My family just returned from a week long trip to Rio, at the end of February. We loved it and plan to return. Trying to repay much of the advice I obtained from this forum, in brief:

We flew with Varig - an option we won't again choose. (We started our trip in Buenos Aires and continued onto Rio so, we caught a number of Varig flights.) Severely delayed flights with no explanation, vome very old planes and a disregard for prior seat assignments, even when confirmed in Brazil. I understand Varig is on the verge of gov't takeover and/or bankruptcy and, perhaps, that might be a good thing. If the Varig tkts are substantially less than other airlines then perhaps they are worth the effort. Otherwise, we will choose any carrier but Varig in the future.

Rio is a wonderful city. Physically beautiful. The people were warm, expression filled and couldn't be nicer. And, very beautiful. On multiple occassions someone would approach us if we were having difficulty communicating and offer their assistance. Although I speak Spanish - it only goes so far. Yes, it helps but there are still major differences in the spoken language.

We had mostly beautiful weather in February. The ocean was warm and calm on most days. We stayed at the Rio Sheraton. It was a good choice for us because we had our two children, 10 and 9 along. It is the only property that really approaches a "resort" type setting. Two large adult pools, one kid pool and a very large open deck area surrounding the property with many chaise lounges and shade. A smallish beach is right there. Yet, we would not choose the Sheraton again. Although it is but a few shortminutes to Leblon/Ipanema in very inexpensive cabs, and has a good view of Rio, traveling back and forth is still a bit of a hassle. The one road can have a lot of traffic. And, at the end of the day, Rio is so fantastic that there is little reason not to stay in Rio proper. In addition, the hotel needs some major renovations, particularly the lobby and some of the rooms. Food at the hotel was fine, nothing more - although they serve great pizzas pool side and some of the best Caiprinhas (sp?) we had while in Rio. The staff was just OK. In short, if you are traveling with kids it is perhaps a good choice. Yet, after spending some days on Ipanema, the beach there is so terrific we would opt for that area. We rented chairs for about 50 cents each, drank chilled coconuts and watched the world go by. The vendors on Ipanema are good natured and not aggressive - very different from some other places we have been, like parts of Mexico or Barbados. They sell soccer shirts, drinks, ice cream and even huge grilled shrimp. Everyone smiles. Even the vendors looked as if they wanted you to have a good time. The people who worked at the beach kiosk from which we rented our chairs continuously asked if everything was "tuto ben?" Yes, they may have wanted to sell us some more soft drinks but they couldn't have been nicer. They literally made you smile. The entire beach, with people jogging, playing soccer and volleyball was one long "let's feel good and relax" experience. Very memorable and unlike any other beach resort I know of.

After a couple of days at the Sheraton we looked at a few other hotels, contemplating a switch (also, I used to be a travel agent so its a natural thing for me to do). At the top end of the selection were: the Copacabana Palace, the Sofitel and the Caesar Park. For sheer luxury the Copa Palace was very impressive. Just like a turn of the century beach hotel from the south of France. An incredible flower arrangement in the lobby, superb staff and certainly the most beautiful and sophisticated pool area in Rio. The property has been completely renovated and rooms are beautiful - old an updated. Yet, the beach view rooms are very expensive and it is certainly an "adult" hotel. Throwing a ball with your son, I believe, would not be very popular, even if thrown quietly. It is on Copacabana, a drawback, since the best restaurants and shopping are in the Ipanema/Leblon area. The Sofitel was also nice, with two pools. Yet, the lobby was a bit small and unimpressive and the pools certainly didn't measure up to the Sheraton. The Caesar Park was also a luxury property. The lobby is a bit dark, sleek and businessy but, it has perhaps the best location of any hotel-smack in the middle of the best part of Ipanema with great shopping and restaurants only a block away. It, like many other hotels, offers chairs and umbrellas on the beach directly across from it. One drawback: it has a very small pool on the roof (with incredible views, however). Indeed, most every hotel seemed to have very small pools, many on their roof. The Marina Palace also looked like a good choice, and less expensive than the Caeasar Park. In short: for sheer luxury nothing came close to the Copa Palace. Even with its location on Copacabana it is an incredible hotel.

Although we heard many stories of crime run rampant in Rio we experienced no such thing and never felt threatened. Granted, we stayed mostly in the well worn tourist areas - which are also where many Cariocas walk and dine - but there was no omnipresent feeling of danger anywhere. We did not wear jewelry or carry expensive anything and that was hardly an inconvenience.

