As a wildlife lover, the Pantanal is one of my favorite places on earth. There is so much wildlife you can actually see here. More than in the Amazon, more than almost anywhere else we’ve traveled. Many people have heard of it, yet not many people actually travel here, or have sufficient information to decide whether it’s a place they want to add to their trip.
So this is where I come in: this Pantanal travel guide is meant to be your starting point. What the Pantanal actually is, how to get there, when to go, what it costs, and what you can realistically expect to see. For the deeper planning questions, like which region fits you best, a full day-by-day itinerary, or exactly how to see jaguars without blowing your budget, I’ll point you to my other Pantanal guides along the way.
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Table of Contents - The Ultimate Pantanal Travel Guide
- What actually is the Pantanal?
- Where is the Pantanal?
- When to visit the Pantanal
- How to get to the Pantanal
- Getting around the Pantanal
- Accommodation in the Pantanal
- Facilities in the Pantanal
- What to bring to the Pantanal
- How long do you need for the Pantanal
- How expensive is the Pantanal (and can you do it on a budget)
- Wildlife watching in the Pantanal
- Other things to do in the Pantanal
- Cheaper alternatives to the Pantanal
- Finishing thoughts about this Pantanal travel guide
- FAQ about traveling to the Pantanal
What actually is the Pantanal?
The Pantanal is the world’s largest tropical wetland. It isn’t one single park or reserve, it’s an enormous landscape of rivers, lagoons and floodplains stretching across Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.
What makes it so good for spotting wildlife isn’t necessarily that there are more animals here than somewhere like the Amazon. It’s that there’s so much less for them to hide behind. Instead of dense rainforest canopy, you get open water and grassland.
Most of the Pantanal isn’t protected. It’s largely private land, mostly cattle ranches, and only a small part of it falls under any formal protection. One of those protected pockets is home to the world’s highest density of wild jaguars and on top of that, it’s much easier to see a jaguar lounging on a riverbank or a family of giant otters surface for air in the river here than in the dense and huge Amazon.
Where is the Pantanal?
Most of the Pantanal lies in Brazil, split between the state of Mato Grosso in the North (Pantanal North) and Mato Grosso do Sul in the South (Pantanal South). There’s also a smaller portion across the border in Bolivia and Paraguay, but Brazil is where the tourism infrastructure actually is, and it’s what most people mean when they simply say “the Pantanal.” That’s why this Pantanal travel guide focuses on the Brazilian side.
We’ve visited both Brazilian regions, Pantanal North and Pantanal South, and they’re different enough that picking the right one genuinely matters. I’ve written a full Pantanal North vs South comparison if you want to go deeper on that decision after reading this guide. For now, here’s the short version: the North is wilder and gives you the best shot at jaguars, the South is a bit more varied and generally a little easier on the wallet.
When to visit the Pantanal
The dry season, roughly June to November, is the best time to travel here. As the water dries up, animals have to gather around whatever’s left to drink. This makes them far easier to find.
We visited the Pantanal South in early June, which was a little too early in the season. While it is the dry season and it doesn’t rain (much) anymore, the Pantanal was still full of water. Animals were spread out everywhere and the main river did not provide an easy hunting ground yet for the jaguars.
We visited the North in mid July, and this timing was close to perfect. Water levels were low enough for great sightings, but it wasn’t as hot or crowded as at the peak of the season yet.
If you go later in the season, you’ll have better chances of seeing tapirs who come to cool down in the river and jaguar cubs. But it also gets hotter, more humid and more crowded. So there is a trade off.
How to get to the Pantanal
Visiting the Pantanal on a longer trip through Brazil or South America means making a detour from the more common travel routes. This means that flying is the easiest way to get here, given how big the distances involved are. The north is especially isolated, the south is a little closer to popular places like Bonito and Iguazu.
If you’re visiting the North, you’ll have to fly into Cuiaba↗. If you’re visiting the South, you can fly into Corumba↗ (closer) or Campo Grande↗ (more flights and cheaper). Both cities have bus terminals as well, if you prefer to travel overland. You can reach Cuiaba from Brasilia for example, Corumba from Bolivia and Campo Grande from Foz do Iguaçu and even Sao Paulo and Rio. These are long busrides though and a flight is often more convenient and the same price or cheaper as the bus.
🚌 Tip: A lot of Brazilian bus websites require a CPF (a Brazilian fiscal number) to book online. You can avoid this by booking through Busbud↗ instead, or just buy your ticket at the terminal.
Getting around the Pantanal
There are various ways to travel around the Pantanal. The easiest, but most expensive, is to join a multiple day tour. These tours generally take you to 2 different lodges and include full board and activities.
Another option is to pick one lodge where you’d like to stay. Most lodges offer rates which include full board and activities and you can normally arrange a pick-up and drop off from the main gateways for an additional fee.
For the more adventurous travelers here, it’s perfectly doable to self drive the Pantanal as well in the dry season. This option had our preference, as it’s more budget friendly than the other two and gives you complete freedom to go at your own pace. We also used the car for drives during free evenings at the lodges, during which we otherwise would have stayed at the lodge or had to pay an additional tour.
