Personal, somewhat random notes
on visiting
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
(July 2018 = winter)

  • Tourist attractions.
    The three best known tourist attractions of Rio are the
    • beaches including Copacabana and Ipanema,
    • the Corcovado hill with the statue of Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor), and
    • the Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar).
    Take a relaxing walk along the beaches. Check the specifics below for the other two above prime destinations in Rio. Also interesting are the
    • historic tram to Santa Teresa (Bondinho Santa Teresa) and the
    • Mercado Municipal Uruguaiana.
    The Bondinho Santa Teresa climbs a hill and crosses an old aqueduct. You can buy tourist tickets at the low station near the metro station Cinelandia (lines 1,2). Try the Mercado Municipal Uruguaiana if you like crazy, crowded markets allowing haggling. Everything is cheap, from T-shirts to cell phones and computers, but not everything is legal. Taxi access is difficult; best access is by metro, station Uruguaiana (lines 1,2; don't confuse with the Uruguay terminal station).

  • Corcovado.
    The top of the mountain with the massiva statue of Christ the Redeemer can be reached by taxi or, preferentially, a train (trem do Corcovado), identical to those bringing tourists to the Jungfraujoch in Switzerland. The official web site of trem do Corcovado is http://www.tremdocorcovado.rio/index-eng.html. Visit in the afternoon to avoid tourist bus crowds. You can buy tickets on-line at https://ticket.corcovado.com.br/, which guarantees you a seat for a particular departure time on a particular date. You must register with your email address first, which may bring spam to your e-mail account later on. Use Microsoft Explorer to purchase the ticket and make sure you can print/save a pdf file using this browser. The current cost of the train ride is R$75 per adult.

  • Sugar Loaf Mountain Cable Car (Bondinho Pão de Açúcar).
    Check the official site at https://ingressos.bondinho.com.br/#!/apresentacao/. You can buy tickets at this site or before boarding the tram. The tickets are R$85 for adults and R$42 for seniors above 60 years old (bring a document such as an ID card). The ground station is at Praia Vermelha. The first tram brings you to the middle station on top of Morro da Urca with a very good view of Rio. The second tram brings you to the top of the Sugar Loaf. It is colder and more windy on top. Come in the late afternoon to enjoy the view of Rio before and after sunset.

  • Useful on-line information.
    Check https://wikitravel.org/en/Rio_de_Janeiro and https://localcave.com/en/travel-plan/rio-de-janeiro/ for useful information.

  • Safety: Don't get scared off.
    If you are careful, you should not notice any problems. Police is present in most touristy places. Still: don't wear jewelry, an expensive camera or cell phone visibly. You will notice homeless people sleeping on streets in touristy Copacabana and Ipanema. But you will see many more on streets of Los Angeles. Like in most places: don't walk alone at night.

  • Money.
    Get local currency at an ATM machine just after exiting the passenger gate in Rio's international airport (GIG). Credit cards are accepted at many places, but you can sometimes get a discount paying cash. There are international ATM machines in touristy areas, typically every few blocks apart, not only at banks. Change to denominations of R$20 or smaller: vendors may not have change.

  • Transportation.
    Just after exiting the passenger gate in Rio's international airport (GIG), look to the right for the radio taxi stand. Pay in advance for a voucher to your destination. Cash brings an extra discount. You can get a ride from GIG to Copacabana for R$100 or R$110. Just show the exact amount of cash to the agent. If traffic is good, the ride may take 40 minutes. If not, it can be many times longer. Downtown, there is an abundance of official taxis: yellow with a horizontal blue stripe. I have not been cheated during maybe 10-20 rides: all taximeters worked fine, there were no "surcharges", drivers were friendly and took the shortest distance as far as I could judge. No tip is expected, but you can round up. Expect to pay around R$20-30 for a 10-minute ride. It is good if you speak some Portuguese. If not, improvise. Write the exact address down at least, or show the destination on a map. The metro is efficient, clean and safe. It is not subject to traffic jams. Buy a card with a chip for R$5 at every metro station; value can be added later.

  • Mobile phone.
    Have your (unlocked) mobile phone ready. Buy a pre-paid (pré-pago) SIM card (with a Brazilian phone number) from the popular provider company TIM. It will cost you R$10 for the SIM card and R$10 for one week of talk and data (about 1 hour talk). (You can get more.) You can pay cash to avoid being charged for an extension of service in the future. Bring your passport. Around Copacabana, the only place that will do this is the Rio Sul Shopping Mall (next to Sugar Loaf/Urca), third floor.

  • Hotel accommodation.
    Good hotels are plentiful and quite affordable one block away from Copacabana beach. You can get a very good room with breakfast, free internet and a swimming pool on the top floor for R$200 per night in July if you pre-pay at an internet site.

  • Elderly/handicapped.
    If you are older than 60 or handicapped, you can use preferential lanes to by-pass long lines at tourist attractions etc. Apparently, public transportation (metro) is free of charge for the elderly/handicapped. I have not seen anybody checking for citizenship. People seem to care about others.

  • Departure.
    Remember that traffic jams are common. A ride to the airport may take much longer than an hour.