Aviator88

Is cootramo the best way to get to Santa Teresa from GIG? My hostel is in Santa Teresa and google maps suggests that buses might take a while.

Also, how safe is Santa Teresa?

C010T3

Considering that Santa Teresa is quite inaccessible, I would suggest you do take Cootramo.
Because of the works being done to rebuild the tramways, navigating through Santa Teresa has been quite challenging lately.
I consider it quite safe. Only the access through Lapa can be problematic.

Aviator88

Thanks for the advice. How much do you think I would pay for a cab ride to Santa Teresa? No more than 80-100 reals? Just wanted to know how much cash to get. I guess I could also use the web ordering system that people here have been talking about.

C010T3

Cootramo will cost BRL 111.00, while a yellow taxi would cost BRL 63.00. If you take the yellow taxi on a Sunday, holiday or between 9 PM and 6 AM on any given day, it should cost BRL 75.00.

You can find the fare details on the following link:

http://www.rio.rj.gov.br/web/smtr/ex...cle-id=1776544

Yellow taxi fare schedule: http://www.rio.rj.gov.br/dlstatic/10...cional2015.pdf

Executive taxi fare schedule: http://www.rio.rj.gov.br/dlstatic/10...cutivo2015.pdf

no1cub17

Santa Teresa seemed quite safe. We went with a guide during the day - no problems at all. Not sure how we would've felt if we returned at night on our own but still it's a very picturesque neighborhood. Enjoy your visit to Rio!

VidaNaPraia

First of all, you were with a guide, a local who knows a bit about what to look out for and avoid. So if it seemed "safe", maybe it was---for you, at that moment in time.

Secondly, before you make a statement about an area that some other future reader could take as a blanket statement, please read:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...e_Janeiro.html
(not the only report of this type about the neighborhood or Rio or Brazil I've read, but despite what happened, the attitude expressed is exemplary)

This is not to scare anyone off. I've walked up there in Santa Teresa myself. It is a charming neighborhood with interesting architecture and some fun shops. And there are some great restaurants to taxi to of an evening, like Aprazivel. But I would describe it as gentrifying, with all that signifies about any urban neighborhood. That is simply an example of the tightrope one walks in Rio and in Brazil between perceived safety and disaster.

C010T3

VidaNaPraia, Lapa is not Santa Teresa. Let's get this very clear.

VidaNaPraia

Quite true. The folks in the link set out from Santa Teresa, and like other posters, thought they could walk out.
Maybe these 2 reports will do then?
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...e_Janeiro.html

C010T3

Do you have an agenda here?

VidaNaPraia

Yes, to make sure that visitors understand that there is a balance to be found when visiting Brazil, and in this particular case the very slowly gentrifying hilltop neighborhood of Santa Teresa in Rio, of "feeling" or "seeming" safe, simply because an incident did not occur involving them, and the constant vigilance that should be maintained to actually keep oneself safe. Because one tourist did not experience a problem on a brief visit does not mean that a future visitor reading that anecdote should assume an area is safe and relax to the point of exercising no vigilance. Because that tourist may not perceive that most Brazilians constantly exercise such vigilance as second nature does not mean that the tourist can afford not to be vigilant for even one moment. And the harder part still, that this vigilance actually involves educating oneself sufficiently about cultural clues to differentiate a potential threat from a racist/classist assumption.

Thanks for the soapbox.

C010T3

OK, VidaNaPraia has just instituted a Rio-wide alert. Be safe everyone.

RafKa

I thought Rio was super safe. Especially Lagoa...

VidaNaPraia

Rather, a Brazil-wide heads up to any gringo/a foolish enough to swallow hook, line and sinker, a Pollyanna-ish view of Rio through rose-colored glasses.

VidaNaPraia

Care to go into detail about this reference, C010T3, for the benefit of those who want to promote the view that Rio is so perfectly safe?
Let's get this very clear.

no1cub17

Wow Vida - overreact much? In my post I clearly mentioned that we were with a guide so it felt safe, but we had hesitations about returning on our own especially at night, so we didn't. Not sure where I communicated any naivete or ignorance about the safety situation in Rio.

Having said that it's really such a beautiful and stunning city with still so much to offer, and still well worth visiting IMO.