Post Trip Notes - Rio de Janeiro
Dec 8, 2025 | 3:05 pm
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: PDX
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Posts: 1,545
Post Trip Notes - Rio de Janeiro
MrsCrumbs and I just got back from a nine day stay in Rio de Janeiro. I'll need awhile to work through photos for a proper trip report, so in lieu of that, here are my observations from my trip. Hopefully they will be of help to other travellers, especially since this is a pretty quiet forum.
Travel Process
- We flew on a PDX-LAX-MIA-GIG/SDU-GRU-DFW-PDX itinerary on a mix of AS/AA/AD.
- eVisa process was easier and quicker than I anticipated. Details available in this post. Our printed copies of our eVisa was checked during check-in at PDX and also during boarding at the gate at MIA.
- Unfortunately, we arrived at GIG at the same time as a few regional flights from EZE & SCL, which lead to massive lines for immigration. I would say that we were in line for around an hour. We didn't have checked bags but still had to wait in a long line to exit the baggage claim area to go through customs. This was a little shorter and took around half an hour.
- I booked a Blacklane to our first hotel, the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro, located all the way out in Barra da Tijuca. This was overkill (and expensive) but I also just wanted some piece of mind upon arrival. The driver was waiting for us this whole time and we were able to communicate via WhatsApp about our lengthy delays at immigration and customs. The car was some sort of nice Ford and the drive took about forty minutes.
Transport in Rio de Janeiro
- We used a mix of Uber and the Metro in Rio. Since the first half of our stay was out in Barra da Tijuca, we relied exclusively on Uber, which was always fast to arrive. We mainly stuck with Uber Black, which featured nice modern cars but don't expect the upmarket cards you get in the States. Uber Comfort was noticeably more run down but those rides were still fine.
- For the Metro, it was the only place where my Wise card (more about this later) did not work. I was able to pay with Apple Pay on my phone, as did MrsCrumbs.
- The Metro is often described as the safest place in Rio and we did not have any issues with safety onboard. The system is okay but gets crowded during peak hours and while the carriages are air conditioned, the stations are certainly not. Some of the stations feature restrooms and at one of them, Botafogo, none of the staff knew where the restroom was and I only stumbled upon it while we were leaving to station to find a restroom at street level.
- Operationally, the trains were somewhat amusingly, earlier than scheduled. The electronic signboards in the station would say that the next train was arriving in two minutes only for a train to come barrelling down the tracks.
Barra da Tijuca
- We stayed out here at the Grand Hyatt for our first three nights to let us ease into Rio de Janeiro instead of being tossed directly into the craziness that is the city itself. I still think it was a good call and I'm glad we did it in the order that we did because it would've felt too sedate had we stayed in the city first.
- We mainly spent our time out on the stretch of beach in front of the hotel. The hotel set up loungers and umbrellas but the food and drink was handled with a nearby vendor. You could also get random snacks from vendors who walked up and down the beach.
- We did dinner on two nights at various kiosks along the beach, which were okay meals. Definitely should've stuck to something more basic than the moqueca we ordered one night.
- Our first dinner was out at Rio Brasa, a churrascaria recommendation that I think I found on this forum. I made reservations a few weeks ago and despite it being a Friday night, the restaurant was at most a third full. It was a pretty great churrascaria experience with an awesome salad bar and an extensive sushi bar. The food was good and I appreciated the different doneness of the steak.
- We spent a few hours one afternoon visiting the excellent Museu do Pontal, which specialises in Brazilian folk art. The exhibits were all really interesting and admission was free. We also had some snacks (coxinha) at their in house cafe.
Rio de Janeiro
- Areas/Places visited: Centro, Copacabana, Cristo Redentor, Ipanema, Lapa, Leblon, Maracan, Parque Lage, Pedra do Sal, Santa Teresa
- Centro: We did a tour with Eat Rio Food Tours, specifically their food and history tour. This was scheduled for four and a half hours and ran long because there was so much to see and cover. Stops included the beautiful Theatro Municipal, Biblioteca Nacional, Real Gabinete Portugus de Leitura, Palcio Tiradentes, Pao Imperial, Boulevard Olmpico, Valongo, etc. We made a few stops for food and overall, it was a great tour with our guide doing a great job of providing context and insight. We also returned to this area later in the trip to visit the Catedral Metropolitana and also to take the Santa Teresa tram.
