Post: #1

I'm heading back to Brazil in a few weeks. Last time I was there was a couple of years ago and I remember being quite surprised at the prices there, having expected them to be a lot cheaper. I've heard things have gotten a little more expensive since, though I don't think prices will have risen that much.

For any guys who have been to Brazil recently i.e. within the last few months, what do you think is a realistic daily budget?

I'll be mostly staying in hostels, so my budget would include: hostel, public transport, food, drinks, club entry, touristy stuff most days, taxis home etc.

Post: #2

I haven't been to Brazil but a brazilian friend told me it's more expensive than China

Post: #3

It's expensive, I was in brazil recently. Plan to spend damn near U.S. prices for everything except food and alcohol. How's your portuguese? If you don't speak any taxi's and "touristy stuff" will be even more expensive.

Post: #4

$100/day

Post: #5

My Portuguese isn't fluent, but definitely decent enough to get a bit of banter with a taxi driver. I plan on couchsurfing in some places and I'm staying with friends in Sao Paulo so that should knock a bit off the total.

$100 (about 60 British pounds) sounds slightly more than I spent last time, but sounds about right just now considering the relative strength of Brazil's economy.

Post: #6

holy. $100 dollars a day is a lot. No different from the minimum in the USA, if you are living on a budget as a single guy.

A breakdown would be helpful.

Post: #7

Depends what you are doing.

You can get through $100 in Rio just by paying cover at 2 or 3 clubs and taking a taxi between them.

Post: #8

Haven't been recently enough to give a detailed breakdown, but what Lumiere says is true: if you look on the websites of fancy clubs in Rio/Sao Paulo, it can cost between 35-50 reais ($20-30) just for ENTRY. However if you have a couple beers in the hostel and go to a street party or pub/samba bar afterwards you obviously spend much less.

I'll probably end up doing a bit of both on this trip but will probably tend more towards the latter, since I'll be trying to bang a few fat-assed Brazilians and reckon going only to ultra-expensive clubs will scupper my chances.

Post: #9

Brazil is not for budget travelers. That's actually one good thing about Brazil... no hippie Western backpackers with dreadlocks. They've infested Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

Post: #10

Depends how often you want to go out and all sorts of other things. Depends where you are eating. If you wanna make it a long trip and strech it out, you can find cheap rent and if you cook at home you can get by with spending $5-10 a day on food. But if you are going out to eat a lot and clubing a lot, it can get real expensive, especially if you are going to nice clubs. In 4 months I spent $8000 including traveling around quit a bit plus my ticket home. I went out quit often and had a lot of fun. I spent $1500 in Rio in 2 weeks because I was going out every night. I also had free rent most the time I was there with the exception of my last month and a half, where I probably spent $1500 staying in my hotel. You can do Brazil cheap, or you can do it expensive. If you plan on going for a month or less, chances are your gonna do it expensive to get a good experience out of it. But I think I would be able to make it in Brazil on $1500 a month if I was living there and only going out maybe twice a week. Shit, I was living in that states making that much and still being able to put money away to travel. With the job I have now, I don't know how I ever did it, but it's definitely doable.

Post: #11

Another way of looking at it is the total outlay for one month in Brazil. So, your saying that I would need $3k plus airfare?

What would be the standard of living on $3k/month?

It looks like the average airfare from Philadelphia is around $1300, round trip.

So, $4300 for a month. Not bad. Not great.

As an extreme contrast, I remember doing 3 weeks in Europe on $2k back in 2001, at an almost 1:1 exchange rate (actually 4 weeks, because we got stranded during 9/11 in Amsterdam - possibly the best place int he world to be stranded - but I had to be forwarded a little extra cash and so I don't count that time in the finance breakdown). But I was a budget backpacker with dreads. However, that makes 2001 Europe prices roughly equivalent to today's Brazil. But then again, maybe a traveler would get a better standard of living for that cash in Brazil.

Post: #12

Come to think of it, I had free food a lot of the time I was in Brazil too. So basically my expenses were partying and traveling. Paying to eat out here and there, sometimes I would go to nice restaurants and drop $35 though.

Post: #13

That is going to be expensive for a lot of backpackers/long term travellers unless you just average it out with some cheaper countries. I was chatting to a guy travelling South America a couple of days ago, he started in Brazil and decided to leave early because it was roughly about double what he had budgeted - I didn't ask him what his budget was.

Post: #14

(03-18-2011 01:13 PM)alchemist Wrote:  if you look on the websites of fancy clubs in Rio/Sao Paulo, it can cost between 35-50 reais ($20-30) just for ENTRY. However if you have a couple beers in the hostel and go to a street party or pub/samba bar afterwards you obviously spend much less.

In Sao Paulo I once paid 120 Brazilian Reals to enter a club on a MONDAY night. Don't remember there being anything special on and it was no different to any other Monday night I've been. Crazy prices but Sao Paulo is now apparently one of the most expensive cities in the world so it's to be expected.

Post: #15

Some people who read this thread might want a better breakdown... I wrote this about 1 year ago so prices have probably moved up a bit. Remember that it also depends on what city you'll be staying in, it even depends on your spending habits and what part of town you're staying in and current exchange rates... Most likely prices will keep creeping up in Brazil for now...

