Originally Posted by
sfgiants13
I may have a stay here in March depending on if Covid improves or not. How is the area around the hotel to walk around? I spent some time in Sao Paulo so I have a general idea of how to conduct myself in Brazil. Didn't do much walking at night outside of Paulista and the rest of my walking was during the day. I'm assuming the general advice of don't walk around alone after dark or carry anything valuable still applies here.
Don't walk around the hotel at night. There's little to do and it does start to look seedy. The only place I walked at night comfortably was Leblon. Rio has a lot more robbery crime than SP. I wore a money belt for cards/cash and pants with a zippered pocket for my phone and felt mostly comfortable, but many others that I know who have been to Rio were robbed or mugged, usually at night in deserted areas. I also ubered between neighborhoods, as you never know when a bad area starts.