transportation in Cuiaba

Flight
There are flights between Cuiabá and many airports in Brazil (with the notable omission of Corumbá in Mato Grosso do Sul) by TAM (3614 2557), Gol (3682 1645) and OceanAir (3614 2550). The latter and Trip (3682 2555) fly to Alta Floresta.


Bus
Frequent buses make the trip to Poconé (R$15.85, 2½ hours, six daily); the first leaves at 6am. To Barão de Melgaço (R$24.85, 2½ hours, two daily). For Chapada dos Guimarães (R$8.50, one hour, hourly) there are buses every hour from 7am, but take an early bus if you’re doing a day trip.
Buses go to Cáceres (R$34.50, four hours, seven daily), with connections to Santa Cruz in Bolivia. Porto Velho (R$99, 24 hours, two daily) is a long ride. There are buses daily to Goiânia (R$95, 15 hours, six daily) and Brasília (R$107, 15 hours, five daily). Most of the buses to Campo Grande (R$80.50, 11 hours, four daily) stop at Coxim (R$52.10, seven hours). To Alta Floresta (R$125.50, 13½ hours, four daily), the first bus leaves at 6am.
Marechal Rondon airport (3614 2500) is in Várzea Grande, 7km from Cuiabá. To catch the local bus to town, turn left as you leave the airport and walk to the Las Velas Hotel. On the left side of the hotel, catch a bus labeled Shopping Pantanal and get off at Av Getúlio Vargas and Av Tenente Coronel Duarte. Praça da Repúb­lica is 200m northwest on Getúlio Vargas. A taxi costs R$28.

Cuiabá’s bus station (3621 3629) is 3km north of the center on the highway toward Chapada dos Guimarães. From inside the bus station, you can get a Centro bus to Praça Alencastro. More frequent buses marked ‘Centro’ leave from outside the bus station and can drop you along Av Isaac Póvoas. A taxi from inside the bus station costs R$10 – or mototaxis run the trip for R$7.

Hiring a car
All the car-rental places have branches in the center and in or near the airport. There are often promotional rates, so shop around. Referência (3682 6689) and Localiza (3624 7979) are a couple of reliable companies. The best car for the Pantanal is the Volkswagen Gol. A rental car with unlimited kilometers will cost around R$125 a day