How to Get From Cayenne to Belem on a Budget

Travel through the Guianas is not cheap. And the best budget-friendly route to exit this region from French Guiana is to go from the capital city Cayenne to Belem in Brazil.

Belem is the main connecting hub with the Guianas. So if you fly into the region, you will most likely pass through Belem, unless you book one of the more expensive flights from elsewhere.

I found it very hard to research how to make this journey, which is why I write this post. The Guianas are hard to get around at the best of times, but there’s so little information out there. So hopefully this post helps make your own journey a little smoother and easier to plan.

How to Get From Cayenne to Belem

There are several legs to this journey, and it’s a long one.

Firstly, you need to go to Cayenne’s Gare Routiere which runs either side of Canal Laussat.

From there, you need to take a shared van to the border at St. George’s. The vans leave when they are full, so there’s no set time for departure. Just make sure you get there so early that you won’t have to worry if you’re waiting a couple of extra hours.

I arrived in Cayenne at 7:20am and left at 8:12am when our van had filled up.

The border is actually 6km away from St. George’s town. Since most locals illegally cross the border by boat, my driver couldn’t be bothered to drive an extra 8 minutes to drop me at the official border. Which meant an extra 1-hour walk to the border.

I didn’t even try and wave down a taxi knowing how expensive they are.

To be honest, it is possible to walk to the border safely. You can walk on the side of the (very quiet) road. Although be prepared for the weather to change between hot and humid to rainy in a matter of seconds (this happened multiple times during my walk).

Step 3 is to walk across the border. You must get stamped out of French Guiana at the offices you will see as you arrive. You cannot miss them. Please note that the border closes at midday and reopens at 2pm. Its operational hours are 8am-midday and 2pm-6pm.

Then you must get stamped into Brazil after crossing the bridge. The problem I had was that the computer systems failed when I arrived, meaning they couldn’t stamp me in at the border, and I had to walk for an extra 50 minutes to get stamped in at the police station in Oiapoque instead.

Be wary following the route on Google Maps. I had to take the long route around the main road, to the bus station, and back around, rather than the shorter route which maps suggested as it ran into a dead end.

The police station is open from 8am-midday and 2pm-6pm daily, just like the border.

From Oiapoque’s police station, it is a further 20 minutes of walking back in the same direction to get to the bus station, Terminal Rodoviario de Oiapoque.

If you travel further into Brazil, you will need to remember the word “rodoviaria” as this means bus station, and they have them in pretty much every town and city. Also “rodoviario” is sometimes used on maps, this is a broader transport term, but can often also be used for bus stations even though that isn’t quite an accurate use of the word.

Confusing, right? Welcome to Brazil…

Anyway, from the bus station you will need to buy a bus ticket to Macapa. The buses are night buses so you will need to secure your belongings overnight. Northern Brazil isn’t the safest place to be. Buses generally leave at 6:30pm, 7pm and 9:30pm.

For your final leg of the journey, you have two options. One is to fly. This is the easy option and it’s not too expensive (all costs are in the next section).

The other is to take a ferry from Macapa to Belem. Whilst I wanted to take this option, they take 26 hours and I only had a day to get to Belem, meaning I would have missed my flight.

The ferries can be found here on maps. I also have a list of boats and departure times between Macapa and Belem which you can follow.

I contacted the company that runs these boats, and they confirmed these schedules are accurate as of 2025.

Most people fly because it’s much faster and only costs twice as much. However the ferry option is better for an adventure, and experiencing the Amazon River.

To summarise how to get from Cayenne to Belem, you need to follow these steps:

• Take a shared van from Cayenne to St. George’s
• Walk (or find a taxi) to the border
• Walk across the border
• Walk (or take a taxi if you can find one) to the police station (if needed)
• Walk (or take a taxi if you can find one) to the bus station (Rodoviario de Oiapoque)
• Take a night bus to Macapa
• Fly or take a ferry to Belem

How Much Does it Cost to Get From Cayenne to Belem?

It costs €50 (£42/US$52) to take a shared taxi from Cayenne to St. George’s. This cost is per person.

It costs nothing to walk from St. George’s to the border, the police station, then the bus station as I did. It’s a bit of a hot and sweaty walk, but in this expensive part of South America, I recommend it if you’re travelling on a budget.

It costs around R$190 (£26/US$32) to take a night bus to Macapa. I went with Santanense, although Flap Buses also operate here.

It costs anything from £30 (US$38) to at least 10x that to fly from Macapa to Belem.