- Copacabana: We had a nice walk at night along the promenade after attending a bossanova show at Little Club. We also walked through the market that was set up nearby but as expected, it was mainly tatty tourist targeted stuff, so neither of us bought anything.
- Cristo Redentor: I hated the idea at the time but MrsCrumbs a hundred percent made the correct call by saying that we should make the earliest possible reservation for the day, which was at 6:50am for the 7:20am Trem do Corcovado ride to Cristo Redentor. It sucked to set an alarm for 5:45am but we grabbed an Uber and headed to the tram terminus. Short lines at this time with our prebooked tickets and in comparison, chill at the top at Cristo Redentor itself. It was mainly nice to visit for the great views but as weird as this sounds, the statue itself wasn't that impressive. The vibe up there was already annoying with having to dodge everyone's phototaking. We stayed for forty-five minutes or so and took the tram down to Paineiras and disembarked there. Not much to see at Paineiras itself but we ended up hiking down to Parque Lage, which took an hour and a half. Would've been longer in the opposite direction. The hike was fine, not that interesting and not really much of a view but it was fun to be able to say that we did a hike in Brazil. The hike ended at Parque Lage but sadly the main Palcio was closed and covered up for renovation, which would probably explain the lack of crowds. The best part of Parque Lage were the schoolchildren who were super excited to talk to an American in the form of MrsCrumbs.
- Ipanema: We had a nice daytime walk along the promenade upon arriving into the city. We ended up grabbing lunch and walking back to Leblon via one of the main roads, Rua Visc de Piraj.
- Lapa: Unexpectedly ended up here when we walked down from Santa Teresa. The steps (Escadaria Selarn) were nice to see but I would've been a bit disappointed had we made an actual effort to come here. It was a bit dodgy in the area at the time we were there (late afternoon), especially when we were trying to walk to Cinelndia metro station. The most direct way was closed off with a bunch of guys in suits (some sort of event?), so we tried the street directly north of it, which was full of what looked like drug addicts along with a police car with a siren. We ended up walking to Glria metro station via Rua da Lapa/Glria. The stretch of Rua da Lapa was not the nicest but it was fine.
- Leblon: Leafy Leblon was nice and it definitely was like being in a bubble. It really reminded me of Recoleta in Buenos Aires or Polanco in Mexico City. I might even be able to live here! We liked how lively it was at all times with tables in front of bars and such. A good vibe but definitely not unique, per se. This is where our hotel was.
- Maracan: We joined a tour that included transportation by van and a match ticket in the upper west area. We attended the match between Flamengo and Cear, which took place a few days after Flamengo had won their fourth Libertadores final. Flamengo ended up clinching the title with a victory in this match. Cracking atmosphere and a fun time but I did hate the fact that people could just stand in the aisle and watch the match, which made it very difficult to get to and from our seats. We wouldn't have gone with a tour otherwise but for most Brazilian football tickets, facial recognition is involved, so it's nigh impossible for foreigners to buy tickets. The ground itself, while big and historic, wasn't really that impressive.
- Pedra do Sal: We visited once during the day as part of our walking tour and came back on Friday night to enjoy the street party and samba music. We started off with dinner at Casa Porto where we could watch the action down at Largo de So Francisco da Prainha, which was rammed full of tables from many of the nearby restaurants and featured a live band. After finishing dinner, we walked down the street, which was all covered by a tent with drink and food vendors on both sides, and made it to Pedra do Sal itself. We stayed for two samba bands, dancing the night away and chatting in our broken Spanish to some fellow travellers. The vibe was good and while it was crowded, it was no crowded than any other concert we've ever attended. I read a lot of warnings about Pedra do Sal but never did we feel unsafe. We walked back to Largo de So Francisco da Prainha when we left at half past midnight and grabbed an Uber to take us back to Leblon. Even while waiting for the Uber, there were still a ton of people around frequenting the various hamburger/hot dog/popcorn stands set up.
- Santa Teresa: As mentioned in the Centro section, we took the tram up on a Thursday afternoon, which involved about an hour's wait. Thankfully, the station was covered, so it wasn't too bad. The tram was fun to ride and we rode it up to Largo do Frana then rode it back down and disembarked at Largo dos Guimares, where we had lunch at the nearby Bar do Mineiro. Food was good and definitely a cut above what we usually experienced in Rio. Santa Teresa was charming and best described as faded glory. I really liked visiting and we headed back down by foot in the late afternoon before it got dark.