ITEM Reais US$ =
——– ——– ——
One US Dollar equals: 1.75

Apartment Rent 1500 856.65
Apt Fees: 500 285.55
Electricity 150 85.67
Drinking water 15 8.57
Propane gas 30 17.13
Telephone 150 85.67
ISP & High Speed Internet Connection 140 79.95
Cable Television 85 48.54
Transportation – bus and taxi 200 114.22
Travel to the U.S. once a year 250 142.78
Food 450 257.00
Health Insurance 300 171.33
Prescription medicine 300 171.33
Gifts 100 57.11
Clothes 45 25.70
Haircuts, manicures, etc. 100 57.11
Dentist 100 57.11
Gym (Academia Ginastica) 80 45.69
Misc, Bars, Clubs 600 342.66
=========

At the current exchange rate that would work out to something like:
5095 Reais $3052 Dollars

That's about $100/day.

Post: #16

(03-19-2011 05:18 PM)DanDeLaCruz Wrote:  Some people who read this thread might want a better breakdown... I wrote this about 1 year ago so prices have probably moved up a bit. Remember that it also depends on what city you'll be staying in, it even depends on your spending habits and what part of town you're staying in and current exchange rates... Most likely prices will keep creeping up in Brazil for now...

ITEM Reais US$ =
——– ——– ——
One US Dollar equals: 1.75

Apartment Rent 1500 856.65
Apt Fees: 500 285.55
Electricity 150 85.67
Drinking water 15 8.57
Propane gas 30 17.13
Telephone 150 85.67
ISP & High Speed Internet Connection 140 79.95
Cable Television 85 48.54
Transportation – bus and taxi 200 114.22
Travel to the U.S. once a year 250 142.78
Food 450 257.00
Health Insurance 300 171.33
Prescription medicine 300 171.33
Gifts 100 57.11
Clothes 45 25.70
Haircuts, manicures, etc. 100 57.11
Dentist 100 57.11
Gym (Academia Ginastica) 80 45.69
Misc, Bars, Clubs 600 342.66
=========

At the current exchange rate that would work out to something like:
5095 Reais $3052 Dollars

That's about $100/day.

Thanks, DDLC. It's definitely a new era in Rio. These costs are not too far off from Toronto, which is known as an expensive city.

Post: #17

(03-20-2011 09:51 AM)Luckystar Wrote:  

(03-19-2011 05:18 PM)DanDeLaCruz Wrote:  Some people who read this thread might want a better breakdown... I wrote this about 1 year ago so prices have probably moved up a bit. Remember that it also depends on what city you'll be staying in, it even depends on your spending habits and what part of town you're staying in and current exchange rates... Most likely prices will keep creeping up in Brazil for now...

ITEM Reais US$ =
——– ——– ——
One US Dollar equals: 1.75

Apartment Rent 1500 856.65
Apt Fees: 500 285.55
Electricity 150 85.67
Drinking water 15 8.57
Propane gas 30 17.13
Telephone 150 85.67
ISP & High Speed Internet Connection 140 79.95
Cable Television 85 48.54
Transportation – bus and taxi 200 114.22
Travel to the U.S. once a year 250 142.78
Food 450 257.00
Health Insurance 300 171.33
Prescription medicine 300 171.33
Gifts 100 57.11
Clothes 45 25.70
Haircuts, manicures, etc. 100 57.11
Dentist 100 57.11
Gym (Academia Ginastica) 80 45.69
Misc, Bars, Clubs 600 342.66
=========

At the current exchange rate that would work out to something like:
5095 Reais $3052 Dollars

That's about $100/day.

Thanks, DDLC. It's definitely a new era in Rio. These costs are not too far off from Toronto, which is known as an expensive city.

Prices are about right, but count more if you want to live in a nice descent apartment in Ipanema/Leblon. 600R$ is not enough if you want to go out often and enjoy clubs. It will be ok if you hang out in bars or Lapa street parties.

The more exclusive venues charge between 40-120 R$, add some (basic) drinks and you'll be looking to at least 150-200R$ per night. Add some more taxi money if you live further away from ZS. Rio & SP are expensive cities these days. Rio even being the most expensive city for expats in the Americas.

A good way to save money is to rent a room. Prices will go around 600-900RS per month, all included.

Post: #18

I am in São Paulo (SP) right now (had dinner with another person on the board). I have been in Brazil about 5 months, mostly in the SP area and this place is not cheap. Hotels, except hostels, you should expect at least $100+ per night unless you get a cheap one like Ibis or Formula One but make sure it is in a nice area.

If you want to have a good time, drink and club I would say $100/day is conservative for ONLY YOURSELF. If you end up paying for a girl (not P4P but chivalry or whatever) you could easily break that. Break it down like this for much of SP and Rio:

$80-100 for hotel /night ($30-50/night for a hostel)
Every meal expect to pay R$20-R$40. I would budget R$50 for dinner with alcohol so conservatively this is about $50. You can do cheaper of course but if you don't speak the language, the cheaper quality joints can be hard to find or order from.
Club R$30-50 cover typically + drinks
If you are buying drinks for a lady, well it just goes up from there.

Brazil is a great place but budget traveling it is not unless you go off the beaten track to Tier 2 cities.

Post: #19

You do not need to be spending that much for every meal, it's no problem to eat at some local boteco for R$15 or less, they are on every street corner and you'll get a big plate of meat, rice, beans, fries and salad, usually one dish is enough for 2 people. Food is usually reasonable standard and it's never a problem having to order even when you don't know the language.

You found that your often expected to pay for the girls food, drinks etc? Total opposite for me in Sao Paulo (though I've only spent around 5-6 weeks in total), any girls I met always paid their way, which I like.