BOOK YOUR FLIGHT 2+ WEEKS IN ADVANCE. I cannot state how important that is if you’re on a tight budget, as prices skyrocket if you book at short notice. At the time of writing, it costs up to £400 (US$500) to take this journey at some points in the following few days.

On average, you can expect to pay £70 (US$88) for a flight booked 2 weeks early. The cheapest prices are generally only available with a lot of advanced planning.

If you wish to take the leisurely route, the ferry from Macapa to Belem costs from R$250 (£34/US$43), although only on Tuesdays. On other days it costs from R$300 (£41/US$51). Schedules and further cost info can be found here.

Therefore the total costs for travel from Cayenne to Belem are as follows:

• £98/US$123 if you fly from Macapa with the cheapest possible flights (£30/US$38)
• £138/US$173 if you fly from Macapa with an average-priced flight (£70/US$88)
• £102/US$128 if you take the ferry from Macapa on a Tuesday (£34/US$43)
• £109/US$136 if you take the ferry from Macapa on any day other than Tuesday (£41/US$51)

You can reduce these costs by hitch hiking for at least some of the journey. This is not the wisest move in northern Brazil, but a fair few people have done it in French Guiana. Although usually from the borders to Cayenne/Kourou rather than Cayenne to Saint George’s.

These costs will be higher if you take taxis instead of walking long distances.

How Long Does it Take to do This Journey?

It takes 3 hours 50 minutes to get from Cayenne to Saint George’s by shared van. Or at least it should do… Our journey took an additional 40 minutes after a tyre burst.

It takes 1 hour 15 minutes to walk to the border. Google Maps says 1 hour 30 minutes, I did it in around 55 minutes, but I’m a fast walker, so 75 minutes is more of an average walking pace.

Let’s allow 20 minutes for the border crossing. I did it in 10, partly because I was stamped out of French Guiana instantly, and partly because the Brazilian side had no internet which meant I couldn’t have my passport stamped and had to move on.

It takes about 40 minutes to walk to Oiapoque’s police station if needed. This involves taking a longer route via the bus station.

Getting stamped in at the police station takes 5 minutes.

Heading back to the bus station takes 20 minutes.

You will have a wait of around 4 hours for the bus to Macapa. This may vary by 1-2 hours depending on which bus you end up catching.

The bus from Oiapoque to Macapa takes 10 hours.

The airport is a 10-minute Uber ride from the bus station.

There are numerous flights throughout the day. Therefore you could be waiting at the airport for anything from 1 hour to several hours. It really depends on which flight you take, and I therefore can’t give an accurate estimation on how long this leg of the journey takes.

The flight to Belem takes 1 hour.

If you choose to take the ferry, you have 6-10 hours of waiting time in Macapa.

Then the ferry takes 26 hours to reach Belem.

Therefore, the total amount of time to reach Belem from Cayenne is:

• 21 hours and 40 minutes if you fly from Macapa to Belem, not including time waiting at the airport
• 52-56 hours and 30 minutes if you take the ferry from Macapa to Belem

How Can I Get From Kourou to Belem?

I wrote this guide because most people will go from French Guiana’s capital Cayenne to Belem. However my journey started with an extra leg, as I woke up in Kourou and had to get to Cayenne early in the morning.

I took a bus at 5:04am from this spot outside Super U on Avenue Gaston Monnerville, which arrived in Cayenne at 7:20am after being stuck in heavy traffic. It arrives directly at the Gare Routiere (bus station…which isn’t really a station in this case, but it’s where you need to go). Therefore there’s no additional time needed to find the shared taxi.

You want to catch the line 5 bus to Cayenne, which will cost €10 (£8.40/US$10.50).

Here’s a timetable with all the bus times between Kourou and Cayenne. I do not recommend taking a later bus than the 5am one. This is because things can go wrong (as they did on my journey, which I will talk about later) and you need to allow extra time for this possibility.

From Cayenne, simply follow the rest of this guide.

Is it Safe to Travel Between Cayenne and Belem?

French Guiana is much safer than neighbouring Suriname, however it does still have a bit of an edge to it.

Northern Brazil has a reputation for being very dangerous. Yet you will spend minimal time in risky areas, so the chances of something bad happening during this journey are very slim.

There is a risk of theft in most parts of this journey, with pickpocketing the most common crime in French Guiana that tourists have to worry about, and a risk of it in Oiapoque and Macapa too.

Overall however, you have little to worry about if you follow basic travel safety precautions. The one thing I will say, is that you will need to lock your bags up securely during the 26-hour ferry ride from Macapa to Belem.

