Brasilia in 3 Days on a Budget (Daily Costs)
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3 days covers the civic core, Lake Paranoá, and a park to close it out
This route runs the Eixo Monumental’s civic core across two days, then closes with the JK Memorial, TV Tower, and a park before you fly out. Expect roughly R$270-700 a person per day between a hotel bed, rideshare, and comida por quilo lunches. The 6-day itinerary adds a Pirenópolis day trip; the 7-day itinerary adds a Chapada dos Veadeiros overnight.
Book these before you go
- A Congress or Itamaraty tour slot for Day 1: Itamaraty is guided-tour-only and Congress access can tighten around legislative sessions
- A hotel booked ahead if your dates land near 21 April or the first week of September, when the anniversary and the Independence Day parade both push rates up: check rates on Booking.com
- A rental car only if you’re tacking on a day trip beyond this 3-day plan; otherwise rideshare covers everything here: compare rates on DiscoverCars
Day 1: Praça dos Três Poderes, Cathedral, and Itamaraty
Start at Praça dos Três Poderes, Costa’s “cockpit” framing the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary, free and always open, with Alfredo Ceschiatti’s A Justiça outside the Supreme Court and Bruno Giorgi’s Os Candangos honoring the workers who built the city. If it’s Sunday, walk up for the 9:30am-2pm Planalto tour before the plaza gets busy; any other day it’s exterior-only. From there, the Cathedral of Brasília is a short rideshare, its stained-glass nave sitting mostly below ground behind a dark entrance tunnel you pass through before the reveal. Round out the afternoon at Itamaraty, whose exterior reflecting pool and Bruno Giorgi’s Meteoro sculpture are worth seeing even if the guided interior tour timing (Mon-Fri 2-4:30pm, Sat-Sun 10am-3:30pm, verify) doesn’t line up. Lunch is comida por quilo at any Asa Sul or Asa Norte commercial block.
| Day 1 cost (BRL, per person) | Low | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Bed | 181 | 437 |
| Breakfast | 10 | 20 |
| Comida por quilo lunch | 20 | 60 |
| Três Poderes / Cathedral / Itamaraty | 0 | 0 |
| Rideshare (2-3 hops) | 30 | 60 |
| Dinner | 25 | 60 |
| Day 1 total | 266 | 637 |
Day 2: Alvorada, Lake Paranoá, and the Orla JK
Palácio da Alvorada, the president’s lakeside residence, is exterior/drive-by only, no pedestrian access, so pair the 15-20 minute stop with a longer loop around Lake Paranoá. Ponte JK’s three asymmetric steel arches over the lake are the classic photo, best around sunset from either walkway. Close the day at the lakefront strip locally called the Orla JK (Setor de Clubes Esportivos Sul), the city’s top spot for a waterfront dinner.
| Day 2 cost (BRL, per person) | Low | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Bed | 181 | 437 |
| Breakfast | 10 | 20 |
| Lunch | 20 | 60 |
| Rideshare (Alvorada + Paranoá loop) | 40 | 80 |
| Dinner at the Orla JK | 40 | 90 |
| Day 2 total | 291 | 687 |
Day 3: JK Memorial, TV Tower, and a park to close out
Start at the JK Memorial, Niemeyer’s white marble mausoleum for Juscelino Kubitschek (Tue-Sun, 9am-6pm; likely a small fee, verify), then head down the Eixo Monumental to the TV Tower, whose 75m deck (Tue-Sun, 9am-7pm, verify) gives the best one-stop overview of the whole axis; time it for a weekend to catch the Feira da Torre craft fair at the base. Santuário Dom Bosco’s blue stained glass is a short rideshare away and worth it even with the Cathedral already checked off, strongest around midday. Close out at Parque Olhos d’Água, a free 28-hectare spring-fed park in Asa Norte, before heading to the airport.
| Day 3 cost (BRL, per person) | Low | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Bed | 181 | 437 |
| Breakfast | 10 | 20 |
| JK Memorial (verify) | 0 | 20 |
| TV Tower deck (verify) | 0 | 20 |
| Lunch | 20 | 60 |
| Rideshare (3-4 hops) | 40 | 80 |
| Dinner | 25 | 60 |
| Day 3 total | 276 | 697 |
Getting around on this 3-day plan
None of these three days are walkable between stops; budget rideshare into both your time and your money, not just the sights. The Metro won’t help here; its two lines connect the Plano Piloto to satellite commuter cities, not the monuments. If you already have a rental car booked for a day trip beyond this plan, driving these same stops works fine too, just budget for parking at each one. Full transport detail, including bus fares and the airport transfer, is in the main Brasília guide .
Book the Sunday Planalto slot into Day 1 if your dates allow it. It’s the one government building on this route you can actually walk inside, and the window is just 4.5 hours a week.