Florianópolis Airport was named South America’s Leading Airport 2026 at the World Travel Awards, and it is also our favorite airport in Brazil.
Not only because landing there means we have just arrived in one of our favorite places in the world, but also because its architecture, its open air and its greenery reflect a bit of the vibe of the Magic Island.
In this quick guide, we cover how to get from the airport to the main areas of the island and, overall, how to get around Florianópolis.
We were there. Aug 2023 – Jun 2024 & Jan 2026 — about a year living in Campeche
The Short Version: From the Airport to Each Area
Here are the rough drive times and Uber fares from the airport to each part of the island:
| Area | By car or Uber | Uber fare |
|---|---|---|
| Campeche and Morro das Pedras (south) | 11–15 min | R$20–45 |
| Rio Tavares and Novo Campeche | 20–25 min | R$20–45 |
| Centro | 20–25 min | – |
| Lagoa da Conceição (Centrinho) | 35–45 min | R$55–80 |
| Barra da Lagoa | 45–55 min | R$60–100 |
| Jurerê and the north | 45–55 min | R$80–130 |
| Ingleses | – | R$90–130 |
So a single Uber ride can sometimes cost as much as a day or two of a rental car. By bus, getting to Jurerê, for example, can take 2 hours 30 minutes from the airport, with two to four changes of line.
If you’d like help choosing where to stay on the island, see our Where to Stay in Florianópolis guide. Compare the options, but whichever area you choose, we recommend renting a car.
The buses from the airport are city buses: line 431 goes to the Centro terminal (TICEN), and lines 477 and V-468 go to the Rio Tavares terminal (TIRIO). To save some money, you will probably still have to take an Uber, or another bus, from one of those terminals to where you’re going. A ticket costs R$7.70 (R$7.20 with the Passe Rápido card) as of November 2026, but we usually recommend Uber or 99 for the convenience.
The bus leaves from right outside the main entrance: just follow the signs to the bus stop. From there you will also find the vans: if you’ve rented a car, you’ll take a van from outside the airport to where the rental cars are actually parked.
Careful
If you do rent a car, be careful when you stop at the airport to pick someone up or drop someone off: they are very strict about where you can stop. We have actually been fined for not stopping in a proper place.
Florianópolis Airport (FLN) at a Glance
Where the Airport Is on the Island
Florianópolis Airport sits on flat ground in the south of the island, level with Campeche, but right in the middle of the island from north to south and east to west. It is 15 minutes to the beach in Campeche, a 20-minute drive to the city center and a 40- to 50-minute drive to the north: pretty much central.
The approach depends, of course, on the direction of the wind. If you’re coming in from the sea, we recommend a window seat on the right, but it’s hard to know which way you will come in unless you check Flightradar24 before. If you do, you’ll see Ilha do Campeche and Campeche beach on the way down, and have a pretty good view of the whole island. Just writing about it brings back so many good memories.
Arrivals: SIM Cards, Cash, Food and the Lounge
In arrivals you can get a SIM card, but we don’t actually recommend buying one at the airport: they tend to be more expensive. If you want to land with your phone already working, check out the eSIM we usually use on our travels.
Arrivals in Florianópolis also has restaurants, cafés, fast food and shops, and even surf shops. The last time we were there, there was a padel court in the middle of arrivals, which, in our opinion, is pretty cool, and one more reason we like this airport so much.
Flying to Florianópolis: Direct Flights and Connections
You can fly directly to Florianópolis from over 15 cities in Brazil, and, looking at flights into March 2027, even from Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Panama and Portugal.
Even if there aren’t that many international connections, Florianópolis is a flight of about 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes from São Paulo Guarulhos, one of the main international hubs in South America. From there, you have direct flights to the major cities of the US and of Europe, like Madrid, Lisbon, Rome, Milan, Frankfurt, London, Paris and Istanbul, and even to the Middle East, like Dubai.
The Other Airport: Navegantes (NVT)
The closest other airport to Florianópolis is in Navegantes, about 100 km (60 miles) north, roughly 1 hour 35 minutes’ drive without traffic. In our opinion, it only makes sense to look for a flight there if you’re not actually going to Florianópolis, but somewhere else in the state, like Balneário Camboriú, Beto Carrero World in Penha or Bombinhas, or if the fare is much cheaper than a flight to Florianópolis. Since there are far fewer flights to Navegantes, though, it usually isn’t that much cheaper.