Dining
- Adega Prola: This was a super fun meal, maybe my favourite of the trip. This old school tapas bar was lively, had a great vibe and the food was pretty damn good. Sadly, we ordered way too much and couldn't finish it all. Waiters were also super friendly.
- Bibi's: Breakfast one morning of a tapioca filled with cheese, ham, onions and tomatoes with some juice. MrsCrumbs had an aai bowl and some coffee.
- Big Polis: Similar kind of place as Bibi's. I went with a Hamburger on this day, which hit the spot, along with another caju juice. Decent fast stuff.
- Bigorrilho Lanches: Small restaurant/bar by the hotel where we had a nice lunch (steak and fries with black beans and rice for me and an omelette and fries with black beans and rice for MrsCrumbs) after our early morning and hike at Cristo Redentor. Just really hit the spot and it looked like a very down to earth place.
- Casa Porto: The costela (Brazilian beef ribs) I had was very good and the whole thing sort of reminded me of a vindaloo, which I enjoyed.
- Galeto Sat's: Pretty tasty chicken but we didn't try anything else. Tons of fellow tourists.
- Le Blond: Feeling a little tired of Brazilian food at this point so we treated ourselves to this French restaurant on Thursday in Leblon. Classic French bistro with ambience to boot and it was nice to have two glasses of Malbec with a steak. We had two appetisers, one was foie gras on toast (special of the day) and the other was a seafood crudo. This of all meals felt like the most value out of everything we had in Rio. Two mains, two appetisers, two glasses of wine, one mocktail and one bottle of San Pellegrino for USD$107.
Money
- I used and had absolutely zero cash on me and almost exclusively lived off of my Wise card, which I loaded everyday with our projected amount of spending. I was also able to transfer money and top up Wise card when needed. Paying for the Rio metro was the only thing my Wise card would not do. And yes, this included every single beach vendor we encountered.
- Prices were overall higher than I was expecting. It wasn't Mexico prices or Thailand prices. It seems like a high cost of living and low wages city, sadly. Some of it on the beaches was definitely gringo prices but I hate haggling and at the end of the day, I can afford the slightly higher price. It is what it is and YMMV.
Safety
- This is the big one that everyone wants to know about visiting Rio. I spent so much time beforehand researching this and worrying about it but outside of the slight sketchiness of Lapa that I mentioned above, we didn't have a single problem. I read something beforehand that laid it out well, which is that is Rio was so dangerous for visitors, why do millions visit each year and why do so many sit at tables in front of bars in the Zona Sul? Living in Rio is another animal but as a visitor sticking to visitor spots, I found the safety fears to be overblown. We also followed the lead of people, whom hilariously all seemed to carry bags with them and be looking at their phones in public, which were two things we were told not to do. When we were at the beach, we did have our phones with us along with a way to pay for stuff but kept them hidden underneath our towels when we weren't with our stuff. Granted, the beach areas we were in were all set up by the hotel(s), so I recognise that it's a little different. My best advice would be to have your wits about you, trust your gut but also recognise that daily life occurs and people do walk around with their phones, with jewelry on, with a bag, down a dark street late at night. etc. Certainly do things to reduce your own risk but we did also walk between places at night or to and from the metro stations without anything bad happening.
Language
- We made it work with our super basic Portuguese and I only had to lean on translation apps a few times. I'd say no issues at all. People very rarely switched to English, which I appreciated.
Miscellaneous
- The water was colder than I was expecting and the waves were stronger than I was expecting. I ended up losing a pair of sunglasses in the water when I got knocked over by a big wave.
- GRU was a pretty unpleasant experience. I knew enough about the airport to make it work but there were a lot of confused people trying to make the T1 to T3 transfer and the overcrowded shuttle was awful. To make things worse, we checked in at T3 but our AA flight departed out of T2, which is desperately in need of a facelift.
- On the other hand, I enjoyed SDU. Cute compact airport, surprisingly decent food outlets and of course, the views on takeoff were amazing.
- There is something about the chaos of Brazil that gets to you in a good way. We had a good time and I already miss being down at the beach and the cacophony of sound.
