Brazil · Pernambuco
Recife
Brazil's frevo Carnival city, with the oldest synagogue in the Americas and colonial Olinda on its doorstep.
Recife is Pernambuco's capital, a big, hot Atlantic port built across rivers, islands and bridges, with a long reef-lined city beach at Boa Viagem and a colonial core on the island of Recife Antigo. It was the capital of Dutch Brazil and still holds the oldest synagogue in the Americas. Its Carnival, shared with Olinda, the hilltop colonial town just up the coast, is the frevo and maracatu Carnival: louder, more street-level and more participatory than Rio's.
Suggested stay
3–4 days
Language
Portuguese
Currency
BRL
Timezone
UTC-3
Why you'll love Recife
Carnival Frevo bands, maracatu drums and the Galo da Madrugada parade fill the streets, and in Olinda the giant puppets dance up and down the hills.
Olinda The colonial hilltop town next door, all churches, painted houses and views back to Recife's towers, is the city's other half.
Dutch Brazil The old island centre carries the story of Nassau's colony, from the first synagogue in the Americas to Frans Post's paintings.
Brennand Francisco Brennand's strange, sensual ceramics fill an old tile works in the west of the city and a sculpture park out on the reef.
Best time to visit
Sep-Dec
29-31° days
8.059° S, 34.885° W
UTC-3 · America/Recife
whenywhere contains ads and partner links that we think are helpful and that earn us a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Weather & when to go to Recife
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Sep-Dec
Watch for Apr-Jul monsoon flooding risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Recife
April to July is the rainy season, when heavy downpours can flood streets and grey out beach days. June is wet, but it is when São João fills the interior with forró, most of all in Caruaru. Carnival is the city's peak, so book well ahead for it.
Top things to do in Recife
-
Olinda - the colonial hilltop town next door
history culture arts 👍 PopularA few kilometres north, Olinda's steep lanes climb past Baroque churches, painted houses and artists' studios to the Alto da Sé, where tapioca stalls look out over the sea to Recife's towers. The São Bento monastery's gilded altar is the interior to see.
-
Carnival - frevo, maracatu and the Galo da Madrugada
culture arts nightlife music 👍 PopularRecife's Carnival is a street party rather than a stadium show: the Galo da Madrugada parade on the Saturday, billed as the world's biggest, frevo orchestras and maracatu nations in the old centre, and Olinda's giant puppets on the hills.
-
Recife Antigo - Rua do Bom Jesus and Kahal Zur Israel
history culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedThe island where the city began holds Rua do Bom Jesus, a street of colourful merchant houses, and Kahal Zur Israel, founded in the Dutch period and the first synagogue in the Americas, now a museum of Recife's Jewish history.
-
Marco Zero and the Parque das Esculturas - Brennand on the reef
culture artsMarco Zero, the square at the city's symbolic starting point, faces the reef breakwater across the harbour, where Francisco Brennand's sculpture park stands in the sea. Small boats cross from the square.
-
Oficina Francisco Brennand - ceramics in an old tile works
culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedIn the green Várzea district, the artist turned his family's tile factory into a vast workshop and garden of ceramic sculptures, murals and towers: mythic, erotic and unlike anything else in Brazil. Allow a long half day.
-
Instituto Ricardo Brennand - castle, armour and Frans Post
culture arts historyClose to the Oficina, a mock-medieval castle set in parkland holds a large armour and weapons collection and one of the biggest collections of Frans Post's paintings of Dutch Brazil.
-
Capela Dourada - the gilded chapel of Santo Antônio
history culture artsInside the Franciscan convent of Santo Antônio in the old centre, this chapel is covered almost entirely in carved, gilded wood and painted panels, one of the richest Baroque interiors in the northeast.
-
Paço do Frevo and Cais do Sertão - the music museums
culture arts nightlife musicTwo museums in the old centre: the Paço do Frevo on frevo's music, dance and Carnival clubs, and the Cais do Sertão on the culture of the dry interior and Luiz Gonzaga, the king of baião.
-
Boa Viagem - reef pools and the beachfront promenade
nature wildlife 👍 PopularThe city's long urban beach is lined with towers, coconut stalls and a busy promenade. At low tide the reef close to shore forms calm pools; heed the shark warning signs and do not swim beyond them.
-
Casa da Cultura and Mercado de São José - crafts and market stalls
shopping culture artsThe Casa da Cultura is an old prison whose cells now sell clay figures, leather and lace from across Pernambuco. Nearby, the iron-framed Mercado de São José is a working market of herbs, crafts and snacks.
-
Bolo de rolo, cartola and carne de sol - eat Pernambuco
foodTry bolo de rolo, a paper-thin guava-rolled cake, and cartola, fried banana with melted cheese, sugar and cinnamon. Savoury favourites are carne de sol with macaxeira, caldinho de feijão and crab in the beach bars.
Best areas to stay in Recife
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Boa Viagem
Beach and first-timers $$High-rise beachfront with a long promenade
Explore hotels in Boa Viagem →
Olinda
Character and Carnival $$Colonial hill town of pousadas and studios
Explore hotels in Olinda →
Graças
Quieter longer stays $$Leafy residential streets near the river
Explore hotels in Graças →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Recife
Getting to & around Recife
Getting there
Fly into Recife's Guararapes airport, on the city's southern edge just behind Boa Viagem.
Flight
Recife/Guararapes - Gilberto Freyre International Airport (REC)
A taxi or ride-hail reaches the Boa Viagem hotels in 10-20 minutes and the old centre in 20-40, traffic depending. A metro station next to the airport runs into the city.
