Traveling in Rio requires caution, and Rio de Janeiro safety tips will help you have a safe trip to Brazil.

Like in any big city, travelers in Rio de Janeiro are at risk of being victims of petty crimes. Rio unfortunately has more than its share of these, and also an above average incidence of serious crimes.

That does not mean that you should avoid traveling to Rio de Janeiro, though. There are risks to traveling to Rio, but heeding some Rio de Janeiro safety tips will help you have a safer visit to the city.

Rio de Janeiro Safety Tips

First, avoid wearing any expensive or expensive-looking jewelry, handbags, accessories, sun glasses or watches when walking around the city. These will make you a target for theft in Rio.

Lock your phone and other high-end electronics in your hotel room safe if you don’t absolutely need to bring them around the city with you. Keep all cameras and other gadgets out of sight as much as you can if you carry them in Rio.

Lock your passport, plane tickets, and other travel documents in a safe in your hotel room in Rio. Never leave the hotel with them in your pocket, purse, or bag, and don’t leave them or any other valuables lying around in your hotel room.

Before you travel to Rio de Janeiro, purchase a money belt. When you get there, wear it on the inside of your clothes while you walk around the city. Only bring as much cash as you need to spend while you’re out, and only one credit card.

Buy a fake wallet and put some small change in it. If you get robbed or mugged in Rio, hand over the fake wallet instead of your money belt. That said, if you are pressed for more, do not try to resist. Your safety in Rio is more important than your money.

Do not walk around the streets in Rio de Janeiro at night. Even during the day it is best to avoid walking on small, deserted side streets or in sparsely populated areas.

Do not try to hail taxis on the street in Rio de Janeiro. Ask your hotel to call a taxi for you or use a hotel car. Yes, it is more expensive. But it is a lot less risky than taking a street taxi in Rio.

The best day trips from Rio de Janeiro are two beautiful and amazing beaches a short distance away from the city.

If you haven’t been spoiled enough by the best beaches in Rio de Janeiro, you certainly will be by the these beaches.

The beaches in question are Grumari Beach and Buzios.

Read more about the best day trips from Rio de Janeiro below.

Buzios Day Trip

Grumari Beach Day Trip

A Grumari Beach day trip from Rio is a great way to spend a day while visiting Brazil.

Grumari Beach is located just 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Rio de Janeiro.

It is easy to drive from Rio de Janeiro to Grumari Beach.

Grumari Beach isn’t just sand and sea, either.

The whole area around Grumari Beach is a nature reserve.

Remote and beautiful, Grumari Beach makes for one of the best day trips from Rio.

Just make sure to get an early start on your Grumari Beach day trip from Rio, as the beach gets very crowded on sunny days.

The most popular day trip from Rio is Buzios, Brazil (Búzios).

Buzios, Brazil is situated on a beautiful peninsula a two hour drive north of Rio de Janeiro. A Buzios day trip from Rio is a great way to spend a day when visiting Brazil.

Buzios is commonly associated with the rich and famous, having had its share of celebrity visitors like Brigitte Bardot.

The Buzios area is most famous for having some of the best beaches in Brazil. With clear turquoise waters and beautiful yellow sand, it’s hard to find a more tranquil place on the sea.

Buzios is also known for having some of the best nightlife in Brazil. With famous bars, clubs, and restaurants on Rua das Pedras in the town, Buzios is hard to beat for partying in Brazil.

With all the best nightlife in Buzios, your Buzios day trip from Rio could easily turn into an overnight trip.

The best hotels in Rio de Janeiro are located in many neighborhoods throughout the city.

The most famous of the best hotels in Rio are those along the beaches, but other hotels deserve their accolades as well.

Below is my list of the best hotels in Rio de Janeiro.

Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio
Address: Av. Atlantica 1702, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The monumental and sparkling white Copacabana Palace hotel in Rio is a landmark hotel. The Copacabana Palace hotel was designed by Joseph Gire, and its interiors and rooms are well decorated and well maintained. Don’t miss the poolside feijoada that the hotel offers on Saturdays.

Caesar Park Hotel in Rio
Address: Av. Vieira Souto 460, Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Caesar Park hotel is another of the best hotels in Rio de Janeiro. The hotel is located right on the coast in Ipanema and is a perennial favorite with visitors to Rio.

Hotel Fasano in Rio
Address: Av. Vieira Souto 80, Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Ipanema’s newest hotel, Hotel Fasano was designed by Philippe Starck. The Hotel Fasano in Rio has well appointed rooms and suites with beach and ocean views. There is a large pool for swimming and sunbathing as well as a great restaurant and bar.

Some people visiting Brazil think that the best beaches in Rio de Janeiro are Copacabana Beach and the like.

Locals say otherwise.

Those that are in the know spend their time at Ipanema Beach and Leblon Beach, where the white sand sparkles and the local Brazilians abound.