Travel Process
- We flew on a PDX-LAX-MIA-GIG/SDU-GRU-DFW-PDX itinerary on a mix of AS/AA/AD.
- eVisa process was easier and quicker than I anticipated. Details available in this post. Our printed copies of our eVisa was checked during check-in at PDX and also during boarding at the gate at MIA.
- Unfortunately, we arrived at GIG at the same time as a few regional flights from EZE & SCL, which lead to massive lines for immigration. I would say that we were in line for around an hour. We didn't have checked bags but still had to wait in a long line to exit the baggage claim area to go through customs. This was a little shorter and took around half an hour.
- I booked a Blacklane to our first hotel, the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro, located all the way out in Barra da Tijuca. This was overkill (and expensive) but I also just wanted some piece of mind upon arrival. The driver was waiting for us this whole time and we were able to communicate via WhatsApp about our lengthy delays at immigration and customs. The car was some sort of nice Ford and the drive took about forty minutes.
Transport in Rio de Janeiro
- We used a mix of Uber and the Metro in Rio. Since the first half of our stay was out in Barra da Tijuca, we relied exclusively on Uber, which was always fast to arrive. We mainly stuck with Uber Black, which featured nice modern cars but don't expect the upmarket cards you get in the States. Uber Comfort was noticeably more run down but those rides were still fine.
- For the Metro, it was the only place where my Wise card (more about this later) did not work. I was able to pay with Apple Pay on my phone, as did MrsCrumbs.
- The Metro is often described as the safest place in Rio and we did not have any issues with safety onboard. The system is okay but gets crowded during peak hours and while the carriages are air conditioned, the stations are certainly not. Some of the stations feature restrooms and at one of them, Botafogo, none of the staff knew where the restroom was and I only stumbled upon it while we were leaving to station to find a restroom at street level.
- Operationally, the trains were somewhat amusingly, earlier than scheduled. The electronic signboards in the station would say that the next train was arriving in two minutes only for a train to come barrelling down the tracks.
Barra da Tijuca
- We stayed out here at the Grand Hyatt for our first three nights to let us ease into Rio de Janeiro instead of being tossed directly into the craziness that is the city itself. I still think it was a good call and I'm glad we did it in the order that we did because it would've felt too sedate had we stayed in the city first.
- We mainly spent our time out on the stretch of beach in front of the hotel. The hotel set up loungers and umbrellas but the food and drink was handled with a nearby vendor. You could also get random snacks from vendors who walked up and down the beach.
- We did dinner on two nights at various kiosks along the beach, which were okay meals. Definitely should've stuck to something more basic than the moqueca we ordered one night.
- Our first dinner was out at Rio Brasa, a churrascaria recommendation that I think I found on this forum. I made reservations a few weeks ago and despite it being a Friday night, the restaurant was at most a third full. It was a pretty great churrascaria experience with an awesome salad bar and an extensive sushi bar. The food was good and I appreciated the different doneness of the steak.
- We spent a few hours one afternoon visiting the excellent Museu do Pontal, which specialises in Brazilian folk art. The exhibits were all really interesting and admission was free. We also had some snacks (coxinha) at their in house cafe.
Rio de Janeiro
- Areas/Places visited: Centro, Copacabana, Cristo Redentor, Ipanema, Lapa, Leblon, Maracan, Parque Lage, Pedra do Sal, Santa Teresa
- Centro: We did a tour with Eat Rio Food Tours, specifically their food and history tour. This was scheduled for four and a half hours and ran long because there was so much to see and cover. Stops included the beautiful Theatro Municipal, Biblioteca Nacional, Real Gabinete Portugus de Leitura, Palcio Tiradentes, Pao Imperial, Boulevard Olmpico, Valongo, etc. We made a few stops for food and overall, it was a great tour with our guide doing a great job of providing context and insight. We also returned to this area later in the trip to visit the Catedral Metropolitana and also to take the Santa Teresa tram.
- Copacabana: We had a nice walk at night along the promenade after attending a bossanova show at Little Club. We also walked through the market that was set up nearby but as expected, it was mainly tatty tourist targeted stuff, so neither of us bought anything.
