Can anyone tell me about Rio? Is it a relatively safe place to visit? Do you have any tips sd to where to go or not to go, or where to stay that is moderately priced?

Yes rio is a relatively safe place. Lately I have been walking around Rio all hours of the day and night and have had no problems but I don't recommend that for everybody. That would be the only thing that I would tell you not to do. Just take taxis at night and do minimal walking. During the day just be careful but go anywhere you want to go. If you go with your family try one of the big hotels: Sheraton, Intercontinental, Marriott, Sofitel, Rio Othon Palace. More moderately priced would be the Miramar Palace hotel or the Luxor Regente as well as the Ipanema Plaza hotel.

I was in Rio March 2003 with my husband and was very surprised at how safe I felt. You hear a lot of bad things about it and we are experienced travelers, but I still was a little concerned not knowing what to expect. We stayed 1/2 time at the Sofitel & 1/2 time at the Sheraton (for a conference). The Sheraton is very modern & removed from the main areas. I wouldn't recommend it - even though it was very nice it was too far away & too much a conference hotel. We walked EVERYWHERE....and had no problem. Walked all along Copacabana & spent a lot of time in Ipanema. The beach in Ipanema is a younger crowd and seemed to be cleaner, more laid back.

There is an awesome juice bar & internet cafe called Suco Radical. On the Ipanema side, go to lifeguard post #9 & then walk across the street perpendicular to it....you will come across Suco Radical on your left. Wonderful fruit smoothies & cheap internet service.

There is also the restaurant where the Girl from Ipanema was written (ok/touristy) and all along that road there are cute shops & restaurants. We ate other meals at Gula Gula in Ipanema (cute & very cheap - 2 filet mignon dinners with salads, drinks, etc was like $20bucks!), Porcaos (which is a churrascia & more expensive but worth the experience), a great pizza place on Copacabana called Alcazar (I think), and lots of other little places.

Food is SO cheap. Drinks are great & cheap - definitely have several caipiranhas. Depending on the season you may or may not want to swim in the ocean; it can be very dirty. During some of our stay, we got in b/c it was fine - and it is SO hot there.

We took a full day tour with Rio Hiking that took us on a 2 hour hike in the Tijuca forest, stop at Corcovado & a trolley ride through Santa Theresa. It is a small company & worth the money. They take very small groups so you aren't in a big crowd. It was just 4 of us. They will also go with you into the "nightlife" areas of the city, but we weren't interested in that.

It is difficult to communicate - most people in the restaurants will not speak English. We LOVED Rio! It is a wonderful city. Buy some art from some of the artists that set up along Copacabana in the evenings.

By the way, we went into the Rio Othon Palace due to recommendations from 2 other friends who had stayed there. They liked it & recommended we at least go for a drink at their top floor bar, but we were so disgusted with the place due to it being so crowded & the elevators pack you in so much b/c they stop at every floor that we left as soon as we could get back down to the ground floor.

You will have a great time!

sclubb I enjoyed your trip report. What was the deciding factor to use Rio Hiking vs another group such as Jeep Tours? And since I grew up hearing the Girl from Ipanema, I too will want to see the place where it was written.

kdm - i guess i had just read a good review on rio hiking & liked the idea that it was a family run business & small groups. we were very pleased with the tour. it was very "play it by ear" too - we tried to go hang gliding at the last minute after our hike - but it was too windy that day. the guide was very open to changing things as we wished.

i just remembered the name of another restaurant we went to twice - etorre in leblon. we had a little difficulty finding it the first time - but it was good italian! walking around ipanema & leblon reminded me of being in washington DC - georgetown/dupont circle areas!

We had some amazing dinners at Colata, Satiricon, Porcau and Mauio's (i think that's how u spell it). We went to the Tijucan forest on an open air jeep tour and then went hand gliding with a tour copmany http://www.justfly.com.br/
which was amazing and i highly recomend it!

I agree, I felt very safe in Rio. Keep in mind that it is a major metropolis and has all the same problems that you would any major metropolis to have. I think some people go to Rio expecting Santa Barbara and are thus surprised when they see any signs of urban blight. The main difference between Rio and a typical American city is that the poor areas are a lot closer to the wealthier areas, and often times overlook them which can initially be jarring to the eye to a first time visitor.

I'd recommend staying anywhere in the Zona Sul, the coastal areas with the familiar names: Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, etc. I've stayed with friends who live in the Zona Norte and I'm quite comfortable there but newcomers to Rio may find it a bit shoddy.

I wasn't all that impressed with Copacabana. It seemed a bit seedy, I much prefer the Ipanema and Leblon areas. Barra is the nicest area, but way too far out of the city for a good base of operations to tour Rio.

Another option that I have used is to rent an apartment. Last time I did, it's a nice deal if you are staying for a week or longer. I got mine through rentaflat.com.br and got a good deal on a studio in Leblon. Unfortunately the website doesn't quote rates anymore, but I can attest to you that they are a legitimate service and they have pix to show you what the view out the window is like.

