Communicative function: getting around, directions & transport

Asking where things are and saying where you're headed makes airports, rodoviárias, metro stations and unfamiliar neighbourhoods easier to navigate. Ask onde fica…? and you can get the route, landmarks or a location on the map. These expressions help you understand the directions and ask follow-up questions.

The 4 travel phrases you need

1. Ask where a place is

Use onde fica for places and services:

• Onde fica a rodoviária?

At the airport or bus terminal

• Onde fica a saída do aeroporto? (Where is the airport exit?)

• Como chego ao hotel saindo da rodoviária? (How do I get to the hotel from the bus station?)

• Eu venho do aeroporto e vou direto para o hotel. (I'm coming from the airport and going straight to the hotel.)

• Esse ônibus vai para a rodoviária? (Does this bus go to the bus station?)

On the street

• A farmácia fica perto daqui ou fica longe? (Is the pharmacy near here or far away?)

• É por aqui que eu pego o metrô? (Is this the way to catch the subway?)

• Você pode me mostrar o caminho no mapa? (Can you show me the way on the map?)

• Onde eu pego um táxi para a praia? (Where do I catch a taxi to the beach?)

Onde fica vs. onde está

• Onde fica…? suits places and services: Onde fica a farmácia?

• Onde está…? suits people and things: Onde está o táxi?

These are common patterns, not exclusive rules. Estar can also locate a place, and ficar can describe where a person stays or is usually located.

Aonde

You may hear aonde with movement (Aonde você vai?), but in everyday Brazilian travel Portuguese onde is also very common in movement questions.

In standard usage, aonde combines a + onde when the construction requires a. Movement alone does not determine the preposition.

Vou ao vs. vou no

Buses connect cities across Brazil, and São Paulo’s Rodoviária do Tietê, opened in 1982, is a major hub. Metrô de São Paulo describes it as the country’s largest bus terminal and estimates circulation at around 90,000 people a day. Its services connect Brazilian states and other South American countries. That figure describes people circulating through the terminal, not just bus departures. The useful word rodoviária means a bus terminal.

Sources: Metrô de São Paulo — terminal information, Uber — a 2026 project with terminal operator Socicam