- Cristo Redentor: I hated the idea at the time but MrsCrumbs a hundred percent made the correct call by saying that we should make the earliest possible reservation for the day, which was at 6:50am for the 7:20am Trem do Corcovado ride to Cristo Redentor. It sucked to set an alarm for 5:45am but we grabbed an Uber and headed to the tram terminus. Short lines at this time with our prebooked tickets and in comparison, chill at the top at Cristo Redentor itself. It was mainly nice to visit for the great views but as weird as this sounds, the statue itself wasn't that impressive. The vibe up there was already annoying with having to dodge everyone's phototaking. We stayed for forty-five minutes or so and took the tram down to Paineiras and disembarked there. Not much to see at Paineiras itself but we ended up hiking down to Parque Lage, which took an hour and a half. Would've been longer in the opposite direction. The hike was fine, not that interesting and not really much of a view but it was fun to be able to say that we did a hike in Brazil. The hike ended at Parque Lage but sadly the main Palcio was closed and covered up for renovation, which would probably explain the lack of crowds. The best part of Parque Lage were the schoolchildren who were super excited to talk to an American in the form of MrsCrumbs.
- Ipanema: We had a nice daytime walk along the promenade upon arriving into the city. We ended up grabbing lunch and walking back to Leblon via one of the main roads, Rua Visc de Piraj.
- Lapa: Unexpectedly ended up here when we walked down from Santa Teresa. The steps (Escadaria Selarn) were nice to see but I would've been a bit disappointed had we made an actual effort to come here. It was a bit dodgy in the area at the time we were there (late afternoon), especially when we were trying to walk to Cinelndia metro station. The most direct way was closed off with a bunch of guys in suits (some sort of event?), so we tried the street directly north of it, which was full of what looked like drug addicts along with a police car with a siren. We ended up walking to Glria metro station via Rua da Lapa/Glria. The stretch of Rua da Lapa was not the nicest but it was fine.
- Leblon: Leafy Leblon was nice and it definitely was like being in a bubble. It really reminded me of Recoleta in Buenos Aires or Polanco in Mexico City. I might even be able to live here! We liked how lively it was at all times with tables in front of bars and such. A good vibe but definitely not unique, per se. This is where our hotel was.
- Maracan: We joined a tour that included transportation by van and a match ticket in the upper west area. We attended the match between Flamengo and Cear, which took place a few days after Flamengo had won their fourth Libertadores final. Flamengo ended up clinching the title with a victory in this match. Cracking atmosphere and a fun time but I did hate the fact that people could just stand in the aisle and watch the match, which made it very difficult to get to and from our seats. We wouldn't have gone with a tour otherwise but for most Brazilian football tickets, facial recognition is involved, so it's nigh impossible for foreigners to buy tickets. The ground itself, while big and historic, wasn't really that impressive.
- Pedra do Sal: We visited once during the day as part of our walking tour and came back on Friday night to enjoy the street party and samba music. We started off with dinner at Casa Porto where we could watch the action down at Largo de So Francisco da Prainha, which was rammed full of tables from many of the nearby restaurants and featured a live band. After finishing dinner, we walked down the street, which was all covered by a tent with drink and food vendors on both sides, and made it to Pedra do Sal itself. We stayed for two samba bands, dancing the night away and chatting in our broken Spanish to some fellow travellers. The vibe was good and while it was crowded, it was no crowded than any other concert we've ever attended. I read a lot of warnings about Pedra do Sal but never did we feel unsafe. We walked back to Largo de So Francisco da Prainha when we left at half past midnight and grabbed an Uber to take us back to Leblon. Even while waiting for the Uber, there were still a ton of people around frequenting the various hamburger/hot dog/popcorn stands set up.
- Santa Teresa: As mentioned in the Centro section, we took the tram up on a Thursday afternoon, which involved about an hour's wait. Thankfully, the station was covered, so it wasn't too bad. The tram was fun to ride and we rode it up to Largo do Frana then rode it back down and disembarked at Largo dos Guimares, where we had lunch at the nearby Bar do Mineiro. Food was good and definitely a cut above what we usually experienced in Rio. Santa Teresa was charming and best described as faded glory. I really liked visiting and we headed back down by foot in the late afternoon before it got dark.
Dining
- Adega Prola: This was a super fun meal, maybe my favourite of the trip. This old school tapas bar was lively, had a great vibe and the food was pretty damn good. Sadly, we ordered way too much and couldn't finish it all. Waiters were also super friendly.
