Safety in Rio? Quite Concerned
 

Hello. I am a female in my 20s and will be going to Rio by myself for 3 days during May. I've grown quite concerned about the level of crime there. See: <BR><BR>http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/04/18/27744.html<BR><BR>There was a similar article recently in the New York Times. <BR><BR>I am staying in two very nice hotels; One in Ipanema and one in cop<BR>

(Sorry, I sent that previous message too soon)<BR><BR>and one in copacabana. What I am wondering is any data from someone who lives in Rio or has been there recently and has good data about the safety there. <BR>At this point i'm not even worried about being robbed. I"m worried about being kidnapped or stabbed or killed. At the rate of one per hour it gets you thinking. <BR><BR>Thanks.

I read that article, the state of Rio de janiero is a big place, they are not talking about the tourist area, you will be fine, why are you staying for only 3 days and at 2 different hotels, email me if you want.

We (two women, mid-50s) just returned from 10 days in Rio and felt perfectly safe. We stayed in a 3-star hotel about two blocks from the beach in Copacabana, took buses and the metro, walked everyplace day and night, had no problems.<BR><BR>We didn't get drunk and walk on the beach after midnight or anything stupid like that (the only person we met who had been robbed did just that).<BR><BR>We didn't feel that Rio was any more dangerous than any other big city anyplace in the world. Just be aware of your surroundings, don't wear jewelry (fake or real, crooks don't know the difference), leave your passport/valuables in the hotel safe, and go and have a great time. We certainly did!<BR><BR>Hope this helps,<BR>Sandy

I've was in Rio last week for about 3 days and had heard the same stories and was equally wary. However, as long as you don't do anything silly (like walk on the beach at 4 AM or wander down streets after dark), I don't think you have anything to worry about. Needless to say, it makes sense to just avoid being a target of attention (no jewelery, gold watches, etc.) Leave everything in the hotel safe except the immediate cash you need - this introduces great peace of mind. During the day (the only time I was out), there is always a lot of police presence and I never felt in the least threatened. I don't know why you would staying at separate hotels in Copacabana and Ipanema as they're only about 5 minutes away from each other by taxi (choose one and stay put). The yellow taxis are fine but I'd recommend always having the name of your hotel on a card to show to the driver. Have a good time, the beach is lovely - highly recommend Ipanema beach over Copacabana which has a six lane road next to it.

Mr. Shaw could you please clarify something for me, you say you recommend Ipanema over Copacabana, Ipanema has a 6 lane road next to it. What does this mean, how many lane road does Copacabana have next to it? I didn't realize that one beach was better than another because of the number of lanes the road has next to it. From what I remember Copacabana has 6 lanes alos.

Mr. Shaw, I just reread your post and now I see what you mean, what you are saying is that Copacabana has a 6 lane road next to it and because of this one should stay in Ipanema. I have been to Rio about 40 times and I have walked all over the place and I have never noticed how many lanes Copa has compared to Ipanema but now I can see in my mind that Ipanema has 4 lanes. So you say that Ipanema is better because it has one lane less in each direction. You must be a travel writer for a travel magazine I bet because I have never read such a usefull important piece of information about why someone should stay in one area over another, any other pearls of wisdom you can give us from your travels?