Getting from the Airport to Your Area
To Campeche and the South
It’s about an 11- to 15-minute ride from the airport to the closest part of the beach in Campeche or Morro das Pedras, and 20 to 25 minutes to Rio Tavares and Novo Campeche. By Uber, that’s around R$20–45.
To Lagoa da Conceição and the East
It’s 35 to 45 minutes to the Centrinho of Lagoa da Conceição on a good day (around R$55–80 by Uber), and 45 to 55 minutes to Barra da Lagoa (around R$60–100).
To Centro
It’s 20 to 25 minutes to the Centro.
To Jurerê, Canasvieiras and the North
It’s 45 to 55 minutes to Jurerê in the north. By Uber, the north costs around R$80–130, and Ingleses around R$90–130.
Uber, 99 and Taxis
Taxis are always available at the entrance, and Uber and 99 are also pretty quick to get; Uber has its own meeting point right by the arrivals door. Just be careful with unlicensed drivers who will approach you and say they work for Uber, or that they can take you wherever you want to go. We would avoid them: they aren’t legal in Brazil, and they don’t have the safety features the apps provide, like the emergency button and the recording of the ride.
Renting a Car at the Airport
Renting a car, especially if you’re a small group of friends, a couple or a small family, is for sure the best way to get around Florianópolis. Renting a car is usually quite easy in Brazil. You will need a physical credit card for the deposit: debit cards are usually not accepted, so please keep that in mind. It usually also has to be a credit card in the name of the driver who made the reservation.
As we mentioned before, the peak season brings a lot of people and tourists, which means competition for the cars and a surge in the rates. If you’re already planning your trip to Florianópolis, don’t leave the car for the last minute thinking it will be fine: we have fallen into this trap and paid double for a worse car. You can book it here.
Picking up the car is usually pretty simple. The rental companies at the airport are Localiza, Movida and Unidas, which also serve customers of international brands: Hertz at Localiza, and Alamo and National at Unidas. Their counters are in arrivals, where you can check in and they’ll tell you where to find the van; outside, already on the street, you’ll see the area where the vans pick you up and take you to the cars.
Wherever in the world we rent a car, and Florianópolis is no different, we always recommend taking a quick video of the car where you pick it up, showing the scratches, any damage, and anything that is dirty.
In Brazil, if you go to the beach a lot and bring the car back with lots of sand, they can charge you extra, and sometimes they offer a discounted rate for the cleaning up front. If you’re planning to go to a lot of beaches and don’t want the headache of cleaning the car before giving it back, you can pay for that cleaning when you pick it up, and not have to deal with any cleaning fees afterwards.
Arriving by Bus: Rita Maria Bus Station
If you’d rather not fly, or if flights are too expensive because you didn’t plan with enough time (or didn’t read our guides!), you can also get to Florianópolis by bus.
For this guide, we only cover São Paulo. Since most international travelers will probably land at Guarulhos, from there you can take the Airport Bus Service to São Paulo’s Tietê bus terminal, and from Tietê, an overnight bus of about 12 hours straight to the Rita Maria bus station in the center of Florianópolis.
How to Get Around Florianópolis Once You’re There
Driving and Summer Traffic
As we mentioned in our things-to-do guide, Florianópolis has almost 600,000 inhabitants, but in summer the island fills up: the city expected around 3 million tourists over the 2025–26 season.
Florianópolis is a long, slim island. It’s quite big, but the road infrastructure is not the best, and you don’t have many alternatives for getting from one area to another. Going from the center to the north, from the center through Lagoa to the east, or from the south to Lagoa can get quite chaotic at peak times.
To reach beaches like Praia Mole and Barra da Lagoa, there is only one road, a single lane each way over the hills, and it can get completely stuck. And in the Lagoa area, coming from the south, there is just one intersection that everyone drives through, which can also get chaotic and take a very long time in summer.
It is one of the things we dislike the most about Florianópolis, but it’s just the number of people who come to the island in summer. The peak, from late December through the first weeks of January, is out of this world.
Buses and the Bus Terminals (TICEN, TILAG, TIRIO…)
For the same reason we mentioned above (an island this big for the number of people), the bus lines are quite fragmented, and you might have to change lines a lot to get from one place to another. The main terminals are TICEN in the Centro, TILAG in Lagoa da Conceição and TIRIO in Rio Tavares.
