Getting Here and Around

Exploring this region is no small feat and air travel is by far the most practical option. Fortunately, Brasília is well served by airlines and flights are inexpensive, especially if you are flying into the city for the weekend, when politicians leave town for their home states.

Most visitors to the Pantanal arrive at the airports of Cuiabá or Campo Grande, or take the overnight bus from São Paulo to Campo Grande. You can take a bus from Brasília to Cuiabá or Campo Grande, but the journey takes the best part of a day, and you will nearly always be able to fly for the same price, if not less. Having arrived in Cuiabá or Campo Grande, most travelers leave the travel arrangements to their tour operator. To get to the ecotourism destinations of Bonito or Miranda, you will need to take a bus from Campo Grande.

Travelers thinking of exploring the savanna outside Brasília, or visiting the similar landscape of Chapada dos Guimarães north of Cuiabá, should consider renting a car, as the distances are more manageable and buses are infrequent. For the adventurous, it is also possible to hire a car in Cuiabá and drive into the Pantanal along the Transpantaneira road (MT 080) and then back out again, although if it rains you run the risk of being stranded.