Use combination locks to make it difficult to access your bags, then a cable lock to secure the bags either to your body or anything that cannot be moved easily.

I would say this is a safe journey overall, and you shouldn’t be scared off attempting it.

What Documents do I Need to Enter Brazil?

Brazil is super easy to enter. There are no unusual or difficult requirements to get in. UK and EU travellers do not need visas.

However, travellers from Australia, Canada and the USA will require a Brazil eVisa from April 10th 2025. The Brazilian government website has information on how to apply.

Unlike in the Guianas, you do not need a yellow fever vaccine certificate to enter Brazil. Although it is recommended to have been vaccinated as there is a risk of yellow fever whilst travelling through jungle areas and along rivers in some cases.

Otherwise, you just need a passport with at least 6+ months of validity left, and you’re good to go in Brazil.

My Journey Travelling from Cayenne to Belem

My journey was an exhausting one. As mentioned, I started in Kourou. I woke at 3:30am, got ready, then walked for around 25 minutes in the pouring rain to reach the bus stop.

From there I was on the bus for 2 hours and 15 minutes as heavy traffic held us up.

It’s a good thing I left early however, as this allowed for delays throughout the day, and I completed my journey comfortably in the end despite a few hiccups.

In Cayenne I went straight over to the shared vans and agreed to pay the pretty excessive €50 (£42/US$52) fee to get to the border.

Apparently there are buses from Cayenne to St. George’s. However, there is no online schedule and the only way to find out would be to wait in the bus station, potentially for many hours, and hope for the best.

Even locals know very little about the bus schedules in French Guiana. Only the routes between Kourou and Cayenne and Kourou and Iracoubo have detailed information online.

I took the van, waited an hour, and we left eventually when it was full, pretty much all with Brazilians who were on their way home.

An obnoxious lady next to me decided to play loud videos with no headphones for hours at a time. Unfortunately this is a downside of travel in Latin America. You come across a fair few people who do this.

After two hours, we have a problem… Suddenly there was a loud bang, and the van came to a screeching halt. Uh oh…

We all got out the vehicle, and it turns out one of the tyres had burst on French Guiana’s rugged jungle roads.

With my lack of Portuguese, and a full Brazilian contingent inside the van, I couldn’t find out what was happening or how long we may be. I just had to wait and hope for the best.

A couple of other vehicles stopped to help us with resources needed to take the tyre off and replace it with a spare one that was attached to the bottom of the van.

After 40 minutes stranded in the baking Guianese heat, we were on our way again, much to my relief as the prospect of missing my crucial bus to Macapa and subsequent flight to Belem decreased once more.

I did wonder if we would be waiting for several hours, especially since we were a long way from the nearest town or city.

Shortly before 1pm, we made it to the border town of St. George’s.

Brazilians will hop on a small boat and cross the border illegally. So they all got out by the pier to do this. I needed to be stamped out of French Guiana, therefore I asked the driver to drive me to the border a further 6km away.

He refused and demanded that I pay my €50 at this point. He was a pretty big chap covered in tattoos and he certainly didn’t seem the friendliest. As a result I decided reluctantly not to argue with him, and had to come up with a plan B.

I didn’t see any taxis in St. George’s. But equally, I was reluctant to pay crazy French Guianese prices when I knew I could walk for free, even if that option came with more discomfort.

I found a buffet restaurant in the town with Wi-Fi. I wasn’t hungry, so I just bought a drink in order to use the Wi-Fi and do a bit of planning.

After 25 minutes or so, I had my route mapped out, and started what Google Maps said was a 1.5-hour trek to the border.

It took a few minutes to get onto the main road, although I did take a wrong turning at one point and got barked at by a nasty dog. Fortunately, the owner seemed to know this wasn’t the friendliest canine, and had tied him up to stop him from attacking any poor unsuspecting passersby.

The owner seemed a bit confused as to why a random foreigner was outside her house. But a bit of finger pointing and the word “immigration” was enough for her to understand, and she pointed me down the correct road to the border.

The climate changed every few minutes. It was hot and humid, but every once in a while it would start to rain for several minutes.

Then it stopped, then it started again. And this repeated throughout much of the walk.

I did wonder how safe this trip was. There were no other walkers, one cyclist, and only a handful of cars passing by. Despite walking across a main road in a border region, it felt very remote.

Eventually, I saw a giant bridge in the distance and realised I was reaching my target.

