I've been to Rio de janeiro eight times and have not had any difficulty in being safe. You can go to the beach alone in Ipanema; just don't take a lot of stuff. The various kiosks rent beach chairs and tables and take care of you in the refreshment department. Take your camera in an inconspicuous bag, wear no jewelry and enjoy yourself.

Do the Christo; take in the Plataforma w/o the dinner; do a tour of the city from a reputable company. Use metered taxis at night and give the driver up to the exact amount or a tad bit below, no tipping.

Rio's reputation has been tarnished big time; it is not the "wild west" as many Americans have deemed it to be. Yes, there is some violence there, but if you and company act as you would in big US cities, everything should be ok.

I've had guides in the past, but they have been connected with a travel agency or company. Check out this website: www.ipanema.com

I don't remember the agency that I used! Sorry! You will get two different type of experiences in Buenos Aires and Rio. Both cities are two of my favorites but are "tales of two cities." BsAs is formal where as Rio is casual and upbeat! Both are beautiful.

If it is not too expensive--do a helicopter ride over the city; take it from Leblon not from SugarLoaf. It's magnificent; I've done it twice especially on a clear, sunny day!

We spent 5 days in Rio in January as part of a month in Brazil (and after we went to Buenos Aires)

As you said there are some "dire warnings" for Rio, which wasn't our experience. We also stayed in Ipanema and walked up and down the beach there and Copacabana with no concerns (other than taking sensible precautions we would in any large city)...BTW we're your age.

Given our relatively short time in the city we did hire an English speaking driver for 1/2 day - Roberto was great. He picked us up at our apartment and took us to Corcovada first thing in the morning (before the crowds) and then we wended our way down the mountain, stopping at several other beautiful view sites, then through Santa Teresa, Lapa (and the infamous tile staircase) the modern church downtown and ultimately he dropped us at Sugarloaf (the neighbourhood at the base is quite fun). It was 60 Reals an hour and well worth it for us.

Re the Botanical Gardens - we went by ourselves - just grabbed a cab (during the day).

As Eddwarm says - Rio's reputation has been tarnished....staying in Ipanema and using sensible travel skills you'll have a great time.

Our driver/guide can be contacted via Allen Brooks, an American ex-pat who owns a few private vehicles....very easy to deal with him via email and obviously language is not an issue.

allenbrooks30@gmail.com

Have a great time!

Forgot to mention - we arranged our airport transfers via Allen as well - Roberto did our transfers in and out which was very convenient and quite reasonable...but more than a cab I think

Eddwarm and Elizabeth, Thank you both so much! This is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to receive--and the prognosis is even better than I had expected. I'm already starting to relax a bit more and look forward to the trip--without letting down my guard. I will definitely contact your guide, Elizabeth. Sounds perfect for us. And, Eddwarm, I will look into the helicopter ride. I had never thought of that, nor read of it, but it sounds like a terrific idea. Again, thanks very much. Fodors is such a great place to get just the info you need.

I can only speak to your question about safety in Buenos Aires.

If you read and take the cautions on this and other Fora, you will likely be fine. Tourists are often targets in foreign environments, but if you leave the Rolex watches and gold jewelry and name bags at home, you will not attract unwanted attention. I walk around several barrios in Buenos Aires alone (mostly during the day or early evening) and am careful but comfortable. We take buses but avoid the Sube (Metro)- but that is partly as we are there in summer and it is stifling. in November, I might take it, but would exercise serious caution.

We take a photocopy of our passports to carry around with us and leave the passports in our hotel or apt. safe. And, crossing fingers and toes and eyes, we have not had any problems in 5 straight years of longer visits.

So, no, you do not need a guide for a safe visit. And I hope you have an interesting and pleasurable time in this fascinating city.

Oh, and there are excellent FREE Walking Tours in Buenos Aires: (http://www.buenosairesfreetour.com

There are two Walking Tours daily. They work for TIPS ONLY.

The first tour begins at 11:00 AM and meets at the Congress (Meeting Point is posted on the right side of the fountain as you face the Congreso building) and tours the "Historic Center" area.

The second tour begins at 5:00 PM; this is "Aristocratic Buenos Aires"; it meets at San Martin Plaza and goes over to Recoletta.

Each tour lasts about 2 hours and is guided by "Portenos" who really know the city, the culture and it's history.
This could give you a good overview and an opportunity to meet others and ask questions of the guides.

Julie, several years ago we used Don Rafa. For more info see:
http://www.fodors.com/community/south-america/bruce-and-marija-go-to-brazil.cfm
http://donrafaguestsinrio.blogspot.com/

Julie, I second Marija's recommendation regarding Rafael Torres Lopes. He's a fabulous guide. His English is excellent, he knows all the "hidden" treasures of Rio and the surrounding areas, he's enthusiastic, charismatic and an all around good guy. If you avail yourself of his services you'll end up with a friend for life. We were in Rio two years ago and I would return in a heartbeat.