Accommodation in the Pantanal
The standard accommodation in the Pantanal is a fazenda, pousada or a lodge. The terms are used interchangeably, also because some fit more than one label, but to give you an idea: a fazenda is a working station, a pousada is a small family run business (like a B&B), although many in the Pantanal are bigger with plenty of staff and lodge is another term often used for these accommodations.
The fazenda’s in Pantanal South and the fazenda’s and lodges along the Transpantaneira generally have a big piece of land where they offer excursions and/or where you can go wildlife spotting on your own. The lodges in Porto Jofre in Pantanal North and Passo do Lontra in Pantanal South are located on the river and don’t normally have land for excursions, their activities are river based.
While it can be tempting to stay in a hotel or pousada in the nearest town and just drive along the road if you’re on a tight budget, I don’t recommend it. We saw by far the most wildlife on the river cruises and on the terrain of the lodges in the North. In the South the distinction was a little less clear, but further into the season with less water around, the experience is similar from what I gathered.
Facilities in the Pantanal
The Pantanal is a very remote region, so facilities are pretty basic. There are big distances between petrol stations for starters, so make sure to fill up when you can. If you think you’ll need cash, take it out in town before heading to the lodge. We used cards everywhere, but I always prefer to have some cash with me just in case.
There is no stable phone signal in the Pantanal, so make sure to download offline maps and mark your destination when self driving. Most lodges do offer WIFI, but don’t expect it to be flying.
💡Simcards in Brazil – It’s incredibly hard to get a simcard to work in Brazil as you need a verified CPF number in order to activate it. So unless you want to go through the trouble of trying to get this number before your trip, or find a Brazilian who is willing to let you use theirs, I recommend getting an e-SIM if your phone allows it.
What to bring to the Pantanal
If you love wildlife and photography: bring a camera with a zoom lens. Animals are often far away and hard to photograph with a phone. However, if you’re not too fuzzed about the pictures but just the experience and/or are on a long trip and don’t want to buy a camera or drag the weight around with you along your trip, a phone will suffice for the closer animals.
Make sure to pack protective clothing (long sleeve and long pants), the sun is strong and depending on the time of year you’re going, there could be lots of mosquitos as well. Also pack sunscreen, a hat and bug spray. Some lodges have a pool, so you might want to take your swimwear.
Not all lodges offer drinking water, so we also took some big bottles as we self drove and had space in the car. All lodges we stayed at offered plenty of food, so we didn’t need snacks at any point.
How long do you need for the Pantanal
I’d say you need a minimum of 3 days to enjoy the Pantanal if you only stay at one lodge. I’d suggest staying at least 5 days and spreading your stay over 2 different lodges: one with a bigger piece of land, and one river based one, or one that includes river excursions at least.
How expensive is the Pantanal (and can you do it on a budget)
I’ll be honest: the Pantanal is not a cheap destination. But there’s a real difference between the most expensive way to do it and the most budget friendly way, and a few choices make a big difference.
As I mentioned before, we chose to self drive. Organizing our own car and booking lodges directly ended up noticeably cheaper for us than joining an all inclusive tour would have been, and it gave us the freedom to move at our own pace. Traveling in shoulder season instead of peak dry season helps lowering costs too, and so does choosing the South over the North. The North’s river cruises to see jaguars are expensive and drive up the cost of lodges in the Porto Jofre area.
As a rough idea of what to expect: even keeping costs down, budget around €200/USD 200 per person per day for two people traveling together in the North in July. I’ve broken down exactly what we spent during our stay in the North, in my spotting jaguars on a budget guide. The South is a bit cheaper, generally €100 or more per night for full board with activities included. This was in June though, which is still shoulder season. July is the start of the peak season.
🚗 Thinking about self driving? Compare rental car prices before you go↗.
Wildlife watching in the Pantanal
This is the part everyone really comes for. The Pantanal is one of the best places in the world for wildlife watching, though nothing is ever guaranteed since these are wild animals just doing what they do.
In both regions you can see a lot of wildlife. During both our visits we saw deer, caiman, foxes, peccaries, capybara, toucans, (hyacinth) macaws, giant river otters and many waterbirds like roseate spoonbills, herons and storks including the Jabiru: The symbol of the Pantanal.
But most people come here specifically to see jaguars. The Encontro das Águas area in the Northern Pantanal holds the highest concentration of wild jaguars on the planet, and we saw nine of them over two days there. I’ve written a full guide dedicated to spotting jaguars in the Pantanal on a budget if that’s what brought you here. The South also has a big population, but sightings are more likely in the North.
One thing worth knowing: the North’s popularity means you won’t have sightings to yourself. Guides radio each other when they spot something, so it’s common to find several boats gathered around one jaguar. It increases your odds, but don’t expect total solitude.
Other iconic wildlife you can see in the Pantanal are Giant anteaters, tapirs and anacondas.