Despite arriving a few minutes before 2pm (the official reopening time after lunch), the helpful chap at the French Guianese immigration checkpoint stamped me out and let me walk across with no issues at all.

I had heard it was not possible to walk across this bridge. That turned out to not be the case. There is a clear path, and no one has a problem with you walking across.

On the other side, Brazilian officials took my passport into an office.

Great, this is going so smoothly. I’m going to be stamped in, head straight to the bus station and get my ticket from here. Easy! Or so I thought…

Well, it turned out the internet wasn’t working, and I had to walk a further 40 minutes in the heat to get to the police station.

You can’t win them all…

I passed the bus station along the way. But they often check passports when purchasing tickets. Since I was technically in the country illegally at this stage, I decided to head straight to the police station before anything else and get that stamp.

When I arrived, there was a huge queue outside. Fortunately it turned out that they were waiting for something else, and I was waved right to the front, despite activating the Britishness within me and heading to the back of the queue by default.

Getting stamped in was easy. I was asked one or two standard questions about what I’d be doing in Brazil and how long I planned to stay for. After telling the officials I was only transiting through, they stamped me in and it was time for the next task: buying a bus ticket to Macapa.

After backtracking to the station, I was able to buy a ticket for a bus the same evening. A massive relief, as I would have lost everything (my flights from Belem to Sao Paulo and back to Asuncion) if I had not been able to catch a bus that same day.

I grabbed some snacks, waited around in the bus station for several hours since there was nothing better to do, and eventually caught the night bus to Macapa.

Ten hours later and we arrived. Macapa’s bus terminal isn’t a good one. It’s open-air making it easy for anyone to walk in which isn’t ideal in a city with a dodgy reputation when you’re on your own at 5am.

Fortunately I had a Brazil eSIM which I purchased through Airalo as I transited through Brazil on my way to the Guianas.

Brazil is a very important country to have mobile data in, as it can be dangerous, and it’s a gamble as to whether airports and bus terminals have Wi-Fi at all, let alone Wi-Fi that works.

Sure enough, Macapa isn’t a place where you want to be struggling with the Wi-Fi at 4 in the morning. I used my eSIM to take an Uber directly to Macapa’s airport.

There were very few people there and everything was closed. It didn’t necessarily feel unsafe, but it wasn’t quite as relaxing as I’d hoped an airport would be.

For some reason they blasted the air con inside which meant I’d gone from the humid heartlands of the Guianas to a seemingly Antarctic airport in under a day.

The benches had barriers which made sleeping across them impossible. I was exhausted and ended up chaining my bag to a bench before sleeping on the solid marble floor instead.

Needless to say, I only lasted an hour before waking with nasty back pains. Turns out marble isn’t the most comfortable surface for a kip. Who would’ve thought?

I struggled to stay awake as many hours passed before my 6pm flight, which was a total of 11 hours after I first arrived in the city.

With Macapa’s dodgy reputation and my sleep deprivation, I killed all of that time in the airport without any desire to go and explore.

I even drank a coffee which is a rarity if you know me. I’m not a fan of coffee at all.

Eventually it was time to check in, go through security, and board my flight to Belem.

Everything went smoothly and I was able to get back to Sao Paulo, then Asuncion without issues.

My exhausting 2-week adventure through the Guianas was over.

More Guianas Transport Guides

I really struggled to find detailed information about transport through the Guianas before my own trip. I was able to pick up bits here and there, but there wasn’t a detailed one to follow that was remotely in-date.

Therefore I decided to create my own to help you out.

I haven’t described my way into the region because flying from Asuncion to Sao Paulo to Belem to Paramaribo is a route few people will ever take. Also there’s little useful information I can share from that to help future travellers.

I have however documented the rest of my journeys from Paramaribo onwards. Hopefully there’s a lot of useful info here to make your own trip smoother:

I started by travelling overland from Paramaribo to Georgetown in Guyana.

I then returned to Suriname by making the reverse trip from Georgetown to Paramaribo.

Next up was my journey to the last of the Guianas, French Guiana. I travelled from Paramaribo to Cayenne by bus and boat.

And this is the last of my Guianas travel guides, from Cayenne to Belem via Macapa.

If you have any questions, please ask either in the comments or by sending me a message on Instagram or Twitter/X.

I hope you enjoy your adventure through South America’s lesser-visited regions!

And if you need help planning you can contact me through here.

More Posts on French Guiana

• How To Get From Cayenne To Belem On A Budget
• How To Get From Paramaribo To Cayenne On A Budget