More responses. Thanks to all of you. Now I'm even faced with choices. This is great. Appreciate your help.

Treesa, are you speaking of the same person as Marija? She calls her guide Don Rafa and you speak of Rafael Torres Lopes. If they are not the same, do you have an e-mail address for Mr. Lopes? Thanks.

Julie--

I think we are both recommending the same guide:

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowUserReviews-g303506-d1807084-r92426466-Rafael_Torres_Lopes_Tour_Guide-Rio_de_Janeiro_State_of_Rio_de_Janeiro.html

Yes, Julie, one and the same. Rafael is affectionately called Don Rafa or Rafa for short.

I booked through Rafael Lopes in 2010 and had a very poor experience. I have read much positive feedback on Rafael and am sure that the tours conducted by himself are reliable and enjoyable judging on feedback here and other travel forums.

However, Rafa outsourced us to a guide called Diana Persi who he assured us was his best friend and just like a member of his family. Our first day with Diana went OK, although she changed the itinerary that we had booked with Rafa and consequently we had no time in the Old Town and missed Niteroi altogether.

The second day, she failed to turn up at the hotel as arranged and phoned 45 minutes after the agreed colelction time to say she was sick and that she would try to arrange another guide. The guide turned up at 9.30 am and we had only a short time before our 1 pm flight. I can recommend the stand-in guide, as she managed to salvage something from our last half-day in Rio, her name is Cornelia and she can be contacted at connyrj@terra.com.br

I have no doubt that Rafa runs great tours, however he is very busy and if he offers you another guide consider your options carefully.


Happy planning,


Pol

Thanks for the clarification and for the cautionary info. I'm going to contact Don Rafa today and hope for the best. My plan is to hopefully start with a day with him or one of his staff, then meet a friend on day two and go with her to the botanical garden, and spend day 3 at the beaches on our own. Now to the most fun part--selecting restaurants for our meals. Open to more advice--please.

Our favorite restaurant in Rio was Aprazivel:
http://www.aprazivel.com.br

Marija, I am definitely intending to go to aprazivel. Looks terrific. Thanks for the advice.

I would like to recommend Martha Vasconcellos as a private guide for your stay in Rio. In 45 years of travel I rate Martha as the top guide I have ever encountered. I hired Martha for our trip to Rio after a couple of email exchanges with her. This was the best decision I made in Rio.

She will meet your requirements, offer suggestions for itineraries seeing tourist sights, local sights, neighborhoods, lunch spots, juice stands, dinner restaurants, shows, samba night spots, shopping, etc.

For us it was evening arrival from Iguazu ( Martha met us at the airport and gave us an introduction to Rio on our prearranged transportation to our Ipanema hotel), late dinner at a local Sushi bar, next day- Enchanting Santa Teresa with Historical Downtown, lunch at Confeitaria Colombo (coffee house), Marius Crustaceus Copacabana (sea food) for dinner, Plataforma Folklore Show Lebron, next day- Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer),Sugar Loaf, Hiking Deep in the Tijuca Forest National Park, Barra Beach, lunch at Pepe, an afternoon at Ipanema beach at our hotel, a night out with Martha at Rio Scenarium for food, music, and Samba. Next day Martha showed up with Brazil soccer shirts for my grandsons purchased at the Copa street market, then we took the Marcelo Armstrong Favela Tour ( Martha is an official guide for the tour), H Stern for their small gem museum , also purchased a ring with Brazil gemstones for my daughter. In the late afternoon Martha took off her guide hat and joined us for our farewell dinner at Porcao before our evening flight to Los Angeles. Martha transformed from private guide to lifetime friend.

What you get from Martha is a Rio full of joy in the city she loves. Martha is a licensed, university trained, guide. She has a university degree in Science. A safe tour. And the cost is at the low Government Guidelines, no charge for services arranging tours (travel agent type stuff) or add ons for outside services.

I highly recommend Martha.

Martha Vasconcellos
http://www.privatetoursinrio.com/

dugi, thanks for such a complete response. Martha sounds great but I'm afraid I got this too late to use her. I've already booked donrafa for our travels on Thursday and allenbrooks for Friday--thanks Elizabeth_S and Marija. They appear to have very different styles--former, totally ebullient and demonstrative, latter laid back and organized. I'm thinking our experience with one will complement the experience with the other.

How long ago did you see the Platforma show in Leblon? I've been debating about it. Recent reviews on TripAdvisor say it's gotten tired and rundown and I note that many of the positive comments come from Rio rather than tourists, so they could be "plants" the website makes it look fantastic but some of the comments are not just pretty negative, but very, very negative and Frommers guide to Rio says to avoid at all costs. What's your recollection of the show and from how long ago? And can you go for the show but not the meal? Reactions on the food are pretty universally bad. Thanks for your information. Even though I can't use Martha, perhaps someone reading this on a search will find her.

