta do Sol: Búzios and Cabo FrioA relaxed coastal loop through Rio de Janeiro’s Costa do Sol, this drive links the relaxed beaches of Cabo Frio with the granite coves and viewpoints of Búzios. It’s best as a short two-day road trip with time for beach stops, seafood lunches, and sunset along the shore.Permit required
IconicEstrada da Graciosa Self-Drive LoopThe historic colonial road carved through the Serra do Mar Atlantic Forest in 1872, PR-410 descends 900m from the Paraná plateau to the coast through dense rainforest, roadside waterfalls, and the colonial riverside town of Morretes, the home of barreado.EV-friendlyLoop / circuit
IconicJalapão CircuitThe Jalapão Circuit is a classic cerrado road trip through eastern Tocantins, linking Palmas with sand tracks, orange dunes, blue springs, and river beaches around Mateiros, São Félix do Tocantins, and Ponte Alta do Tocantins. It is remote, scenic, and best tackled at a slow pace.4WD onlyOff-road sectionsPermit requiredLoop / circuit
LegendaryLençóis MaranhensesThe "Maranhão Bedsheets", 1500km² of white sand dunes rising from a flat coastal plain, filled between July and September with hundreds of turquoise and emerald rainwater lagoons. One of the most surreal landscapes on Earth, reached from São Luís via the Preguiças River delta.4WD onlyOff-road sectionsPermit required
NotableMantiqueira to Itatiaia: One-Way Mountain RouteThis mountain loop follows the Serra da Mantiqueira between Campos do Jordão and Itatiaia, linking cool pine-covered highlands, small historic towns, and sweeping escarpment views. The drive is best in the dry season, when clear days reveal the peaks, valleys, and parkland landscapes that define this part of southeastern Brazil.SUV onlyOff-road sectionsPermit required
NotableRota das Missões: Brazilian Seven PeoplesThe Jesuit missions route of western Rio Grande do Sul, a UNESCO World Heritage trail through the ruins of seven 17th-century reductions where Guaraní communities and Jesuit priests built the most advanced utopian society in the Americas, before the Portuguese destroyed it in 1756.EV-friendlyPermit required
IconicAparados da SerraThe Serra Geral escarpment splits the Rio Grande do Sul plateau with two of the deepest canyons in South America, Itaimbezinho (720m deep, 5.8km long) and Fortaleza (900m deep). The araucária pine forests above and the Atlantic Forest below create two entirely different worlds within 20km.SUV onlyOff-road sectionsPermit required
NotableRota RomânticaThe RS-235 through the Serra Gaúcha follows the valleys settled by German and Italian immigrants in the 1820s, half-timbered architecture, sausage and Gemütlichkeit in Gramado, the Parque do Caracol waterfall, and the Vale dos Vinhedos where Brazil's best Merlot and Moscato are made.EV-friendly
NotableLinha Verde, Coconut CoastBA-099 traces Brazil's most beautiful coastal highway from Salvador north through the "Estrada do Coco" and "Linha Verde", past sea turtle reserves, endless coconut-palm beaches, coral reefs at Praia do Forte, and the dune world of Mangue Seco immortalised in Jorge Amado's novel Tieta.EV-friendly
NotableVale dos Vinhedos: Bento Gonçalves Wine DayThis relaxed loop through Serra Gaúcha links Bento Gonçalves, Garibaldi, and the vineyard-lined Vale dos Vinhedos, Brazil’s best-known wine district. Expect paved country roads, hillside estates, cellar doors, Italian-Brazilian food, and sweeping views of neatly planted vines and rolling green valleys.
NotableCosta Esmeralda: Santo Antônio de Lisboa to BombinhasThis short Atlantic-coast drive links Florianópolis to Bombinhas through Santa Catarina’s Costa Esmeralda, with beach towns, offshore islands, and turquoise bays along the way. The route is paved and straightforward, best enjoyed as a leisurely summer escape with stops for swimming, seafood, and viewpoints.EV-friendly
Hidden GemFoz do Iguaçu Highlights DayA compact cross-border day loop from central Foz do Iguaçu to the iconic Triple Frontier, where Brazil meets Argentina and Paraguay beside the Paraná and Iguazu rivers. Expect easy city roads, sunset river views, and a lively mix of frontier landmarks, viewpoints, and local dining.Permit requiredLoop / circuit