An alternative route from Cuiabá to Goiás Velho, Goiânia and Brasília runs east via the BR-070. Over 500km from Cuiabá, on the frontier between Mato Grosso and Goiás states, BARRA DO GARÇAS is a useful and interesting point at which to break a long bus journey. This small and isolated, but still fast-growing town […]

For those who have arrived in Cuiabá from the Amazon, the city acts as a gateway to the rest of Brazil. From the earliest times, São Paulo was the main source of settlers arriving in Mato Grosso, though until the twentieth century the route followed the river systems. These days, the BR-364 runs all […]

Turning west off the BR-163 some 150km before the Serra do Cachimbo, a dirt road leads to ALTA FLORESTA, a rapidly growing frontier town of around 43,000 people. Located almost 800km north of Cuiabá, it’s a remote but thriving agricultural settlement with regular bus and plane connections to Cuiabá and elsewhere. There’s little of […]

Heading west from Cuiabá, Porto Velho and Rio Branco are both possible destinations in their own right, or could serve as relaxing stops on the way to Manaus, Peru or Bolivia. Following Rondônia’s telegraph link to Manaus in the early twentieth century, Highway BR-364 to northern Mato Grosso and southwestern Amazon was the next […]

The hot baths of ÁGUAS QUENTES, 86km east of Cuiabá in the Serra de São Vicente, just off the BR-364 towards Rondonópolis, function as a weekend and honeymoon resort for locals. Apart from the baths, though, there is little of interest. The water, said to be mildly radioactive, comes in four different pools, the […]

A paved road winds its way up to the scenic and increasingly popular mountain village of CHAPADA DOS GUIMARÃES, set on the plateau of the same name just 64km from Cuiabá. Located bang on one of the oldest tectonic plates on the planet, it also sits close to the geodesic centre of South […]

Although it’s a major staging post for the Pantanal, there isn’t a lot in terms of organized tourism in the immediate region around Cuiabá, and what there is is mostly aimed at local people. Nevertheless, the scenery and air of mystery around Chapada dos Guimarães makes for a rewarding side-trip from the city – […]