Essential Guide to Rio de Janeiro

There’s something unique in the way Rio mesmerises all kind of travellers. Often known as the place to be during Carnival times, the city has a lot more to offer for those willing to look a little deeper. The lush hills of Tijuca rainforest clenching the city into a tight grip, a maze of fascinating backstreets and a great party vibe are just fews of Rio’s charm.

At first, planning a trip here might be taunting (e.g. safety issues, favelas etc..) but like every other city, some good sense and a cup of pre-planning can be lifesaving. Nonetheless, if there’s something great about Rio is that you’ll be welcomed with open arms. Whether you plan on admiring Rio from the sugarloaf hill, partying in the streets at the sound of samba or relaxing on the vast beaches of Copacabana, you’ll surely have a great time.

Highlights of Rio

1) Christ the Redeemer Statue (Corcovado)

Symbol of Rio across the world and nothing but one of the New Wonders of the World, is the statue of Christ the Redeemer. The massive sculpture of an astonishingly 38m height, sits at the top of Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park, located right in the heart of the city. Views from the top are absolutely breathtaking but with great views come great crowds. Nowadays, the Christ is visited by more than two millions people on yearly basis, so be ready to fight your way through even just get a decent view of the landscape around.

When to go: Early morning on a clear day is the best but avoiding crowds is pretty hard!

Getting there: You can take a van there (80R) or take an uber to the visitor center and then walk to the top (easy 40min walk).

Entrance Price: Even though its such a famous place, the entrance price is only 28R in high season and 14R during low season.

2) Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf Mountain)

Right at the entrance of Guanabanara Bay, on a small peninsula in the south-east, sugarloaf hill is one of the must-visit while exploring Rio de Janeiro. Boasting 360° view of the bay and the city itself, makes it the perfect spot to enjoy some breathtaking sunsets. You can either hike up to the top of Morro de Urca (roughly 2hrs from Praia Vermelha, you need to be a perfect physical shape) and then cablecar to sugarloaf or just take the cablecar all the way to the top of Sugarloaf.
TIP: If you’re hiking up keep an eye out for the cute marmosets monkeys.

When to go: To avoid crowds, get there early morning or before sunset on a clear day.

Getting there: Take the bus 151, 152 or 153 to the neighbourhood of Urca or simply Uber there (20R more or less).

Entrance Price: The price for the cablecar ride from bottom to top is 110R (55R for children and seniors) but if you combine hiking + cablecar only 80R from the top of Morro de Urca. Tickets 10% off for the cablecar here!

3) Copacabana & Ipanema beach

Both during summer and winter months, the beaches of Copacabana & Ipanema are a beautiful sight to visit during your stay. The sandy beachfront extending south from Sugarloaf hill are the usual tanning spot for millions of cariocas during when the sun is out and in winter become a nice place to do sports, relax and have a stroll in front of the roaring ocean.

When to go: All year round on a sunny day.

Getting there: The cheapest way is to take the metro and just hop down at either Copacabana or Ipanema, easy peasy.

Entrance Price: Absolutely free!

4) See the Carnival

As many cariocas say, if you wanna live the real carnival then the right place to be is in Rio. The Carnival of Rio, often described as the biggest party in the world, is a unique experience which all travellers look forward to attend to. From crazy street parties around the city to all-night long parades inside the sambadrome, being in Rio for the carnival week will change the way you see the event! Check out how much fun we had at the 2019 Rio Carnival!

When to go: Week of Carnival.

Getting there: Block parties can be found all around the city, whereas the main parades are in the sambadrome; to the sambadrome you can either walk or take an uber there.

Entrance Price: Block parties are free but seats in the sambadrome starts at 30-40R/pp.

View of the bay from Christ the Redeemer

Safety around the streets

During our stay in Rio, we tried creating a map on the level of safety around some of the major (and lesser-known) neighbourhoods for travellers like us who come to visit the city. In order to make the map as precise as possible, we asked real cariocas which were the safest and/or more dangerous spots and that’s what we got!

The GREEN areas are the neighbourhoods which can be considered to be extremely safe during the day but you still need to be careful at night, especially if you’re walking around alone.

The ORANGE areas are the neighbourhoods which can be considered a little risky to visit during the day if nobody is around but should be avoided (if possible) when you’re planning to walk around at night.

The RED areas are the neighbourhoods which can be considered to be very dangerous during all throughout the day. Be it for the presence of favelas or the fact that there are no tourist spots of interest, it is highly suggested to avoid walking around at all costs.

Here’s the list of neighbourhoods described on the map above:
(1) Centro, (2) Gloria, (3) Flamengo, (4) Botafogo, (5) Urca, (6) Leme, (7) Copacabana, (8) Ipanema, (9) Lagoa, (10) Leblon, (11) Gavea, (12) Humaita, (13) Cosme Velho, (14) Santa Teresa, (15) Catete, (16) Rio Comprido, (17) Cidade Nova, (18) Santo Cristo, (19) Maracaná, (20) São Cristovão, (21) Tijuca, (22) Benfica, (23) Vasco de Gama and (24) Caju

Budgeting your stay in Rio

Trying to figure out if you can fit Rio in your itinerary in terms of budget can be a pretty hard task. If you like us, before visiting the city spent sometime visiting other countries in South America, the change in your pocket will be pretty evident. Without beating too much around the bush, Brasil is pretty expensive and Rio more than the average. And let’s not even talk about prices during the carnival!!!

That said, it is perfectly possible to have a great time in Rio and visiting it with the shoestring budget we always travel on. Here’s some tips that helped us a lot! Also check out our article on How to Make the Most of Your Budget while travelling.

Eat at kilo-restaurants: After a while, you’ll see that eating our or cooking food yourself can cost you a hefty penny in comparison to other countries. Nonetheless, around the city you can find buffet restaurants where you can have lunch and dinner but instead of paying by dish you pay by weight. Normally, the average price per 100gs of buffet will be around 4-5R which is pretty crazy if you think that you can eat half a kilo of food for just 5-6$!

Uber over local taxis: Like in many other countries, Uber is literally taking over the market of cheap private transport. Nowadays, where a taxi would charge you 3$ an Uber would easily charge you 1$! Not to talk about this new feature only available in Rio (Uber Share), where if you’re willing to walk for 5min, you’re Uber fare can even get lower!

Do activities with a group: Being a solo traveller in Rio, is definitely much more expensive than going places with a group. Starting from transport all the way to visiting sights and accommodation, being in a group is a great advantage for discounts and better rates.

Daytime buying in favelas: The city is surrounded by favelas (poor neighbourhoods) where life is hard for the people living in them and where tourists are really suggested not to go. Nevertheless, there are some favelas that during daytime are relatively safe (always remember not to flash around expensive stuff) and that you can roam around for a bit. Inside the favelas, anything from street food to supermarket shopping is considerably cheaper than other places. If you want to save a lot of pennies, find out if the place is safe and hit it!

At the end of the day, we absolutely loved Rio and the fact that we were there during Carnival made it a crazy unique experience we’ll surely treasure for the rest of our lives. So what you think, does Rio sound good as your next destination?

Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

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