Seeing the extensive comments regarding the state of Rio's crime. I think I should just express a few thoughts as an Expat living in Rio for the past 3 years.

Firstly let's call a spade a spade. It's a fact that Rio is one of the most dangerous cities in terms of street crimes, with magging, pick pocketing, ATM hold up and express kidnapping being the more obvious ones.

However (yes there's a "but" in here) a lot of the times these are crime of opportunity, whereby the victim did not practice some simple precautions. I always advise my friends coming to Rio, that they need to practice what I call "Riocaution" during their stay. Especially coming from relatively safe countries, where your normal practice is considered plain stupidity by Carioca.

By taking these precautions (i.e. don't carry large amount of cash, walking and talking on mobile phones, walking late night alone, etc), you'll greatly reduce the chances of making yourself a target.

There's no reason why you can't have a wonderful stay in Rio, which in my humble opinion is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Cheers all.