Teresina Airport (THE) serves Teresina, the capital of Piaui state in northeastern Brazil, a city known for consistently hot temperatures year-round and its position along the Parnaiba and Poti rivers where the two waterways meet. The airport sits within the city itself, with car rental counters from international and local operators inside the terminal, and pickup is generally straightforward given the airport's manageable size compared with Brazil's larger coastal hubs along the Atlantic seaboard further east.
From Teresina, BR-343 runs east toward the coast and the state of Ceara, a long haul of several hours through Piaui's dry interior landscape, while other regional highways connect the city to nearby towns along the Parnaiba river basin and toward neighboring Maranhao state to the north and west. Teresina itself, as an inland capital rather than a coastal city, sees a drier and hotter climate than much of Brazil's more familiar beach destinations, and the surrounding countryside reflects that with scrubby vegetation and long, straight highway stretches typical of this part of the northeast, known locally for its caatinga landscape and its role as a regional commercial and transport hub.
Driving is on the right throughout Brazil, and the main highways radiating from Teresina, including BR-343, are generally paved and maintained, though rural side roads narrow and can be affected by heavy rain during the wetter months from roughly January through April. Fuel stations are frequent within the city and along the main highway corridors but grow sparser on longer rural stretches, so it is worth topping up before venturing far from Teresina proper and its immediate surroundings. The heat here is genuinely intense for much of the year, so checking a rental car's air conditioning before setting out is a sensible habit rather than an afterthought, particularly for longer regional drives across the interior.