We used riovip tours, Luciano and Regina, and spoke to them a number of times on the internet. Luciano was very responsive. They were great. Picked us up at the airport with sign in hand and returned us to the airport, even waiting to make sure our return flight was ok. Regina is the sweetest person and using her is really like being shown around Rio by a close friend. She will custom the tour for you, for example, detouring with us into some stores for sandals and taking us to Confiteria Colombo - a century old Rio coffee house/restaurant/institution, which is also a very memorably place. We saw a game at Maracana stadium with her and it was a highlight of the trip. Incredible. The best seats were about $10 each.

Prices in Rio are generally inexpensive, except for upscale dining. (Although prices are not as cheap as in BA.) We had great food in Rio and some of the best juice we have had anywhere - there are fresh juice shops on nearly every block. And, did I mention they have amazing Caiprinhas, with all sorts of fresh fruit. The passion fruit and pineapple were some of the best drinks we have ever had, anywhere.

Shopping is also good, mostly leather bags and shoes, beach shoes and beach wear. Avenida Visconda de Piraje (sp?) in Ipanema has great shops and food stores, is very long and is a great walk. We walked it a number of time and never felt ill at ease. The avenues running alongside it have terrific restaurants.

As for restaurants: We went to Porcao, a churrascaria, as told by many to do. It was certainly an experience. A great salad bar and much meat. Yet, it is so much food that you really can leave distressed. It was good - once. There is a mostly steak restaurant called Esplanada Grill and it was excellent. Superb meat and salads. Well prepared everything. In additon, Satyricon was outstanding. We live in NYC and are "foodies." Yet, Satyricon ranks up there with one of the best meals we have had. It is also very expensive, certainly NYC prices. Yet, of course, that is the exception. There is a sandwich and dessert restaurant on Visconde de Piraje called Chaika. Really creative items. Very cheap. It is very informal (you can order and eat standing up or in the dining room in the back). It was terrific. We even stopped there before our night flight home and bought sandwiches and salads for the flight. Sushi Leblon was also very good and very cool. Populated with well dressed locals, wearing much more jewelry than any of us. Creative sushi too.

We caught taxis everywhere. Inexpensive. We had no issues and, again, the drivers were uniformly nice and talkative - much more so than NYC cab drivers.

We will certainly return to Rio. We simply did not see enough of it. Also, Buzios we were told by everyone is a great destination and it is only about 2 hours from Rio, and much less hectic.
Enjoy.

Outstanding!!!

I absolutely *LOVE* reading good trip reports like this one --- reports that have enough info to be useful for me when I make travel plans.

I am *SO* glad you mentioned the safety and security issue. There is a ton of bad info, IMHO, posted here on Fodors about crime in Rio. Like you, I stayed in the Copacabana area and experienced *ZERO* problems with crime and never felt uneasy or threatened in the least --- not even strolling the streets in the middle of the night.

Have fun!
Mark
(Rio fotos: www.tiogringo.com/rio.html)

Nice report!!! I need to tell you that I agree with you, Varig was terrible. I was delayed for an hour and a half with no explanation, and prior to that they had cancelled all my tickets with no explanation! When I finally got to Sao Paulo I had to miss my flight home, and the Varig airport staff at least were very very good. Other than the Sao Paulo Varig airport staff, the airline is awful.

I absolutely loved Porcao! We ate "strategically" and the salad bar was wonderful. We have a churascarria here in Honolulu and it is so sad when I compare it to Porcao. I liked Esplanade but it was not as good a value as I would have liked. Also, we tried to go there for lunch one day and they would not let us in unless we were wearing closed shoes.

Did you get to the Hippie Fair?

Thanks for the report. Can't wait for our Rio part of our trip. We even thought about skipping Rio. Now we will definately go there. Have tickets on Varig. FF, business class so the price was right, but now kinda nervous. Hate old planes!
Anybody been to Buzios? Looking for beach resort with town nearby for Brazil flavor.

Thank you so much for your trip report. I have contacted Luciano and we are so happy to have found Vip Tours in Rio. We were concerned about finding transfers and a tour that would work for us and they are perfect!

It's been more than 10 years since I flew Varig, and I'm surprised to hear it's gone downhill. You both mention that flights were late -- but U.S. airlines often leave late too, so how was it different? Also, when I flew Varig, my travel agent emphasized the importance of confirming reservations the day before your flight -- was this a source of a problem? When we flew, I remember great service and food in the air, much better than U.S. airlines? Has that changed? (They used to serve heart of palm and quail egg salad before dinner -- yummm). Even back then, they were not so good with service on the ground and with keeping assigned seats.

Thanks for the trip report, I used to stay at the Sheraton years ago but as you can see you are away from the action. You can't beat the hotel if you have kids and they have a great pool.

