Is Brazil Safe? A Very Honest Answer From Someone Who Lived There For a While

Brazil has a worldwide reputation for being unsafe.

And yes, let’s not pretend this reputation appeared out of nowhere. Brazil is not exactly the country where you walk around waving your iPhone in the air like you’re trying to guide a plane to land.

But is it a place where you should spend your whole trip terrified? No.

Brazil is more complicated than that.

When I decided to move there in 2023, I was moving in with my then-fiancé, so I wasn’t arriving completely alone with one suitcase and a dream. I had a roof, a local family next to me, and at least some understanding of where I was going.

Still, one thing I always do before moving/traveling to a new country is check real estate websites. Not because I’m casually buying villas between coffee breaks, but because real estate tells you a lot about how people actually live.

And Brazil told me a lot.

Almost every apartment or house had something in common: bars on windows, mesh on balconies, high walls, security gates, sometimes even broken glass or spikes on top of the walls.

Honestly, when a balcony looks like it’s prepared for a zombie apocalypse, you understand the country is trying to communicate something.

Noted, Brazil. Loud and clear.

My first “welcome to Brazil” safety briefing

During my first weeks in Porto Alegre, my ex-boyfriend’s mother invited me to go on a walking tour downtown.

Sounds fine, right?

A nice local woman showing me around the city, maybe stopping for chimarrão, pointing at historic buildings.

Instead, before we left, she gave me what felt like a CIA field briefing.

We would go by bus. On the bus, I should not speak much, so people wouldn’t immediately notice I was foreign. I should wear very simple clothes. No camera. Ideally, no phone. Definitely no jewelry.

So there I was, freshly arrived in Brazil, thinking I was going sightseeing, while being mentally prepared for a low-budget spy mission.

The walk itself was fine. Nothing happened. But hearing these instructions from someone who was born and raised there was definitely… educational.

Later, whenever my ex and I walked around Porto Alegre, he was always checking our surroundings, especially when I took out my phone to take photos. A couple of times, people did seem to follow us for a bit, but once they noticed we had noticed them, they disappeared. So yes, you learn quickly.

Rio: the city everyone warned me about

When I traveled to Rio to meet my best friend, the family spent a full week teaching me how to behave there.

Where to keep cash. Which areas to avoid. What not to wear. How not to look too lost. How not to look too foreign. How not to look like a walking ATM with sunglasses.

And then Rio happened.

Rio completely took my breath away.

It was wild, beautiful, chaotic, dramatic, sunny, loud, intense — basically like someone turned the volume of life all the way up.

And funny enough, one of the safest places I felt in the whole country was inside a favela. But I’ll come back to that on another post.

After that girls’ trip, I realized something important: Brazil is not impossible. You just need common sense and awareness switched on at all times.

Basic safety rules that actually make sense

• Don’t be flashy.

Leave your pretty jewelry, designer clothes, expensive watches, and “please rob me” accessories for another country.

• Don’t show your phone or camera all the time.

• Keep cards and cash divided between bags and pockets.

• Pay attention to your surroundings.If something feels off, move to a public place — supermarket, hotel lobby, restaurant, pharmacy, anywhere with people and light.

• Don't leave your belongings unattended.

• Keep your bank card in the sutecase and use apple pay/cash while out.

• Keep your passport safe and carry the copies with you.

• And limit walking around after dark, especially in areas you don’t know.

• Double check the area of your accommodation before booking it.

It sounds dramatic, but it’s mostly common sense. Brazil is not a place where you need to panic every five minutes. It’s just a place where you shouldn’t behave like you’ve never heard of crime before.

My first unpleasant experience: the missing ring

I lived in Brazil for a bit more than six months before being called back to a project in the Middle East. During that time, I had two unpleasant incidents.

The first one happened at home.

M. arranged for a cleaner to come and help with a proper deep cleaning. Normally, I clean myself because I strangely enjoy the process and absolutely hate strangers doing it for me, but this time we needed extra hands.

The lady came recommended and had been to the house before. She spent around four hours with us and seemed absolutely sweet. We chatted a little in broken English and Portuguese, and when her husband came to pick her up, she even introduced me to him and their adorable three-year-old son.

Everything seemed fine. Except I had this strange uncomfortable feeling every time our eyes met. I kept telling myself I was being paranoid and unfair.

That same night, I checked my jewelry box. It was hidden at the bottom of the wardrobe, covered by clothes.

