Travel
Búzios Overview
Búzios is located ~2.5 hours northeast of Rio de Janeiro. To get there will require flight(s) and a transfer via car.
Flights
We recommend flying into the Rio de Janeiro international airport (GIG). There is a closer regional airport to Búzios, however we do not recommend flying there. Domestic connections within Brazil can be challenging for a few reasons:
- Larger cities in Brazil can have multiple airports and sometimes the airlines will switch your arrival/departure airport (pay special attention to airport codes because of this)
- Booking domestic flights with Brazilian airlines can be very confusing. Websites often don't work properly outside of Brazil
- Language barriers can be challenging as well, and if anything were to go wrong with missed connections, re-booking and spending time in Brazilian airports is never fun (Shelby can confirm!)
Obviously book the travel that will work best for you. But overall, we recommend leaving your home country and landing in Rio when trying to reach our wedding destination.
Here are some other tips and tricks that we've learned through the years when it comes to booking flights:
- Flights to Brazil tend to be cheapest to and from cities in Florida (Miami, Orlando, etc.). Look into Azul airlines: we've found cheap flights with them in the past
- Sometimes buying two separate round-trip tickets with different airlines can be cheaper than buying one round trip with the same airline that involves connections (e.g. find a cheaper flight to Brazil that leaves from Florida, and then book a separate round trip from your home city to/from Florida)
If you do want to book additional domestic travel elsewhere within Brazil before or after the wedding, it might be best to use a travel agent to manage your flights. Thomas Pereira is a travel agent who has helped our family in the past. He speaks English and knows Brazil very well. You can submit an inquiry through his website or email him directly at thomas@bookjetset.com.
It is very important that you research visa requirements for traveling to Brazil. If you're flying on a US passport, you will need a visa. If you're flying on a UK passport, as of now, you don't need a visa. Research, plan, and give yourself ample time to apply for any necessary travel documentation.
For those traveling to Brazil on a US passport, here is a helpful overview of the visa application process including cost and timing. Once you have your flights and are ready to apply for your visa, it is best to do so through the official e-Visa portal run by the Brazilian government, located here.
Transfers to Búzios
We will help you here. We're assuming that most of you will choose to spend some extra days in Rio on the front or back end of the wedding weekend, in which case organizing larger vehicles to drive us to and from could make sense. We will send out a questionnaire regarding your travel plans as we get closer to the event.
If coordinated group travel will not work for you, there will be many affordable options for private transfers between Rio and Búzios. We will share that information here as well.
We do not recommend trying to rent a car to drive yourself to Búzios.
Accommodations
Please have a look through our accommodation page for suggestions on where to stay.