Tips for travelling in Brazil by bus
Hi everyone.
Have you ever travelled by bus between cities in Brazil?
Please let me know you tips and advice about travelling in Brazil by (public?) bus! Is it Safe? Is it easy to buy tickets and plan the trips?
I don't speak Portuguese and I'm planning to travel these cities:
Southeast:
Sao Paulo
São Sebastião (IlhaBela)
Ubatuba
Ilha Grande
Paraty
Rio
Búzios
Cabo Frio
Arraial do Cabo
Northeast:
Salvador
Aracaju
Maceió
São Miguel dos Milagres
Maragogi
Porto de Galinhas
Recife
Olinda
João Pessoa
Pipa
Natal
São Miguel do Gostoso
Canoa Quebrada
Fortaleza
Jericoacoara
Mostly you just buy the bus tickets a day or 2 in advance, and you get a comfortable assigned seat. On longer trips the bus will stop at convenience stations enroute for bathroom and snack sales.
But some places it's only local short distance buses with no advance tickets, the equivalent of chicken buses in Central America. I remember traveling north from Maceió it was like that: only 2 buses coming through the coastal towns like Maragogi each day. On the bus between Porto de Galinhas and Recife it was packed, with at least 60 unseated passengers who were crammed in the aisles.