Just curious what your support for this statement is. Also, there will be some other sites which will be easy to drive to and from, for example, Porto Alegre and Curitiba.
I should have said that that trip is probably to be avoided at night. It's my understanding from various sources over the last five years, including a visit to Rio. Most pointedly, this trip involves a stretch of road between two of the world's most crime-plagued cities. One or two tourists in a car rolling into one of those cities around 1 a.m. after a game in the other city is a bad idea, no question. For a more official an informed opinion: Ah, I couldn't find the host cities earlier. That Southeastern cluster will make things easier. You probably know more than I do, and maybe conditions have improved since I last talked with Brazilians about it, but they've told me the road conditions and distances rule out driving between most major cities.
I'll arrive the day before the USA's first game and will stay through the final. I figure if this is gonna be my first World Cup I'm gonna go big.
Or, you'll find that hotels believe that their rooms have all been reserved by FIFA's travel partner at the highest rate (plus FIFA's 30-40% add-on), only to learn a month or two before the opening match that FIFA has cancelled the bookings!
We found an apartment about 6 months before the Cup started. We actually found it on Craigslist. Seemed a little shady at first, but it worked out great!
FWIW, I talked to a friend of mine from Rio a few days ago, and he also advised me not to drive between Sao Paulo & Rio. It was mostly due to the fact that the road conditions are poor. Granted the road conditions may improve in the next 4 years, but he recommended flying between the two cities...
Yep, that kind of stuff is part of why so much is booked. I found out one place was completely booked by someone looking to resell the rooms. Basically, all the package tour operators offering team-specific tours will have to put deposits down on lots of rooms way before the draw for the group stage because they don't know which sites the teams will actually be at.
im with you there, i got the luck of being 1/2 brazilian so i got a place to stay in Brazil with my cousins. im planning to be there a couple months before and planning leaving after its USA vs. Brazil in the final. now about those ticket prices....
Wasn't there some type of train that was supposed to be built for relatively easier travel amongst the world cup cities?
Like others have said, I can't believe ppl were freaking out about actually planning for a major expense. 1. VISA ISSUES: biggest pain in the ass is the whole visa bs. If you have another passport, go to Brazil on that passport. It'll be cheaper and less of a pain in the ass. VISAS FOR AMERICANS ARE GOOD FOR 5 YEARS. Keep this in mind if you want to go to the Olympics in 2016 and are planning on going to Brazil btw now and next summer. Currently visas cost around $150 (at least they did last year), but more than the $$$ it's the pain-in-the-assedness of the process that sucks. 2. Travel to and w/in Brazil a. Definitely fly btw Rio and Sao Paolo. Forget driving. It's not that expensive. Book your flight a year in advance to Rio or SP. From there you can get anywhere in the country. b. More and more cities are being added by US carriers apart from GIG (Rio) and Gru (SP). American Airlines now flies to Recife and Salvador (in the north east) for more $$ than GRU/GIG, and from there you can also get anywhere in the country. c. prices My Brazilian friends expect airfare to Brazil to be insane. Right now you can get there for $900-1300, sometimes less, sometimes more. Expect $2000. Save up frequent flier miles and book 365 in advance exactly. You might get lucky w/ a free flight. Don't count on it. d. Travel w/in South Am to Brazil can be pretty pricey. I met up in Peru w/ my girlfriend while she was studying in Brazil, and my flight from LA to Lima was less than her flight from Rio to Lima. BUT... that might be a strategy if you're pinching pennies: free flight to South America if you can swing it w/ the frequent flier miles, and $500-750 to Rio or SP. e. Travel w/in Brazil is less expensive for Brazilians, like 20-50% less. If you live in a big city in the US, you might be able to find a travel agency w/ a Brazilian credit card and they book the flight w/ the reduced fare. 3. CONFED CUP!!!!! Honestly, you might save a healthy chunk of the money you spend going to this tournament b/c you'll be able to make contacts and see how things are run. Stay in an apartment for a week, let's say. KEEP THE PLACE IMPECCABLE and show that you're an ideal tenant and then ask the landlord about staying there for the WC. Ppl like to go w/ what they know as opposed to taking a risk.
its not supposed to be done until 2016..... thats good planing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_World_Cup#Infrastructure
This rule of booking early saves money did not turn out to hold for South Africa. Hotels, tour operators, and others overestimated demand and charged exorbitant prices to the early birds and prices generally seemed to come down as the tournament approached. If you look at the flights thread you will see people able to find sub $2k flights in May, just weeks before the tournament. I know nothing about Brazil but I assume there will be significantly more international World Cup visitors than there was in South Africa, especially from the US since it is so accessible. But there's also a lot more flights going there (eight airlines provide nonstop service from the US to Brazil) so it's hard to predict how air fares will change from a year in advance to right before the tourney. Booking early will give you peace of mind and you'll get your choice of flight and accommodation but it's no guarantee that you're getting the best deal.
Too bad carnival is in April and the World Cup is in June. Ahhh to have all the money and the free time in the world, that would be heaven.
Wouldn't miss this for the world. Make friends in Newark, NJ, NYC, Miami, or any other areas with many Brazillians, and you'll be living in luxury during WC 2014.
Anyone driving to Brazil. People from Europe drove to South africa, amazing. The only worry is the darien gap. I plan on teaching abroad in mexico from Jan. 2012 to may 1014. Then driving to brazil. With my car it should only be between $500 to $1000 in gas depending on gas prices at the time. Plus oil changes, tires, etc..
A suggestion is to drive with more than one car and try to convoy it. Most of the Europeans who drove knew of all the tricks to driving down to South Africa, ie (groups, only carry money you need, specific car, and ways to protect yourself).
As it stands right now I may drive down to Brazil and fly back. I say may just bacause the WC is four years from now and things could change. The safest way of course would be to to convoy it and the more people the better, keep in touch and, maybe we can get a large convoy going.
Thats a perfect idea. But we will see what happens, ill keep in touch. We can take our own vehicles. Another option is to ride as a group in one large vehicle. Anyone have a bus, any other ideas for the vehicle we could use, or any experiences with group travel on a bus?
That's true you can't drive through. But there may be alternatives for a big caravan. The driving caravan as the dutch fans did in South Africa '10 sounded enticing ... So I started Googling around... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-American_Highway The Pan-American Highway has a section that would require any drivers / caravan to be adaptable. A group would need to rent a ferry to transfer the cars from one side to the other. but for 20 - 40 cars something big & expensive would be required. Not to mention something would have to be booked way in advance. Just look at this motorcyclist who drove from Chicago through the Pan-American Hwy and is currently in Buenos Aires. Here's a few links to photos showing a crossing of the Darien Gap on a motorcycle. I suspect cars go from time to time, possibly once a week or so. Part 1 - crossing the Darien Gap http://www.jamminglobal.blogspot.com/2010/05/sailing-on-stahlratte-part-1-getting-on.html Part 2 - crossing the Darien Gap http://www.jamminglobal.blogspot.com/2010/05/sailing-on-stahlratte-part-2-cruising.html If you look at his websites "Photo Journals" and just check out the Brazil pages... The roads are no problem.... its the Bridges that would worry me. http://www.jamminglobal.blogspot.com/2010/10/brazil-part-1-start-of-transamazonica.html The one plus of the caravan is that even though it would be winter in South America during the months preceding the world cup April & May... the weather would be quite warm.