We saw the Plataforma show in 2007.We enjoyed the show. It is a Carnaval show for tourists. It is good clean fun.There are Las Vegas type show girls in elaborate Carnaval costumes. The music was very good. You can go to the show without eating there. We did not eat there. I avoid eating at such places.I don't even recall buying drinks. I do not know if it has changed in 5 years.

Our evening went like this. Martha arranged for a taxi to pick us up at our hotel, take us to Marius Crustaceos for dinner. After dinner the taxi took us to Plataforma where we met Martha on the inside. Martha was saving seats for us. Martha made sure we had numerous photos, our cameras, taken with the show girls pre-show. She then left. The taxi picked us up after the show to return us to our Ipanema hotel. A fun, safe evening out on the town.

Julie - just to be clear, Allen (or Roberto) are mainly drivers who point out a lot of things along the way whereas donrafa sounds like a more traditional guide. Sure you'll be happy with both!

Julie--
Plataforma is a Las-Vega-y type show geared completely for foreign tourists. And it is fleece-the-tourists expensive, even without the food.
Unfortunately May is not the best time for Carnaval type music/dance, since the samba schools are really still taking a breather from Carnaval 2012 and just stating to think about Carnaval 2013.
You could, however, go to one of the clubs in Lapa that have a live band/singer and watch the locals (or try to join) dance samba gafiera (parnered dancing). Try the small Carioca da Gema club in Lapa or maybe Scenarium (a bit more touristy and larger), or Elite and Estudantina in Centro, all very local and authentic (best on Friday or Saturday).
Another suggestion would be to see if the Samba City (Cidade de Samba) Thursday night show is open and running yet for the season. This is a space the city built to allow the samba schools space to build their floats, and it gives tours and does that Thursday show for tourists.

And enjoy seeing the city with Rafa; he's the best!

Vida, thanks for all your suggestions. Glad you enjoyed Rafa. we're certainly excited to meet him.

We're back and thank you one and all for your advice about guides and things to do in Rio. We had a great time. Always felt safe and enjoyed both Don Rafa and Allen Brooks as guides.

It turned out Don Rafa was only available for our first day in Rio so we engaged him for our middle of the night airport pick up and for guide services the next day. We saw an incredible amount of things with him (Corcovado, Santa Theresa and the mosaic steps, downtown cathedral, San Bento monastery, some of the beaches, Niteroi modern art museum and a fishing village, plus had a terrific lunch with Brazilian buffet giving us a chance to sample lots of local dishes.) He was wonderful. Enthusiastic but giving us quiet time to digest what we were seeing. Warm, kind, fun. We recommend him highly.

We also engaged Allen Brooks for a half day of sightseeing in downtown Rio before meeting our friend for a Feijoada lunch. With Allen we saw the Botanical garden--lovely walk around, the Candaleria church, the area surrounding Sugarloaf and we had an unexpected opportunity to stroll both a great street market of fruits and vegetables and to make a stop in a downtown area to see some of the old walking streets.

Though I had expected Allen to be more laid back and quiet than Don Rafa (whose e-mails were incredible masterpieces of hyperbole and exclamation marks), Allen turned out to be the more loquaicious of the two, regaling us with stories of how he'd guided Tony Bennet and the Ramones--childhood friends of Allen's from Queens where they all grew up--through Rio. Both were interesting fellows and both showed true love of the city.

We were especially happy that we decided to engage Allen to drive us to the Rio airport the day after we toured with him. The freeway is down to one lane near the airport and we'd never have made it through the traffic without Allen's Queens/Rio driving skills.

While we booked a dinner at Aprazivel, we were wound up having to cancel it. Seems that on every trip we reach a point somewhere along the way when one or the other of us is just too full to face yet another blow out meal. This time it hit both DH and I at once and unfortunately it was the meal we'd planned at Aprizivel. Just couldn't have done it just. Next time.

We also didn't find time to book a samba show at Platforma or anywhere else. Just couldn't fit it in. Also next time.

This time, even without Aprazivel and Platforma, was great, however. Spent wonderful time with our friend who has returned to live in Brazil, sat for a whole day on Ipanema beach--in the shade watching the surfers, and made two new friends who guided us expertly through the wonders of Rio. It was great. And I thank you again for your recommendations that served us so well.

Sounds wonderful. Thanks so much for the great report.

Glad you enjoyed Rio and Rafa. Sorry you missed Aprazivel.

Glad you had a great time!

So glad you had a good experience. What did you think of your South American encounter? Can you share your impressions?