Manaus is famously hard to reach by road. Only one highway — the BR-174 from Boa Vista and Venezuela to the north, and the BR-319 (often impassable) to Porto Velho in the south — connects it to the rest of Brazil. For practical purposes, almost everyone arrives by plane or by boat.
Eduardo Gomes International Airport (MAO), about 14 km north of the centre, has direct flights from major Brazilian cities (São Paulo, Rio, Brasília, Belém) and seasonal international routes to Panama City, Bogotá, and Miami. Taxis and ride-hailing apps run into town in 20–30 minutes.
By boat, Manaus is the major hub of the western Amazon: regular passenger services connect it with Belém (about four days downriver), Santarém (36 hours), Tabatinga on the Colombian–Peruvian border (around a week upriver), and dozens of smaller ports. The Estação Hidroviária handles passenger traffic; cargo boats leave from the adjacent wharves.