- Bibi's: Breakfast one morning of a tapioca filled with cheese, ham, onions and tomatoes with some juice. MrsCrumbs had an aai bowl and some coffee.
- Big Polis: Similar kind of place as Bibi's. I went with a Hamburger on this day, which hit the spot, along with another caju juice. Decent fast stuff.
- Bigorrilho Lanches: Small restaurant/bar by the hotel where we had a nice lunch (steak and fries with black beans and rice for me and an omelette and fries with black beans and rice for MrsCrumbs) after our early morning and hike at Cristo Redentor. Just really hit the spot and it looked like a very down to earth place.
- Casa Porto: The costela (Brazilian beef ribs) I had was very good and the whole thing sort of reminded me of a vindaloo, which I enjoyed.
- Galeto Sat's: Pretty tasty chicken but we didn't try anything else. Tons of fellow tourists.
- Le Blond: Feeling a little tired of Brazilian food at this point so we treated ourselves to this French restaurant on Thursday in Leblon. Classic French bistro with ambience to boot and it was nice to have two glasses of Malbec with a steak. We had two appetisers, one was foie gras on toast (special of the day) and the other was a seafood crudo. This of all meals felt like the most value out of everything we had in Rio. Two mains, two appetisers, two glasses of wine, one mocktail and one bottle of San Pellegrino for USD$107.
Money
- I used and had absolutely zero cash on me and almost exclusively lived off of my Wise card, which I loaded everyday with our projected amount of spending. I was also able to transfer money and top up Wise card when needed. Paying for the Rio metro was the only thing my Wise card would not do. And yes, this included every single beach vendor we encountered.
- Prices were overall higher than I was expecting. It wasn't Mexico prices or Thailand prices. It seems like a high cost of living and low wages city, sadly. Some of it on the beaches was definitely gringo prices but I hate haggling and at the end of the day, I can afford the slightly higher price. It is what it is and YMMV.
Safety
- This is the big one that everyone wants to know about visiting Rio. I spent so much time beforehand researching this and worrying about it but outside of the slight sketchiness of Lapa that I mentioned above, we didn't have a single problem. I read something beforehand that laid it out well, which is that is Rio was so dangerous for visitors, why do millions visit each year and why do so many sit at tables in front of bars in the Zona Sul? Living in Rio is another animal but as a visitor sticking to visitor spots, I found the safety fears to be overblown. We also followed the lead of people, whom hilariously all seemed to carry bags with them and be looking at their phones in public, which were two things we were told not to do. When we were at the beach, we did have our phones with us along with a way to pay for stuff but kept them hidden underneath our towels when we weren't with our stuff. Granted, the beach areas we were in were all set up by the hotel(s), so I recognise that it's a little different. My best advice would be to have your wits about you, trust your gut but also recognise that daily life occurs and people do walk around with their phones, with jewelry on, with a bag, down a dark street late at night. etc. Certainly do things to reduce your own risk but we did also walk between places at night or to and from the metro stations without anything bad happening.
Language
- We made it work with our super basic Portuguese and I only had to lean on translation apps a few times. I'd say no issues at all. People very rarely switched to English, which I appreciated.
Miscellaneous
- The water was colder than I was expecting and the waves were stronger than I was expecting. I ended up losing a pair of sunglasses in the water when I got knocked over by a big wave.
- GRU was a pretty unpleasant experience. I knew enough about the airport to make it work but there were a lot of confused people trying to make the T1 to T3 transfer and the overcrowded shuttle was awful. To make things worse, we checked in at T3 but our AA flight departed out of T2, which is desperately in need of a facelift.
- On the other hand, I enjoyed SDU. Cute compact airport, surprisingly decent food outlets and of course, the views on takeoff were amazing.
- There is something about the chaos of Brazil that gets to you in a good way. We had a good time and I already miss being down at the beach and the cacophony of sound.
Dec 8, 2025 | 8:35 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2019
Programs: AA Executive Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, BonVoy Titanium, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, RR VIP
Posts: 1,032
Commenting in part to see the rest of your report because despite being a lover of cold, winter, ice, and snow, one of my favorite trips ever was to Rio. I loved every second and would return--and likely will. If you knew how much I detest warmth and tropical climates, you would know that Rio got in my heart in a big way. Obrigarda for the post and coming post!