Other things to do in the Pantanal
The North is almost entirely dedicated to wildlife watching. Nearly everyone we met there was carrying a serious camera and binoculars, out to see as much wildlife as possible between river cruises, night safaris, and walks around the lodge grounds. There isn’t much else on offer, and honestly, there doesn’t need to be. We loved every minute of our stay and didn’t feel like we were missing having another activity.
The South felt more varied. There’s a higher density of working cattle ranches here, and the fazendas often build in activities like horseback riding and fishing alongside the wildlife watching. If you want a Pantanal trip that isn’t 100% animal focused, the South gives you more room to build that in. We enjoyed the additional activities here a lot, especially since we were early in the season and the conditions for wildlife watching weren’t ideal.
Cheaper alternatives to the Pantanal
The Pantanal is the Pantanal and a cheaper place which is just like this doesn’t exist. Or not that I’m aware of at least. Does that mean it’s the Pantanal or nothing? Well no, there are lots of other places in South America which are amazing for wildlife watching.
Los Esteros del Iberá in Argentina for example. This is another huge wetland where you can spot deer, monkeys, capybara, caiman and lots of bird species. They have recently reintroduced jaguars here, so you even have a chance to see them and some visitors are lucky enough to see anacondas. El Palmar, close to Buenos Aires, is also great for wildlife spotting, you can see lots of capybara and birds here, but also viscacha, deer and foxes for example. Both places offer camping places and you can hike trails independently, which drastically lowers the cost of a visit.
The Amazon and the Pampas in Bolivia are also great places to see wildlife, but you’ll normally stay in remote all-including lodges here as well, making this option not much cheaper than the Pantanal.
There is also El Chaco in Paraguay, which we considered visiting before we decided to go to the Pantanal South. This area is very wild though, and doesn’t offer much infrastructure for tourism. Roads are often in poor condition and the area isn’t as protected as the Brazilian part. So we decided to visit the Pantanal instead.
Finishing thoughts about this Pantanal travel guide
I hope that this Pantanal travel guide has given you a clearer idea about what the Pantanal actually is, and whether it should be on your travel bucket list. If you love wildlife and being immersed in nature, I’d say it definitely deserves a spot on the list.
Have you been to the Pantanal, or is it still on your list? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear.
| Guide | What You'll Find |
|---|---|
| Pantanal North vs South: Which One Is Best | An honest, first-hand comparison of gateways, cost, and wildlife to help you decide which region fits your trip. |
| Spotting Jaguars in the Pantanal on a Budget | A practical guide covering when to go, where to stay, and a full cost breakdown for a self-drive jaguar trip. |
| Our Amazing 6-Day Self-Drive Pantanal Itinerary | A day-by-day account of our self-drive adventure through the Pantanal to inspire you. |
| The Ultimate Brazil Travel Guide | Your complete guide to traveling Brazil, from the Pantanal and the Amazon to colonial towns, chapadas, and stunning beaches. |
| The Complete Travel Guide to Los Esteros del Iberá | Can't afford the Pantanal yet? Argentina's Iberá wetlands offer incredible wildlife watching at a fraction of the price. |
FAQ about traveling to the Pantanal
1. Is the Pantanal worth visiting if you're not a serious wildlife photographer?
Definitely. A lot of people you’ll meet here are carrying serious zoom lenses, but you really don’t need one to enjoy it. A phone captures the atmosphere and the closer sightings just fine, and some of our favorite moments were ones we just watched instead of trying to photograph.
2. Should you visit the Pantanal, the Amazon, or both, and how do you fit them into one trip?
If you have the time and budget, they genuinely complement each other, two very different sides of Brazil’s nature. If you’re trying to choose, keep in mind that flights between the two aren’t quick, so plan for at least a few days on each side rather than trying to squeeze both in as a quick add-on.
3. Is the Pantanal family friendly for travelers with kids?
It can work, particularly for older kids who have the patience for long boat rides and quiet stretches of waiting for wildlife to appear. We shared our trip in the North with a Brazilian family and they were able to join all the activities. But it was demanding for the children, especially for the younger one. Just something to keep in mind.
4. Do you need a 4x4 to self-drive the Pantanal?
In the dry season, a 4×4 isn’t necessary. We rented small cars both times and they did the job perfectly fine. Look for a car which isn’t super low, which is important when driving on unsealed roads. Also check if it has a small motor and doesn’t consume a lot of fuel, which is also important since there are no petrol stations in the Pantanal once you’re off the main roads between the bigger towns and cities.
5. Is the Pantanal safe?
Yes. Brazil’s reputation for being unsafe is mostly tied to big cities like Rio and São Paulo, it doesn’t apply here. This is a remote, quiet area where theft and crime just aren’t a real concern.
The main thing to watch is wildlife, not people. Keep your distance from caiman, jaguars, and anything else you come across, and follow your guide’s lead. Don’t walk around alone in the dark in areas where jaguars are common.
Driving is generally safe in the dry season as well. Phone coverage is limited, roads are generally transited with traffic from fazendas and lodges, so you’re never too far from help.