Rio de Janeiro in February

When to go

February is when the Special Group samba school parades take place, according to Riotur's Carnival site, which lists the parade nights for the upcoming Carnival across a Sunday, a Monday and a Tuesday in the first half of the month. Riotur also says the street carnival is planned to start earlier, in the second half of January. The weather normals that the WMO relays from Brazil's national weather service show warm, wet conditions for February, and the Alerta Rio site shows the current rain situation.

Trip facts

• The Brazilian Consulate General in New York says that, effective April 10, 2025, Brazil requires visitor visas for citizens of Australia, Canada and the United States, offered as a 100% online e-Visa, and that only those traveling for tourism, business, transit, or sports or artistic activities, for up to 90 days of stay, can apply for an e-Visa (page updated August 26, 2026). (www.gov.br, checked 2026-10-15)
• The airport operator RIOgaleão says its Transcarioca Parador BRT line connects Terminal Alvorada, in Barra da Tijuca, and Madureira Station to RIOgaleão Airport, operating Mondays through Sundays from 4am to 12am, and that BRTs from both stops go through Vicente de Carvalho Station, where there is integration with Metro Line 2. (www.riogaleao.com, checked 2026-10-15)
• The city's transport secretariat (SMTR) says Jaé is the Rio city government's ticketing system, exclusive on municipal transport (BRT, VLT, municipal buses, municipal vans and 'cabritinhos'), and that with Jaé it is also possible to board the MetrôRio. (transportes.prefeitura.rio, checked 2026-10-15)
• The MetrôRio operator's 'Sua Viagem' page says lines 1, 2 and 4 operate Monday to Saturday from 5 a.m. to midnight and on Sundays and holidays from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and its station list includes stops labeled Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Botafogo, Flamengo and Barra da Tijuca. (www.metrorio.com.br, checked 2026-10-15)
• Brazil's Law 12,876 of October 30, 2013 amends the national time-zone decree so that the second zone, characterized by Greenwich time minus three hours, comprises the Federal District and a list of states that includes Rio de Janeiro. (www.planalto.gov.br, checked 2026-10-15)
• The Rio city government's Alerta Rio system site invites visitors to see the current situation of rain and landslides ('chuva e escorregamento') in the municipality of Rio. (alertario.rio.rj.gov.br, checked 2026-10-15)
• The World Meteorological Organization's World Weather Information Service lists, for Rio de Janeiro, 1961–1990 climate normals from Brazil's Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia, with a mean daily maximum temperature of 30.2 °C (86.4 °F) and a mean daily minimum temperature of 23.5 °C (74.3 °F) in February. (worldweather.wmo.int, checked 2026-10-15)
• The World Meteorological Organization's World Weather Information Service lists, for Rio de Janeiro, a mean total rainfall of 105.3 mm in February and a mean of 9.0 rainfall days (days with at least 0.1 mm), from Brazil's Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia and based on monthly averages for 1961–1990. (worldweather.wmo.int, checked 2026-10-15)
• A Riotur post dated April 17, 2026 on the Carnaval.Rio site lists the Special Group samba school parade order for Carnaval 2027 across Sunday (07/02), Monday (08/02) and Tuesday (09/02), with dates written day/month. (carnaval.rio, checked 2026-10-15)
• Riotur, the city's tourism company, says that for 2027 the street carnival is planned to start on January 16. (riotur.prefeitura.rio, checked 2026-10-15)