Coach
Terminal Integrado de Passageiros (TIP)
Long-distance coaches from across the northeast use the TIP terminal on the city's western edge, linked to the centre by metro.
Cruise
Port of Recife
Cruise ships dock at the port beside Recife Antigo, a short walk from Marco Zero.
Getting around
Ride-hail
App ride-hailing is cheap, quick and the usual way between Boa Viagem, the old centre and Olinda, especially after dark.
TBC
Metro
The metro links the airport and southern suburbs with the centre and the coach terminal, but misses most of what visitors come for.
TBC
Bus
An extensive bus network covers the city and runs to Olinda, but routes are hard to read for a first-timer.
TBC
Walk
Recife Antigo and Olinda's historic centre are best on foot by day; the distances between areas are not.
Free
Day trips from Recife
Olinda
Half dayColonial hill town
Recife's colonial twin, founded before it and a World Heritage town: steep lanes of churches, painted houses and studios, climbing to the Alto da Sé for tapioca and the view back across the water to Recife.
Getting there
car | bus
20-30 minutes north by car or bus
Porto de Galinhas
Full dayReef-pool beach town
Pernambuco's best-known beach village, where jangada rafts take you out at low tide to natural pools in the reef full of small fish. Check the tide table: the pools only work near low water.
Getting there
car | tour
About 1-1.5 hours south by car or tour
Itamaracá
Full dayIsland and Dutch fort
An island linked by bridge, with Forte Orange, a fort begun by the Dutch, quiet beaches, and boats out to Coroa do Avião, a sandbar islet with beach bars at low tide.
Getting there
car | tour
About an hour north by car or tour
Caruaru
Full dayMarket town of the agreste
The inland market capital of Pernambuco: a huge open-air fair, and the clay-figure workshops of Alto do Moura, home of Mestre Vitalino's tradition. In June it hosts one of Brazil's biggest São João festivals.
Getting there
car | bus
About 2 hours west by car or bus
A little history of Recife
Recife began in the 1530s as the harbour of Olinda, capital of the sugar-rich captaincy of Pernambuco, sheltered by the reef that gives the city its name. In 1630 the Dutch West India Company took both towns, burned Olinda and made Recife the capital of Dutch Brazil. Under Count Johan Maurits of Nassau it grew bridges, palaces and a new town on Antônio Vaz island, painters like Frans Post recorded the colony, and Jewish settlers founded Kahal Zur Israel.
The Portuguese won Pernambuco back in 1654, and many of the Jewish community left, some to found New York's first Jewish congregation. Recife outgrew Olinda as a merchant port, led the republican Pernambucan Revolution of 1817 and became the province's capital in 1827. In the twentieth century it gave Brazil the sociologist Gilberto Freyre, the frevo Carnival and, in the 1990s, the mangue beat music movement.
Recife is recorded as the harbour of Olinda, capital of the captaincy of Pernambuco.
The Dutch West India Company captures Olinda and Recife.
Kahal Zur Israel, the first synagogue in the Americas, is founded in Recife.
Johan Maurits of Nassau arrives as governor and builds a new town across the river.
The Dutch surrender Recife to the Portuguese.
The Pernambucan Revolution briefly declares a republic in Recife.
Recife replaces Olinda as the capital of Pernambuco.
Olinda's historic centre is inscribed as a World Heritage Site.
Frevo is added to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage.
Know before you go
Payment
Cards everywhere
English
Limited
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / N
127/220 V, 60 Hz
Dialing
+55
Monsoon flooding risk in this window; check current conditions before you go.
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
Mobile network & SIM card
Get an eSIM before you fly
A Brazil eSIM installs in minutes and works the moment you switch off flight mode. No SIM swap, no roaming bill.
FAQs about Recife
▸ When is the best time to visit Recife?
September to December is the pick: the dry season, sunny and breezy, with the reef pools at their clearest. April to July is the rainy season, with heavy downpours that can flood streets. Carnival, in February or early March, is the reason many people come, and the busiest time to book.
▸ Recife or Olinda for Carnival?
Both, ideally. Recife has the big set pieces: the Galo da Madrugada parade and stages and frevo orchestras in the old centre. Olinda's Carnival is entirely in the street, with blocos and giant puppets winding up and down the hills day and night. Many people stay in one and cross to the other.
▸ Is it safe to swim at Boa Viagem?
Only with care. Boa Viagem and the neighbouring beaches have a history of shark incidents, and signs along the shore mark where swimming is risky. Paddle in the reef pools at low tide, stay out of deeper water and channels, and never swim at dusk or after rain. Porto de Galinhas, to the south, is the better beach for swimming.
▸ Is Recife safe for visitors?
Treat it like any large Brazilian city. Petty theft is the main risk: keep your phone out of sight on the street and carry little on the beach. The old centre gets quiet after office hours, so take a ride-hail between areas at night rather than walking.
▸ How many days do I need in Recife?
Three or four days: one for Recife Antigo and the old centre, one for Olinda, one for the Brennand museums in the west, and a beach day at Boa Viagem or Porto de Galinhas. Add more for Carnival or a trip inland to Caruaru.
More in Brazil
Brasilia
The great modernist experiment: a capital drawn on paper, built on an empty plateau in under four years, and still standing as it was designed.
✓ best May-SepFernando de Noronha
Brazil's protected island of spinner dolphins, clear water and the twin peaks of Dois Irmaos.
✓ best Jun-JanFlorianopolis
More than 40 beaches, a lagoon full of bars and some of Brazil's most consistent surf, all on one island.
✓ best Jun-Aug