Yes, the subway is open the entire time. However, you must purchase special tickets ahead of time to access it (it costs a little over a dollar). Additionally, times must be selected for travel. So you could select leave between 8-9pm and return between 4-5am. I don’t know if (and honestly highly doubt) that is actually enforced.

And an Uber, can't I just get an Uber over there for around 8 or 9pm or is this impossible to achieve? I didn't think Leblon to be THAT far away even :confused:

Yes, you could walk to/from ipanema then grab an Uber there and back.

Thank you so much for that- I was in a state of panic since posting on this threat and wondering if I should cancel and re-book hotels. As long as we can get an Uber if we leave early enough and then just stay until we can find one again :)

Now we just need a party where we want to stay for ten hours :p

From what I've read, walking is not really recommended around the Sheraton (next to a favela).

Something tells me we will just leave early enough and Uber :cool:

Vehicle access to Copacabana (except for emergency services) is closed on NYE "roughly around" 300 PM.

This closure time changes yearly, so you need to check when you are there as to what time they plan to close the roads this year.

You could walk, Uber, or taxi it over to the Leblon metro shown below, or just go all the way to Posto 6 in Copacabana (where the road closures start) and walk the rest of the way to the destination.

Here's a map of your hotel. In the upper right hand corner is a small blue circle with an M......that is the nearest metro station to you. The Sheraton is located on Neimeyer, right beside the large favela of Vidigal. All the local favelados use this street to walk on when going to back and forth to Leblon/Ipanema. It is a brisk 60 minute walk to the metro from there. But, IMHO, it is unsafe to walk on Neimeyer in the day "if" it is open to vehicles (this road can be closed at times and may be closed for NYE) due to the traffic flow (think of European mountain roads). I've driven on it a lot, and it is not a pedestrian friendly road (very narrow with lots of blind corners) and the section from your hotel to the entrance of Leblon would be what I consider very dangerous at night. I am pretty brave/stupid, can speak the language, and get mistaken for a Carioca at times, but I would absolutely not walk there at night.

Coming back at 5-6 AM would mean finding vehicle transportation from Copacabana. I'm normally sound asleep at that time on Jan 1 :o along with the rest of the population, so I cannot say from first hand experience what your success rate would be, when it comes to finding a working taxi or an Uber "that" early. But, I would say that at 7 AM + you should be good.

The geographic size of the south zone is huge, and maps are deceiving. Just Copacabana beach is 4 KM in length from Posto 1 to Posto 6 for example. I would say it is a 2-3 hour walk from your hotel to the center of Copacabana. I have walked from my place in Copacabana to the end of Leblon, and that was 2 hours. In the 45-50 degree summer heat it couldn't have been better.

The Sheraton is a fine hotel but there's nothing near other than the favela (which atm should be avoided for safety reasons). The little beach by the hotel is sucky, plus to go anywhere you will need a car.

Book another hotel if you can, I especially like the Promenade Palladium in Leblon.

Good luck!

Wow, thank you so much for all that detailed info. I wasn't aware that the Sheraton is right smack in the middle of a bad area so that's definitely 'useful' to know :confused::eek::(

Just cancel and book the Marriott already. ;)

And try your luck with LNF! Good luck! :-:

No foreigner does and that’s how that place stays in business. Terrible location, anyone who actually knows Rio would never stay there. But foreigners have no clue and they see the private beach crap and are like “wow!”. Oddly enough the seleçao (Brazilian national soccer team) stays there when in Rio, which is rare, so inside it is likely nice. My guess is since the hotel is all by itself it is quiet and easy to secure?

While I agree that the Sheraton is not the best location if someone wants to see the fireworks, or even to see other tourist sights, to be a bit more balanced about the "bad area", the hotel is not "smack in the middle" of anything. It is across the wide road from the entrance onto the main street up into the Vidigal community (favela).

There have been foreign travelers staying at the hostels in Vidigal for some time now, and I have never yet read a report of anyone having a problem; in fact, quite the opposite.
Not everyone has the same comfort zone, though, and less adventurous foreign travelers to Rio usually seem to prefer the areas that look most like 'home'.

Given the increased economic pressure from the current crisis, however, the situation in and around that particular community may have changed---or not.
But wholesale (::eek::) panic is not warranted, IMO. The neighborhoods in Copacabana also have entrances to communities (favelas). It's simply a fact of life in Rio, where the hills with such communities back the more upper class residential neighborhoods bordering the beach.

So true. All the United flight crews get domiciled there on layovers and they hate it, because they have to take taxis to go anywhere.

This is the problem IMHO.

anyone here know a place in Copacabana that does dinner reservations on NYE? Not looking for firework watching, just dinner.. Can't find many with reservation mechanisms...