Rio de Janeiro Travel Guide

Cidade Maravilhosa ! Nice beaches, great people and a lot of nature!

Ipanema is the most exiting beach in the world, you can find everything

If you don't wear too much money with you, and walk without necklaces and expensive watches, you'll probably have a great time - it's marvelous city... Few extra roules: don't go to beach after dark, and don't take camera out too often... While inside crowd, you're safe.

If you are very hungry go to one of the churrascarias. Besides a salad bar they serve all sides you can think of and bring the freshly grilled meat to your table where they cut it infront of your eyes. The meat is absolutely delicious and usually there is even a "map" of a cow with numbers on your table so you know which part you are being served. Can be handy sometimes...

Rio is a city filled with just about everything desirable and undesirable in a city of its size. The people are beautiful, the beaches are beautiful and the food is excellent and CHEAP. The downside is that you really need to either stay in safe areas, or have some Brazilian friends if you really want to venture out. Luckily, I had met an exchange student in the U.S. before I travelled to Rio. Once I got there, he took me to all of the cool clubs, the best beaches that tourists don't know about, and restaurants off the beaten path. I never would have seen Rio this way if it was not for him!

try to do all the touristy stuff when it rains. (it will rain)and rio has some nice museums 

When you ride on the gondola to Christ statue make sure you aren't afraid of heights. It can be quite dizzying!

one of the best places in brazil, but avoid the southern zone of rio. there you find poodles with strangely colored clothes, old ladies and lots of prostitutes. i really try and avoid copacabana and ipanema... it just sucks. the beaches are kind of interesting, worth a visit if you are really bored. but there are much better beaches out of town (barra da tijuca is one of them or head to any of the beaches outside niteroi). best place for going out all week long: LAPA. used to be a bit off limits for travelers a few years ago, but now it is reasonably safe and hip. you will find something to do most nights, even when it rains. if it rains, rio shuts down. if it rains and the temperature drops below 20 degrees, it appears as if a nuclear bomb had struck the city. nothing will work. nothing. best bet on days and nights like this? stay in bed and get ready for when the sun is shining again.

Mucha diversion, excelente mar, una gran ciudad. Cuidado con las favelas, el resto, increible, una ciudad que siempre esta de vacaciones

The Modern Art Museum in Niteroi is amazing! A must see if you get a chance. Bus (Double Check this cause my memory is foggy) No. 91 goes from Botofogo to Niteroi (I think it also runs through the city centre), and there is also a ferry you can catch from the city centre (though it is either another bus from the ferry or a bit of a hike.)