My family diamond ring was gone.

Out of all the shiny things I had, only that ring was missing. I had never worn it in Brazil. It had been there since the day I arrived.

We waited a couple of days and then asked the cleaner to come back to help with the garden. She agreed. Then, on the day she was supposed to come, she blocked us everywhere.

M. went to the police to open a case. The police officer was surprisingly direct with him. He basically said: you are a white middle-class man opening a case against a woman from the slums. This can easily turn against you. She could sue you, and she will win. You could end up losing the ring and paying her by court order.

So I had to let it go. Not because the ring was expensive, but because it came from my grandmother. It was a family piece, and that hurt much more than the money. I still miss that ring. I just hope that if it was taken, the money helped her family in some way. What would be harder to accept is imagining it going to parties or drugs. So for my own peace, I choose the first version.

My second lesson: don’t trust friendly smiles too quickly

The second incident happened in Rio, and honestly, this one was on me. I should have been smarter.

My best friend and I met a Brazilian friend from Dubai who happened to be in Brazil at the same time. She invited us to a small yacht gathering with her friends.

It was a small group, and the day was genuinely lovely. We spent hours on the boat, chatting, sipping wine, eating bbq, enjoying the kind of day that makes you think life is a movie and you are in the good scene.

When we left the boat, I clearly remember taking my bag and checking everything. Camera — yes. Phone — yes. Wallet — yes.

All there.

After the boat, we went to a beach restaurant in Copacabana. Dinner, nice conversations, same good people from the boat — or at least they seemed like good people. They were well-traveled, educated, connected through someone I knew from Dubai, so my trust level went higher than it should have. Classic mistake.

My best friend and I went to the bathroom. Before leaving the table, I took my phone with me and left my bag hanging on the back of the chair. I asked Charlotte (Dubai friend) and Adrian to keep an eye on it.

When I came back, my bag was gone from the chair.

I found it on the floor, on the other side of the table, completely empty.

We were the only people in the restaurant. No other guests. No random person passing by. Just our group.

I started asking what happened, and of course, nobody saw anything. Then one of the guys started messing with my head, suggesting maybe I had put my things in my best friend’s bag and forgotten. I knew I hadn’t. But then we found my wallet in her bag.

The problem? My wallet had been in my bag when we both went to the bathroom. She was with me the entire time.

So no, I had not magically transported my wallet into her bag through emotional confusion and caipirinha energy.

The camera was gone. And with it, most of my beautiful Rio photos.

The next morning, the story still didn’t sit right with me. I went back to the restaurant and asked the manager to check the cameras. I wasn’t allowed to see the footage myself, but he confirmed that no one else had come near our table. It was only our group.

So yes. Someone at that table took it.

Later, I called M. crying. He called our Dubai friend, made a scene, and suddenly the situation became very uncomfortable for everyone.

Magically, her friend Eric — the owner of the boat — said he found my camera on the boat the next morning.

How convenient.

Except no.

The boat was open. It had been taken out of the water the same evening. The big camera would have been noticed. And he sent a photo of it without its case.

I always kept that camera inside a closing case, inside my beach bag. Even if it had somehow “fallen out,” it could not have fallen out naked, without the case, like it was trying to start a new independent life.

Long story short, I was already back in Porto Alegre, and Marcus asked Eric to keep the camera so our friend could bring it to Dubai. That never happened.

Later, we found out he had sold it to some girl in São Paulo.

Almost a year after, M. tracked her down and bought the camera back.

So yes, I got it back in the end. But if M. hadn’t pushed, I would probably still be remembered as the dramatic foreign girl crying over a camera everyone pretended never existed.

So, is Brazil safe?

Brazil is not a country where you can completely switch off.

But it is also not a country where danger is waiting behind every palm tree with a knife and bad intentions.

You can travel there.You can love it.You can feel free, inspired, overwhelmed, sunburned, and slightly confused — sometimes all in the same afternoon.

But you need to stay aware.

Don’t trust people too quickly just because they smile beautifully. Brazilians are warm and friendly, but friendly does not always mean safe.

Mind your belongings. Listen to locals. Dress simply when needed. Don’t flash expensive things. Don’t ignore your gut feeling. And if someone gives you a safety briefing that sounds like preparation for an undercover operation, maybe take it bit more serious.

Because Brazil is stunning. Truly stunning.

But Brazil is also Brazil.

And honestly, that is part of the whole experience.