Brazil
Brasilia
The great modernist experiment: a capital drawn on paper, built on an empty plateau in under four years, and still standing as it was designed.
Brazil's capital was built from nothing on the empty central plateau in under four years and inaugurated in 1960: Lucio Costa drew the plan in the shape of an aircraft, and Oscar Niemeyer filled it with white modernist buildings. Ministries march in a line towards the twin towers and two bowls of the National Congress, with the crown-shaped Catedral Metropolitana alongside. It is a UNESCO-listed experiment in how a city could work, under a huge sky, with the waterfalls and canyons of the cerrado within reach.
Suggested stay
2–3 days
Language
Portuguese
Currency
BRL
Timezone
UTC-3
Why you'll love Brasilia
The architecture Niemeyer's curves are everywhere, from the cathedral's concrete crown to the arches of Itamaraty floating on their water mirror.
The plan Lucio Costa's aircraft-shaped Plano Piloto is a city you can read from above, residential wings either side of a monumental axis.
The sky over a kilometre up on the plateau, the horizon is enormous and sunset over Lago Paranoa is the city's daily ritual.
The cerrado the canyons and waterfalls of Chapada dos Veadeiros and the colonial streets of Pirenopolis are a few hours' drive away.
Best time to visit
May-Sep
25-29° days
15.794° S, 47.883° W
UTC-3 · America/Sao Paulo
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Weather & when to go to Brasilia
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best May-Sep
Watch for Nov monsoon flooding risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Brasilia
November is the month to avoid, when the rains have arrived and heavy afternoon storms are the daily pattern; the wet season carries on into the early months of the year, greener but stormier. The other honest catch is the city itself: it was built for cars, distances between sights are long, and the government quarter goes quiet at weekends.
Top things to do in Brasilia
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Catedral Metropolitana - Niemeyer's crown of concrete
culture arts history 👍 PopularSixteen curved concrete ribs rise like hands to the sky, with four bronze evangelists standing guard outside. You enter through a dark, low passage and come up into a nave flooded with blue and green light from Marianne Peretti's stained glass, with angels hanging on cables overhead.
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Congresso Nacional and the Esplanada dos Ministerios
culture arts history 👍 PopularThe twin office towers and the two bowls, one upturned for the Senate and one open for the Chamber of Deputies, close the long lawn lined with identical ministry blocks. Guided visits take you inside the chambers, and the walk down the Esplanada is the classic first view of the city.
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Praca dos Tres Poderes - the square of the three powers
history culture artsExecutive, legislature and judiciary face each other across one vast paved square: the Palacio do Planalto, Congress and the Supreme Court. Look for Bruno Giorgi's Os Candangos sculpture honouring the builders, and the scale model of the city in the Espaco Lucio Costa beneath the square.
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Palacio Itamaraty - arches on a water mirror
culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedThe foreign ministry is Niemeyer at his most elegant: a colonnade of slender arches rising from a reflecting pool, with Burle Marx water gardens and a floating spiral staircase inside. Guided visits show off the art collection and the state rooms.
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Santuario Dom Bosco - a church of blue glass
culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedFrom outside it is a plain box of pointed arches; inside, walls of glass in a dozen shades of blue turn the whole interior into deep water, with a huge glass chandelier at the centre. Go in late afternoon, when the light is strongest. It honours the saint whose dream is said to have foretold the city.
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Torre de TV - the plan from above, and the weekend fair
scenic shopping 👍 PopularThe observation deck of the TV tower is the best place to understand Costa's plan, with the Monumental Axis running straight to Congress. At weekends the craft and food fair at its foot is one of the liveliest scenes in the city.
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Memorial JK - the founder's tomb
historyJuscelino Kubitschek, the president who willed the city into existence, lies here in a Niemeyer memorial, his statue standing under a curved canopy above the entrance. Inside are his library, personal effects and the story of the construction years.
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Igrejinha and the Asa Sul superquadras - the city as lived
culture arts historyWalk a superquadra to see the plan working: apartment blocks raised on pilotis over shared green space, each group with its own school and shopping strip. The little chapel of Nossa Senhora de Fatima, with Athos Bulcao's dove-and-star tiles, is the finest small building in the wings.
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Ponte JK and Lago Paranoa - sunset on the lake
scenicThe artificial lake that wraps the eastern side of the city is where Brasilia relaxes, with paddleboards, lakeside bars and the three leaping steel arches of the JK bridge. The waterfront at Pontao do Lago Sul is the usual place to watch the sun go down.
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Palacio da Alvorada - the president's lakeside residence
history culture artsThe official residence, with the swooping columns that became the city's emblem, sits on the shore of Lago Paranoa. You see it from the gates rather than inside, which makes it a short stop on the way out to the lake.
Best areas to stay in Brasilia
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Setor Hoteleiro Sul and Norte
First-time visitors $$Hotel towers beside the Monumental Axis
Explore hotels in Setor Hoteleiro Sul and Norte →
Asa Sul
Living like a local $$Leafy superquadras and neighbourhood restaurant strips
Explore hotels in Asa Sul →
Asa Norte
Budget and longer stays $Superquadras near the university
Explore hotels in Asa Norte →
Lago Paranoa shore
Lake and comfort $$$Resort hotels by the lake
Explore hotels in Lago Paranoa shore →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Brasilia
Getting to & around Brasilia
Getting there
Fly into BSB, one of Brazil's main connecting hubs, about 20-25 min by road from the hotel sectors.
Flight
Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International (BSB)
About 11 km south of the centre, beside Lago Sul. App rides and taxis reach the hotel sectors in roughly 20-25 min, and airport buses run to the central Rodoviaria.
