São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro runs about 24 times a day, with the first departure around 06:08 and the last around 21:00. One passenger pays between €17.78 and €18.88, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 5h 56m over 397 km, on services run by 2 operators across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 2 operators and 1 way of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares · Priced for October 5, 2026
€17.78 to €18.88
- 179%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving São Mateus
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:08First departure
- 21:00Last departure
- 24Services per day
- 92%Run direct
Empresa Gontijo de Transportes runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this trip
Bookaway lists departures for São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro on your date, and you pay on their side.
See São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro on Bookaway
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €49.68Thu17
- about €39.23Fri18
- about €41.43Sat19
- about €32.08Sun20
- about €27.13Mon21
- about €28.23Tue22
- about €28.78Wed23
- about €29.88Thu24
- about €27.68Fri25
- about €28.78Sat26
- about €25.48Sun27
- about €22.18Mon28
- about €23.28Tue29
- about €23.28Wed30
- about €22.73Thu1
- about €21.08Fri2
- about €22.18Sat3
- about €20.53Sun4
- about €17.78Mon5
- about €17.78Tue6
- about €18.88Wed7
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The bus gets you into Rio de Janeiro. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Rio de Janeiro for the night the bus gets in
Sort by distance from Estação Penha and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Rio de Janeiro on Booking.com
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €18.8890 days
- €17.7860 days
- €19.9845 days
- €18.8830 days
- €18.8821 days
- €23.2814 days
- €28.787 days
- €41.433 days
- €49.681 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €17.78.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 179 percent. The most expensive point is €49.68, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 60 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
397 km
346 km as the crow flies, 15% further by the route services take. The bearing runs east.
Who lives at each end
155,682 → 6,747,815
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
Observed
Every operator on this corridor is named in a carrier record.
The route
What the journey looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 92% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 8% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 397 km against 346 km in a straight line, a detour of 15 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Piracicaba, Macaé. The gap between arriving and leaving is 79 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 12 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
Rio de Janeiro is large, and the road in from GIG can take longer than the last hour of the flight. Cars are not our business.
A car waiting when you land in Rio de Janeiro
Settled in advance, so the ride into Rio de Janeiro costs what it said it would rather than what the cab stand says.
Book a ride from GIG with Daytrip
Partner links. We do not operate transfers. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.
Who runs this route
The bus gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Baggage storage near Estação Penha
Most of the points near Estação Penha open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Rio de Janeiro on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro
The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro?
The fastest journey from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro takes 5h 56m door to door, of which 5h 12m is spent moving, on the coach. Most services take around 6h 22m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro?
The cheapest fare from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro is €17.78, as of September 16, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €29.88. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro?
The cheapest way from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro is by coach, at €17.78 for one passenger on October 5, 2026. That journey takes 5h 56m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro?
Fares from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro bottom out around 60 days before departure, at €17.78. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 179 percent, measured on September 16, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro?
Monday is the cheapest day to depart from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro, at €22.18. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 16, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro?
February is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro, at €16.13 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs service from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro?
2 operators sell services from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro across 1 mode: Empresa Gontijo de Transportes, Viação. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro?
92 percent of the services we sell from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro are direct. The rest connect at Piracicaba, Macaé, with about 79 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro use?
Services from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro by coach leave from São Mateus bus station and arrive at Caju. Allow about 44m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro?
2 of the 2 operators we sell from São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Observed service A carrier record shows this named operator serving this named pair, and we carry that through unchanged.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for São Mateus to Rio de Janeiro on September 16, 2026: 397 km of route against 346 km in a straight line, 24 services a day, 2 operators a cheapest fare of €17.78, and 5h 56m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Being on the water gives Rio de Janeiro a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.
Day trips out of Rio de Janeiro and across Brazil
Day trips that leave Rio de Janeiro in the morning and cover a good part of Brazil by evening.
See Rio de Janeiro on CivitatisOr browse GetYourGuide
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
São Mateus reaches 35 places in 1 countries on services we hold, over distances from 155 to 2,233 km. Rio de Janeiro reaches 412 places in 21 countries, from 16 to 11,870 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving São Mateus
- 35Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 4Operators
Arriving in Rio de Janeiro
Leaving Rio de Janeiro
- 412Places you can leave for
- 21Countries
- 74Operators