If you’re really on a budget or traveling alone, it might make sense to take the R$7.70 buses. If there are two or three of you, depending on the distance, an Uber can cost R$15, R$30 or R$40 in total, and you can share it, with a friend or with people you meet at your hostel.
Bikes, Scooters and Walking
Unlike Southeast Asia, Brazil doesn’t have many motor scooter rentals, but Florianópolis is a bit different: we have seen a few places that rent them. If you’re staying in the south, you can also walk or bike around.
Like Rio’s Itaú bikes, Florianópolis has had an electric bike share, Tembici, since 2023, but its stations are around the Centro, the mainland side and the university (UFSC), not the beaches, so elsewhere you’ll have to find a place on the island that rents bikes.
If you’re staying in one of the centers, like the Centrinho da Lagoa or the south of the island, some things are quite walkable. If you’re staying close to the beach, you’ll most likely have a little market nearby, and pharmacies are everywhere in Brazil, as are restaurants and little food stalls. If you prefer to really immerse yourself in the place you’re staying, walking and biking can be a good option too.
Boats: Costa da Lagoa and Campeche Island
Floripa has a neighborhood called Costa da Lagoa that can only be reached on foot or by boat. Because of that, there is a public boat service on the lagoon, with stops along the way, just like a bus line on the road, serving the communities that live in those more remote spots.
It’s also a way to get around, or to go to Costa da Lagoa for a weekend lunch at its restaurants and to get to know these communities, which live a pretty simple life. It’s pretty cool to see. For the boat, the stops and our favorite lunch, see our 15 Best Things to Do in Florianópolis.
Ilha do Campeche is reached by boat too: boats leave from Praia do Campeche, Armação and Barra da Lagoa, and daily visitor numbers are capped, so book an authorized boat tour in advance.
FAQs About Getting to and Around Florianópolis
What is the airport code for Florianópolis?
FLN. Its official name is Hercílio Luz International Airport, and it calls itself Floripa Airport.
How far is Florianópolis airport from the city center?
About 12 km (7.5 miles): a 20- to 25-minute drive to the Centro.
How do you get from Florianópolis airport to Lagoa da Conceição?
By car or Uber: 35 to 45 minutes to the Centrinho da Lagoa on a good day, for around R$55–80 by Uber. By bus, you would have to change at a terminal, so we recommend Uber, 99 or a rental car.
Is there Uber at Florianópolis airport?
Yes. Uber and 99 are pretty quick to get, and Uber has its own meeting point right by the arrivals door. Avoid unlicensed drivers who approach you saying they work for Uber: they aren’t legal in Brazil.
Is there a bus from Florianópolis airport?
Yes. Line 431 goes to the Centro terminal (TICEN), and lines 477 and V-468 go to the Rio Tavares terminal (TIRIO), from right outside the main entrance. A ticket costs R$7.70 (R$7.20 with the Passe Rápido card), and you will probably need another bus or an Uber from the terminal to where you are going.
Do you need a car in Florianópolis?
We’d recommend one. The island is big, the bus lines are fragmented, and a single Uber ride can cost as much as a day or two of a rental car. Just book it early for the summer, and plan your days around the traffic.
What is the closest airport to Florianópolis?
Navegantes (NVT), about 100 km (60 miles) north, roughly 1 hour 35 minutes’ drive without traffic. It only makes sense if you are heading somewhere else in the state, like Balneário Camboriú, or if the fare is much cheaper.
How do you get from São Paulo to Florianópolis?
The easiest way is to fly: about 1 hour 20 to 1 hour 30 minutes from Guarulhos. You can also take an overnight bus from São Paulo’s Tietê bus terminal to the Rita Maria bus station in the center of Florianópolis, about 12 hours.
Is it easy to get around Florianópolis without a car?
It depends on where you stay. Around the Centrinho da Lagoa or in the south, some things are quite walkable, with markets, pharmacies and restaurants close by. For the rest, Uber and 99 work well, and the buses are cheap but slow, with many changes of line.
Final Thoughts on Getting to and Around Florianópolis
Florianópolis Airport is one of our favorite airports, and from it, the whole island is close: 15 minutes to Campeche, 20 to the Centro, and under an hour to the north.
To get around, a car is our pick: book it early, especially for the summer, and plan your beach days around the traffic. Uber and 99 cover the rest, and the buses are there if you’re on a budget.
Before you go, see where to stay in Florianópolis, the best things to do, the 10 best beaches and whether Florianópolis is safe.
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