We are arriving in Rio at noon on New Year's Eve and want to know what to do after checking in at the hotel in Copacabana. Suggestions?
Rio on New Year's Eve
Recent Activity
View all South America activity »
- 1 Machu Pichu accomodation
- 2 Vaya Adventures
- 3 Help needed - how to get from Iguazu border to Foz do Iguazu hotel?
- 4 Estancia near Mendoza?
- 5 11-day trip to Easter Island and Santiago.
- 6 Galapagos -- Anahi or Millenium
- 7 Taxi fares for my options at the Falls (Argentina).
- 8 Taxi fares for my options at the Falls.
- 9 Recommendations for Amazon tours
- 10 19 day Peru Itinerary, your thoughts?
- 11
Buenos Aires and Beyond for a Beginner
- 12
Back to South America
- 13 Should we go to Iguazu Falls?
- 14 First South American 2 month trip: Help review please !
- 15 We will be in Rio during carnival. Advice needed please.
- 16 Had to cancel our trip to Peru
- 17 Van rental in Punta Arena, Chile
- 18 Route planning- 28 weeks and counting. 1 year South America
- 19 Crees organisation and foundation and Manu Learning Centre
- 20 Recommendations for Galapagos islands tours
- 21 Backpacking South America 2014, Gringo + Backpack = Mochilero
- 22 A spare day at Machu Pichu
- 23 2 weeks in Peru or 1 week in Peru and 1 in Chile
- 24 Need Driver for Iguazu Falls & Foz da Iguacu
- 25 Travel agency review: Untamed Path for Ecuador/Galapagos
Comment has been removed by Fodor's moderators
Thanks VidaNaPraia! We are going to Sugarloaf, Corcobado and Santa Teresa on the 2 and 3.
I agree with VidaNaPraia, just relax, people watch, and hang out around Copacabana since that is where you will want to be for the New Year's Eve festivities. Better to not get flustered running around on your first day.
Just a couple of other suggestions for following days, if you have time.
You can take public transit (or taxi) to the Jardim Botânico, which is next to Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. The garden is an oasis of calm, and you can often see toucans and monkeys high in the trees. You can also take some interesting, as-seen-from-below, photos of Corcovado from Lagoa. On the way back to your hotel, you can stop for a drink in Ipanema, the neighborhood adjacent to Copacabana, which is, in my opinion, less hectic, more stylish. This neighborhood is also culturally significant: it inspired the celebrated Bossa Nova hit, Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_de_Janeiro_Botanical_Garden
Video of Girl from Ipanema (ignore the narrator's pronunciation of Brazilian portuguese):
http://live.wsj.com/video/the-girl-from-ipanema-turns-50/FA2D5718-6F37-4BE4-B205-64E1C9048E3C.html#!FA2D5718-6F37-4BE4-B205-64E1C9048E3C
Just a bit farther away, in the opposite direction, is the city of Niteroi. You can take public transit from Copacabana to Niteroi's stellar attraction, the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum (Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói — MAC), which was designed by Brazil's preeminent 20th-century architect Oscar Niemeyer (who died at the age of 104 earlier this month). The primary reason to visit the museum is to see the building itself and to admire the across-the-water views of Rio de Janeiro. The art collection is not of great significance when compared to Niemeyer's building.
The museum is not very large or imposing, but unusual, in that it is shaped like a flying saucer! While Niemeyer was highly original, the building also seems influenced by the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niterói_Contemporary_Art_Museum
@albevtravels12--At this time of year, you cannot really plan a clear day to go up Sugarloaf or Corcovado. If your arrival day happens to be a clear one, do not put off going to one of the heights while the view over the city is not obscured by clouds.