Originally Posted by MariaSF
My advice as a Brazilian: unless you are really, really keen to seing the Samba in Rio thing, consider going to SSA (Salvador, Bahia) instead. It's way more fun, better music, better location, more "democratic" (as in street Carnaval versus Rio's closed venue scheme)
I would advise you NOT to go to Salvador for Carnaval unless you’re young, speak Portuguese and are happy to rough it a bit. As I’ve posted here before friends of mine who live in Rio and who are fans of Salvador as a city didn't enjoy it for Carnaval. They were forced to keep their money in the socks to prevent the “democratic” redistribution of their wealth by the numerous hands in their pockets. If you want to party with the people in Rio simply follow one of the Trio Elétricos during the day or go to a street party outside the Sambodromo when the parades are on.
I personally much prefer the Rio Samba Enredo to the Bahian samba but I think for a first time visitor the music won’t be as much an issue as the spectacle.