Every trip to Brazil has one traveller who lands, switches on their phone, and spends the first hour of the holiday walking around an airport looking for a shop that will sell them a SIM card. The shop exists. It will also ask for a number they do not have.
Quick answer: Get an eSIM before you fly. Buying a local SIM card in Brazil is genuinely hard without a CPF, the Brazilian tax number, which visitors do not have. An eSIM is bought online, usually cheaply, installed at home, and working when you land. We suggest it to every guest we send.
Why not just buy a SIM card when you land?
Because the shop will ask for your CPF, and you will not have one.
The CPF is the Brazilian individual taxpayer number, and in Brazil it sits underneath an astonishing amount of everyday life, phone lines included. That is the single fact that turns a five minute errand into an afternoon.
To be precise about it: foreigners can register for a CPF, including non-residents, and the Receita Federal lists the service openly. But it is a bureaucratic step designed for people who live, work or own something in Brazil. Spending a day of a two week holiday on it, in order to buy a SIM card, is a poor trade, and an unnecessary one.
What we tell every guest: the eSIM
Buy an eSIM online before you travel. It is our standing advice to everyone, and it is the whole of the preparation.
An eSIM is a data plan you download onto your phone instead of a plastic card you slot into it. They are sold online, often at a good price, and there is no CPF, no shop and no queue involved at any point.
Three practical notes, none of them specific to Brazil but all of them worth the thirty seconds:
- Check that your phone supports eSIM before you buy, which most recent phones do and some older ones do not.
- Install it at home, on your own Wi-Fi, rather than in an arrivals hall with a flat battery.
- Keep your home SIM in the phone. You stay reachable on your normal number for the bank's security codes while the eSIM does the data.
After that, you land, you switch the phone on, and the only thing you are looking for in the airport is your guide.
Why data matters more than calls in Brazil
Because Brazil runs on WhatsApp, and WhatsApp runs on data.
Guides here work by WhatsApp, often with no website at all, and that is how the pickup time moves when a domestic flight does. It is also how you reach us: before, during and after the trip, a message away, in English or German.
Which means the thing you actually need is mobile data that works from the moment you land. A cheap local calling plan would solve a problem you do not have.
Where your phone will not help anyway
In a few of the best places we send you, and that is part of the point.
On the Lençóis crossing, the nights are spent in oasis villages with no road, no electricity and no phone signal, and no data plan on earth changes that. Tell the people at home before you go, and then enjoy being unreachable for a legitimate reason.
On a Pantanal fazenda, the rooms are comfortable, the food is good, and the wifi is what it is. Your guide is with you through the whole stay, so nothing about the day depends on a signal.
The rest of the practical list
Phone sorted, most of what remains is shorter than people fear.
Cards work almost everywhere, and around 50 euros of cash covers a whole trip, which our guide to money in Brazil sets out. What goes in the bag depends on the region more than on Brazil, which is what our packing list is organised around.
Summary FAQ
Can tourists buy a SIM card in Brazil? In practice it is very hard. Buying a local SIM usually requires a CPF, the Brazilian tax number, which visitors do not have. Foreigners can register for one, but it is not worth a day of your holiday. An eSIM bought before you travel avoids the problem entirely.
What is a CPF? The Brazilian individual taxpayer number, run by the Receita Federal. It exists for Brazilians and foreigners, residents and non-residents, and a great deal of everyday life in Brazil is attached to it, including phone lines.
Is an eSIM the best option for Brazil? For visitors, yes, and it is what we recommend to every guest. It is bought online, often at a good price, installed at home before you fly, and working when you land, with no CPF and no shop involved.
Do I need calls or data in Brazil? Mainly data. Guides and most of daily life in Brazil run on WhatsApp, and so does reaching us during your trip. A data eSIM covers what you will actually use.
Will my phone work everywhere on the trip? No, and in a few places that is by design. The oasis villages on the Lençóis crossing have no phone signal, and fazenda wifi in the Pantanal is modest. Your guide is with you there, so nothing depends on it.
Tell us your dates and where you would like to go, and we will build the trip, the transfers and the guide around them. You will have a personal, non-binding proposal within 24 hours.
Official sources
The rules and figures in this article come from the official bodies below. They change, so check them for your own dates.
- Receita Federal: registering for a CPF, open to foreigners and non-residents · Governo Federal do Brasil
- Anatel, Brazil’s telecommunications regulator · Governo Federal do Brasil
- Brazil Travel Advisory · U.S. Department of State
- Planning
- Practical
Turn it into your own Brazil trip
Tell Robin your dates and what caught your eye, or pick the destinations and experiences you love and send us your own route to plan.
Non-binding, a personal reply within 24 hours, in English or German.