PS I traveled as a solo female and encountered zero issues.
PS I traveled as a solo female and encountered zero issues.
Dec 26, 2025 | 2:03 pm
#3
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Miami
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Titanium, AA EXP and others
Posts: 4,749
I really enjoyed this post, very helpful since I am often asked by other potential tourists about the city. Despite living in Zona Sul for more than 20 years I'm not really well prepared to discuss tourism, other than giving the odd driving tour for long-time friend tourists. The makes posts like yours very useful for me.
Jan 19, 2026 | 7:48 am
#4
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 229
My wife's home town. After her parents passed away, we haven't been back, so it's nice to read about how things are now. I enjoyed reading this and look forward to your follow up. I was wondering what time was it when you went to dinner and the restaurant was 1/3 full? Our experiences were that people go out to dinner later than Americans are accustomed to. On our honeymoon, we went out after 8pm and there were only two other couples in the restaurant. I thought maybe it was a bad place, but my wife explained the dining habits there... Cristo is nice, but many touristas doing the "pose" imitating the Christ with outstretched arms. I hope the chapel in the base of the statue (in the rear) is still open, it was a nice spot to visit, away from the crowds. We kept a place near Maracana and we would never go outside on a Sunday afternoon if there was a game there, it was so chaotic.. I really liked the area otherwise, before the renovation for the World Cup in '14 and Olympics in '16.
Jan 20, 2026 | 11:27 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: PDX
Programs: AS Atmos Gold/OW Sapphire
Posts: 1,545
I was wondering what time was it when you went to dinner and the restaurant was 1/3 full? Our experiences were that people go out to dinner later than Americans are accustomed to. On our honeymoon, we went out after 8pm and there were only two other couples in the restaurant. I thought maybe it was a bad place, but my wife explained the dining habits there...
Cristo is nice, but many touristas doing the "pose" imitating the Christ with outstretched arms. I hope the chapel in the base of the statue (in the rear) is still open, it was a nice spot to visit, away from the crowds.
We kept a place near Maracana and we would never go outside on a Sunday afternoon if there was a game there, it was so chaotic.. I really liked the area otherwise, before the renovation for the World Cup in '14 and Olympics in '16.
May 3, 2026 | 10:56 am
#6
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: GIG - SVO
Programs: Lost it all and don't care
Posts: 983
Safety
- This is the big one that everyone wants to know about visiting Rio. I spent so much time beforehand researching this and worrying about it but outside of the slight sketchiness of Lapa that I mentioned above, we didn't have a single problem. I read something beforehand that laid it out well, which is that is Rio was so dangerous for visitors, why do millions visit each year and why do so many sit at tables in front of bars in the Zona Sul? Living in Rio is another animal but as a visitor sticking to visitor spots, I found the safety fears to be overblown. We also followed the lead of people, whom hilariously all seemed to carry bags with them and be looking at their phones in public, which were two things we were told not to do. When we were at the beach, we did have our phones with us along with a way to pay for stuff but kept them hidden underneath our towels when we weren't with our stuff. Granted, the beach areas we were in were all set up by the hotel(s), so I recognise that it's a little different. My best advice would be to have your wits about you, trust your gut but also recognise that daily life occurs and people do walk around with their phones, with jewelry on, with a bag, down a dark street late at night. etc. Certainly do things to reduce your own risk but we did also walk between places at night or to and from the metro stations without anything bad happening.
Last year in London, UK, 117,000 cellular phones were reported stolen in the metro city area.
Last year in Rio de Janeiro, 57,000 cellular phones were reported stolen in the metro city area.
A Brasilian living in Calgary was blinded in both eyes by a stray bullet fired by a drug gang member in the supposedly safe downtown back in 2006 IIRC.
5 people were shot dead over drug deals within a 5 block area of my DT Calgary apartment over 2 years.
No one has been killed within 5 blocks of my Copacabana apartment in 20+ years.
The first time I flew here in February 2000 I read virtually everything online and in guidebooks, so, I was terrified somewhat due to the over exaggeration common in all forms of media back then, and especially nowadays.
Somehow, situational awareness and common sense seems to work just fine anywhere in the world. There are 15MM people living in the greater Rio de Janeiro metro area, so, statistics being what they are, you will have reportable crime.
Do come back again and visit !!!