Coach
Rodoferroviaria interstate terminal
Long-distance buses arrive at the western end of the Monumental Axis from Goiania, Belo Horizonte, Sao Paulo and the towns of Goias; distances in the interior are long, so most visitors fly
Drive
Federal highways converge on the city from Goiania, about three hours southwest, and from Belo Horizonte and the south
Getting around
App rides and taxis
The realistic way to move between sectors, which are far apart and built for cars
TBC
Walking
The Esplanada, the Praca dos Tres Poderes and the cathedral make one long walk; elsewhere the distances defeat it
Free
Metro
Runs from the central Rodoviaria down the Asa Sul and out to the satellite cities; useful for Asa Sul, less so for sights
TBC
City buses
Fan out from the Rodoviaria along the axes and into both wings
TBC
Hire car
Worth it for the lake shore and for day trips into the cerrado
TBC
Day trips from Brasilia
Chapada dos Veadeiros
1-2 daysCerrado national park
High cerrado plateau cut by canyons, quartz-crystal rock and waterfalls you swim beneath, with the park gate at the village of Sao Jorge. Too far for a comfortable day, so stay a night or two in Alto Paraiso or Sao Jorge.
Getting there
car | bus | tour
3-3.5 hr by car or bus north to Alto Paraiso de Goias or Sao Jorge
Pirenopolis
Full dayColonial gold town
An eighteenth-century gold-mining town of stone streets, whitewashed churches and silversmiths, ringed by waterfalls in the surrounding hills. It is famous for its Cavalhadas, a costumed horseback pageant of Moors and Christians, and fills with Brasilia weekenders.
Getting there
car | bus | tour
2-2.5 hr by car or bus west into Goias
Parque Nacional de Brasilia
Half daySpring-fed pools
Known to locals as Agua Mineral for its spring-fed swimming pools in the woods, this is the easiest taste of the cerrado, with walking trails and capuchin monkeys that will help themselves to your lunch.
Getting there
car
20 min by car or app ride northwest of the centre
Salto do Itiquira
Full dayTall waterfall
One of the tallest waterfalls in Brazil, a single long drop off the edge of the plateau into a forested valley, with pools below for swimming. A car is the only practical way there.
Getting there
car | tour
About 2 hr by car northeast via Formosa
A little history of Brasilia
An inland capital is older than the republic as an idea: it was written into the 1891 constitution, and the Cruls Mission marked out a square of the central plateau for it the following year. Nothing came of it until Juscelino Kubitschek won the presidency promising fifty years of progress in five. Lucio Costa's Plano Piloto won the 1957 competition, Oscar Niemeyer designed the buildings and Roberto Burle Marx the gardens, and tens of thousands of workers, many from the Northeast and known as candangos, raised the city in about 41 months.
Brasilia was inaugurated on 21 April 1960 and the capital moved from Rio de Janeiro. After the 1964 coup it was the seat of military government until civilian rule returned in 1985. The plan was listed by UNESCO in 1987, and the new constitution was promulgated in Congress the following year. The satellite cities first built to house the workers now hold most of the Federal District's people.
The priest Dom Bosco describes a dream of a promised land on the central plateau, later read as a prophecy of the city
The first republican constitution reserves land in the interior for a future capital
The Cruls Mission begins surveying the plateau and marks out the site
President Juscelino Kubitschek launches construction of the new capital
Lucio Costa's Plano Piloto wins the design competition
Brasilia is inaugurated on 21 April and replaces Rio de Janeiro as capital
A military coup begins 21 years of military government, ruled from Brasilia
The Plano Piloto is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Brazil's current constitution is promulgated in the National Congress
Know before you go
Payment
Cards everywhere
English
Limited
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / N
127/220 V, 60 Hz
Dialing
+55
Monsoon flooding risk in this window; check current conditions before you go.
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
Mobile network & SIM card
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FAQs about Brasilia
▸ When is the best time to visit Brasilia?
May to September, the dry season, brings clear skies, warm days and cool nights on the plateau, and it is also the easier time for the trails and waterfalls of the cerrado. November is the month to avoid, when the rains set in with heavy afternoon storms, and the wet season runs on into the early part of the year.
▸ How many days do you need in Brasilia?
Two days covers the Esplanada, the cathedral, Itamaraty, Dom Bosco, the TV Tower and a lake sunset. Add a third for the superquadras and the national park, and two more if you are heading north to Chapada dos Veadeiros, which is the best reason to stay longer.
▸ Can you go inside Congress and the palaces?
Congress and Itamaraty run guided visits, and the Palacio do Planalto opens to the public on set days. The Palacio da Alvorada is seen from the gates only. Visiting days and hours change, so check ahead and carry your passport for security.
▸ Is Brasilia walkable?
Only in parts. The Esplanada, the Praca dos Tres Poderes and the cathedral make one long, open walk, but the city was planned around cars and the sectors are far apart. App rides are cheap by capital-city standards and the normal way to get between sights.
▸ Why was Brasilia built?
To pull Brazil's population and development inland from the coast, an idea written into the constitution as far back as 1891. Kubitschek made it happen in the late 1950s, and moving the capital from Rio de Janeiro was meant to unite a vast country around a new centre.
▸ Is Brasilia safe for visitors?
The Plano Piloto is among the calmer big-city areas in Brazil by day. The catch is emptiness: office sectors and the Esplanada are deserted at night and at weekends, so take app rides after dark rather than walking between sectors, and be alert around the central Rodoviaria in the evening.
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