I was in Rio the same time as you but I stayed in an apartment on Copacabana, one day as always it was hot so I decided to go to the Sheraton to swim in their nice pool, it was great and I usually have lunch there in the pizza place. But everything at the Sheraton was so expensive so I figured that I can take a taxi back to Copacabana and eat in a good restaurant for the price I would pay for a pizza at the Sheraton. A small bottle of water was about 5 or 6 dollars if I remember correctly, expensive by Rio standards. This would be another drawback at the Sheraton that you would have to pay the inflated prices but if you stayed up by the beach there are so many options available to you.

In reply to some of the questions/comments:

We did not have an opportunity to go to the Hippie Fair. I think it may only be held on Sundays and we left on a Saturday. I was told that it was great, however. Next trip.

Re: Varig. My understanding is that Varig has changed much in the past few years. It used to be a top Latin American airline. Now, I do not know anyone who puts it in that class. If you check other recent postings on Varig on some flyer websites they all seem to come down the same way. My delay was particularly "bad" because it would have caused a cascade of late flights the next day.
Also, the "explanation" was that the plane got into NY late. But, Varig has only one NY-Brazil flight per day and it lands early in the a.m. and takes off around 7 p.m. How late could it have been? It was a lame excuse and the agents all took it in stride - as an every day occurrence. Luckily, I too found a terrific NY based Varig agent who put me on a non stop with American to BA that night. It was a miracle. Not all Varig planes are old, but certainly a couple of mine were; others said the same thing to me. No hearts of palm were served; although first and business did look better.

Yes, the food at the Sheraton was expensive, another down side of the hotel. Even though Leblon/Ipanema is very close, it was often so much easier to eat lunch at the Sheraton than hop a cab in the heat of midday and travel.

Luciano at VIP is great. Tell Regina at VIP that Roberto says hi. Visit Confiteria Colombo and try to catch a soccer game.

Also, don't bring beach shoes. Buy Havaianas at about $5 or less per pair. They are sold everywhere. They are the only thing to wear during the day (or night), they look cool, are comfortable and go for about $20 in the States.

I do need to interject: I come from Hawaii, where we wear slippers like Havianas all the time. I had heard that Havaianas were the thing to wear so I didn't bring my slippers. But they sure hurt my feet! I wish I hd brought the $1.99 slippers from Longs instead. Just my humble opinion.

re: Varig. No quail eggs, no salad. and, I was upgraded to business class. The delay was totally unexplained, and they never even announced it till we demanded they do so. they had absolutely no explanation for a plane arriving 1 and a half hours late; they actually had to have me put up in a brand new hotel while they sorted out the problem of my missing my flight....not to mention my suitcase made it to LAX without me. No one ever told me I had to confirm my tickets on the day of my departure.

I have had a pair of Havaianas for several years now but only wore them in Rio when I knew I wasn't going to walk much otherwise I wore my Teva's. Well the Teva's got lost last summer in a storm in Miami and this time in Rio I only had my Havaianas. Well I like to walk and at the beginning of the trip I found it difficult to walk long distances in them and had to walk slow. I did notice that the Brazilians wearing them had no problem so I figured it was just me, I kept at it and by the end of the trip I was walking faster and better, I guess it just takes practice.

Thanks for your trip report. we are leaving for Rio in a week. I can't wait. We will fly American to get there, but are taking Varig from Rio to Manaus and then back to Sao Paulo for our flight home. Hope the flight from Manaus to Sao Paulo is on time. I will be checking with our travel agent to find out how to re-confirm our reservations since we will be nowhere near a phone prior to our return flight. Anyway, I was glad to hear that you had no concerns about safety. Sounds like you were sensible, but not overly paranoid and that worked fine. That will ease the minds of the less experienced and older member of our group. I'm looking forward to posting our trip here the first week of April. I hope we are just as enthusiastic about our trip.

Sorry to hear about Varig's declining service. It must have been very frustrating! There's not much you can do about it since you don't have nearly as many airline and air travel route choices in Brazil as you do in the US. You end up having to fly them by default. I'm not sure VASP, Transbrasil or TAM would be any better. Of course flying into Brazil from other countries you have more choices, but for domestic flights, you're stuck with them.

Given the lack of air routes inside Brazil (and the cost!), I'd like to share the information that the interurban bus system in Brazil is quite good and often excellent. They have different price tiers, so if you want to go from Rio to Sao Paulo on the most expensive one, usually called the "Executivo", it's very reasonable and even cheap for those of us exchanging dollars. They're also a heck of a lot more comfortable than an airplane. Many of these are "leito" or sleeper-seat overnight buses (tall European-style ones) so you can save yourself a hotel room and some time while getting from one place to another. All the locals travel this way, from poor to middle-class. The major cities are well served and have buses at least every hour to other major and minor cities, and like I mentioned, often overnight service. Obviously it helps if you speak some Portuguese and if you're on a longer trip and can spare a bit more time. I'm sure there are many postings about this type of travel.