The cultural and natural beauty are some of the principal characteristics of Recife. The art is part of the life of its inhabitants. Proof of this are the artist's workshops and the broad number of museums, providing information about the local culture and the history of the city.

The city is well known for its famous music style frevo, which you can hear during the whole year. Can you already feel the energy of the capital of Pernambuco? Then you should visit the capital of the northeastern part of Brazil. There are two different rivers, which pass through the city of Recife: Capibaribe River and Beberibe River. The inhabitants of Recife claim that the river mouth of the two rivers "form the Atlantic Ocean". 

Besides its wonderful beaches, you can find historical and cultural beauties as well as folkloric events in Recife. The Carnival of Recife is one of the highlights of the city. It is considered the biggest street carnival in the world. There are approximately 2 million people from all over Brazil participating at the famous carnival block Galo da Madrugada.


Map of buses to Recife

On the map below, select a city or search for your city. Find bus times to Recife, compare ticket prices and book bus tickets to Recife in our Bus Ticket Center.


Arriving in Recife

By bus: When you go to Recife by bus, you will arrive at Recife Bus Station (TIP), which is located in a distance of 16 km from the city center. The bus station of Recife is integrated with a metro station, which connects you with different quarters of the city.

By plane: There are national and international flights to Recife International Airport, located in the quarter Ibiribeira. From Recife Airport you can easily get to different districts of the city and there are a lot of hotels, which are located close to the airport. You will find different bus lines, which go from the airport to different quarters of the city. Alternatively, you can take the metro or a taxi. You will also find car rental companies at Recife International Airport.

Where to stay

The city of Recife has one of the best infrastructures in the northeastern parts of Brazil. You can choose between a lot of different hotel categories in Recife.

The majority of the hotels are located between the quarters Boa Viagem and Pina. Boa Viagem is one of the most popular districts for tourists, who visit Recife. You will find a lot of different restaurants and bars in the quarter and one of the most beautiful beaches of the city. From this quarter, you can easily get to other quarters of the city.

If you decide to stay at one of the hotels located at Boa Viagem Avenue, you will have a beautiful ocean view, but you will pay high for the previlege. If you want to save money, you should choose one of the hotels out of the main street, still close to the beach but more affordable.

We recommend you to make a hotel reservation before you visit Recife, specially if you are thinking to visit the city during Carnival.

If your main focus is to get to know the historical center of the city, you should consider to stay in the center of Recife. You can also stay in Olinda, the neighbour city, where you will find different guest houses located in the historical center.

Where to go

The main beach of the city of Recife is Boa Viagem Beach. The beach is very beautiful and popular with the inhabitants and tourists. One of the characteristics of the beach is its crystal clear water. The most famous part of the beach is the one in front of the building Acaiaca.

Please be very careful at the Praia de Boa Viagem. You are only allowed to enter the ocean at specific places (the places are marked). You should respect those rules, because of the presence of sharks at the beach of Boa Viagem. The presence of sharks is also the reason why it not allowed to surf at this beach.

There are outstanding opportunities for leisure in Recife, not only in the quarter of Boa Viagem. Walking through the quarters of Recife Antigo, Santo Antônio, São José and Boa Vista is like having a history class. You can see a beautiful architecture and wonderful churches, which remind you of the architecture of the Dutch and Portuguese when they came to Recife.  

You should enjoy the beautiful view from the Marco Zero, located next to the Capibaribe River. In the heart of Recife, you will find the museums Memorial Luiz Gonzaga and Memorial Chico Science, which are definitely worth a visit.

During the night, there are a lot of different options to have fun in Recife. You will find bars in a lot of different districts (from the quarter Boa Viagem to the quarter Recife Antigo). In Recife you can start the evening dancing to the rhythm of  Maracatu and finish the night dancing to electronic music.

You shouldn't visit the capital of the state of Pernambuco without going to Olinda, which can be considered as a World's Cultural Heritage. It is located in a distance of 7 km from the capital of the city. You can walk to discover the beautiful places of this city. The beautiful landscape, the historical buildings and the churches fascinate people from all over the world, who come to Olinda.

Where to eat

The gastronomic specialty of Recife and the northeastern part of Brazil in general is the seafood. The regional desserts are also one of the highlights of Recife. You should definitely try bolo de rolo (cake roles) and the cartola (fried banana with cheese and butter). You can find those desserts in a lot of different restaurants all over the city.

You can eat delicious food in the quarter of Boa Viagem and in some of the residential areas of the city, such as Casa Forte and Espinheiro. In Olinda you will also find some really nice restaurants. There are several bars in the quarter Alto da Sé, where you can eat the best tapiocas of the region.

Parties, Festivals and other Events

Rock in Rio 2019

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