Another restaurant recommendation, in addition to some of the ones mentioned above, I also really liked Quadrifoglio in the Jardim Botanico neighborhood. We toured the botanic garden (really cool!) in the afternoon and then to the restaurant for dinner.

Another fantastic experience I had was taking a boat tour up through the islands in Guanabara Bay. Damn, I can't remember the town the boat departed from! But, it was a packaged deal where we met at a hotel in Copacabana and the tour operator picked us up on a bus. Drove a few hours out of the city to a rural fishing village further up the bay, where we embarked. The boat ride took us through along the coast and through some islands, occasionally they would stop in some areas and let us jump out and take a swim to cool off. It was hot out that day! Oh, and the beer on the boat was free! The boat then took us to kind of a touristy island where they served us a nice buffet. They had a band playing live brazilian music, it was nice. Really enjoyed meeting the others on the boat, a mixture of tourists from other parts of South America, other cities in Brazil, and some rowdy Romanian boys. We had fun! Then, rode the boat home while the sun started to set. Bus drove us back to Copacabana, and we ended the night having cocktails at a patio bar on Copacabana with some of our newly-made friends from the boat. It was touristy, but still a really unique experience!

We also had a lot of fun walking around the Centro area, the old city. Good place to shop, lots to look at. Beautiful church there too.

I've been to a few football matches as well. If you have an appreciation for good soccer/football, a trip to Maracana stadium might be fun. Despite the reputation for rowdiness which I am sure is well lived-up to for some big games, I have been to many games where the crowds were surprisgly thin. It's the national passion, and it was a lots of fun!

Oh thx for more suggestions. I am taking this list for restaurants and the boat ride sounds fun, especially the music. The botanic garden is high on my list and the forest tour. Still thinking about the hang gliding....and the Favela tour....

Now all I need is a tour that will provide an evening of local entertainment....

I would like to just help out with the spelling on some of the restaurants: Satyricon, Porcao (Go to the one in Flemengo its called Porcao's Rio) Mariu's in Leme. Quadrafoglia in Jardim Botanico, great Italian restaurant on Rua Seabra. Also try Mio's in Ipanema and Don Camilio in Copacabana both great Italian restaurants. Margutta in Ipanema and for night life try Chico's bar in Lagoa for the 30 and over crowd. Also catch some great headliners with Brazilian music at Mistura Fina in Lagoa upstairs music downstairs great restaurant.

kdm - you can contact rio hiking & they will give you good advice for local entertainment & will even accompany you if you wish. it is a small company - mother & son own it i believe - and the son is in his 20's. have fun!

I appreciate this information so much.

Mistura Fina sounds great and hopefully it will be easy to catch a cab.

Are slacks and top acceptable for going out in the evening? I travel very light so will not have wide range of clothing.

Rio hiking added as well.........

KDM, during the day in Rio its bathing suits and shorts at night the Cariocas tend to dress up and wear nice clothes. In good restaurants people will be nicely dressed in clubs people will be nicely dressed. Daytime wear at night will not be acceptable, shorts at night will be out of place in the nicer establishments. Mistura Fina besides the music room upstairs where they may have Bossa Nova and other Brazilian music and jazz in a club/concert atmosphere with drinks downstairs they have a small bar with a trio playing Brazilian music as well and it is in a great restaurant. This place is on Epatacio Pessoa in Lagoa and you will be able to get a cab, taxis run all day and all night this is a big city.

The Tour that "Blenroth" described above, is the "Tropical Islands Tour". It leaves from the small fishing village - Itacuruca and the boat sails around the Bay of Sepetiba located South of Rio de Janeiro.

This is a standard Rio Tour and can be requested from any concierge at any major hotel in Rio.

Personally I did not think the island tour was worth it. I felt we were most or less captive on the island for the buffet lunch. We were there for acouple of hours and only a tiny shingle beach was there. I would have expected the buffet lunch to have been on a nicer island, on a beach. I did however, enjoy the journey in the coach as it gave an opportunity to see live outside the city.I would also have liked a little free time in Itacuraca as it looked very interesting.
Re safety, we never felt uneasy walking throught the streets at night. ( we stayed in Ipanema). Just be sensible- don't wear expensive jewellry( or anything that looks expensive). I left my wedding ring in the room safe. We met another couple from Scotland who had been victims of a failed mugging. However, he was wearing his gold rope necklace at the time!

Hello; just returned from Rio will try to post a full trip report soon.
One of the highlights of our visit,
(more for romance as we do many other adventure-type travel) was a trip to
Ilha de Paqueta. This quaint little island is in the middle of Guanabara
Bay. Very nice day trip, no motor vehicles only bikes (for rent) or horse-drawn carraige tours. Great little restaurants (I liked Lido)and
very non-touristy feel. Try to visit the Casa de Artes to support local artists. Get there by taxi to Praca XV ferry terminal, take the fast boat ($6
real 25 minutes) to Isla Paqueta the
"Isle of Love'. Take your phrase book,
little english is spoken.