The best beaches in Rio de Janeiro aren’t just the beaches themselves. It also matters where you choose to sunbathe.

The best beach sunbathing in Rio can be done at Posto 9 at Ipanema Beach and Posto 12 at Leblon Beach in Rio.

Leblon Beach is also great for children, and is the best beach in Rio de Janeiro for families.

The best restaurants in Rio de Janeiro are scattered throughout the city and offer various types of cuisine.

From five star Brazilian steak houses to top notch seafood restaurants, Rio has a wide variety of great restaurants.

Below is my list of the best restaurants in Rio de Janeiro.

Gero
Address: Rua Anibal de Mendonca 157, Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
If you’re looking for the best Italian restaurant in Rio, look no further than Gero restaurant. The tuna carpaccio is excellent and the duck-stuffed ravioli are a highlight.

Porcao (Porcão)
Address: Av. Infante Dom Henrique, S/N, Aterro do Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Popular with locals and visitors alike, the acclaimed Brazilian churrascaria Porcao serves up the best beef and pork in Rio de Janeiro.

There are two locations of Porcao in Rio, one in Impanema and one in Flamengo. The latter has excellent views over Rio.

Sushi Leblon
Address: Rua Dias Ferreira 256, Leblon, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
If you’re craving Japanese food in Rio, Sushi Leblon restaurant is best. They make up the best sushi in Rio de Janeiro and provide a great break from heavy steaks at the churrascarias.

Fasano al Mare
Address: Av. Vieira Souto 80, Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Fasano al Mare in Rio de Janeiro is one of the best seafood restaurants in Rio. Serving up fresh fish every day, Fasano al Mar is not to be missed.

Rio de Janeiro has enough sights to keep you busy for weeks, but if you only have a few days to spend in Rio, there are some top things to do that you shouldn’t miss.

Here is my list of the top 10 things to do in Rio de Janeiro:

Visit the Christ the Redeemer statue

Spend an afternoon sunbathing at Ipanema Beach

Spend another afternoon sunbathing at Copacabana Beach

Take the funicular to the top of Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain) for gorgeous views of Rio

Take a ride through Rio on the Bonde de Santa Teresa cable car

Visit the Parque Nacional and Floresta da Tijuca and climb to the top of the Pico da Tijuca peak

Admire the modern and contemporary architecture in Barra da Tijuca

Visit the museums in Rio in the historic Centro

Go shopping in the boutiques of Ipanema and Leblon

Visit the Mordern Art Museum (MAM) in Rio

You can find lots of interesting Brazil photos for free on Flickr.

The great Flickr photo sharing website lets you look at photos from all over Brazil, including major cities and destinations.

You can use the photos to get an idea of where you would like to visit on your trip to Brazil.

If you already know where you will travel in Brazil, you can still use it.

You can use the Brazil photos to get ideas of what you want to photograph and how to improve your Brazil travel photography skills.

Of the many travel guidebooks, Lonely Planet’s are the best Brazil guidebooks I have found.

They have a deal for the three-book Brazil guidebook pack that includes free shipping.

The Brazil guidebook pack has a valuable Portuguese phrasebook in addition to the regular Lonely Planet Brazil guidebooks.

If you’re ambitious and trying to save money in Brazil, the best Brazil flight deals are on the low cost airlines in Brazil.

Besides GOL, which lets you book in English, there is also BRA and Webjet.

These latter two low cost airlines in Brazil have websites in Portuguese only.

However, you can at least get prices and then book flights through a Brazil travel agent that speaks English.

BRA airline flies to many places in Brazil, including Salvador (SSA) and Porto Seguro.

Webjet flies far fewer places but is good for Brazil Carnival flights from Rio to Salvador (GIG-SSA).

Porto Seguro is a great Brazil beach vacation spot.

Porto Seguro is in Bahia and is a wonderful little beach town.

The town of Porto Seguro is very quiet and not developed at all. It feels like it hasn’t changed in 50 years.

The best part about beach vacations in Porto Seguro is that the town is cheap and close to Sao Paulo.

You can fly TAM airlines on a flight from Sao Paulo to Porto Seguro Airport (BPS).

Airfares are around US$150 for a round trip flight from Sao Paulo to Porto Seguro.

Arraial d’Ajuda Eco Resort is a great resort there, at pretty low prices. It is located right on the beach and is full-service.

Arraial d’Ajuda Eco Resort in Porto Seguro is about 20 mins from the airport, including a quick ferry ride over the bay.

Flying TAM Airlines in Brazil

Flying TAM is a good choice when you need international or domestic flights to Brazil.

TAM airlines has a good economy class service with decently comfortable seats.

There is also a surprisingly good business class service for people flying TAM for their international or domestic Brazil flights.

Flying TAM opens up a lot of routes to and from Brazil.

This is particularly true for routes that aren’t flown by other airlines.

TAM airlines also offers competitive fares versus American and European airlines.

Gol Airlines in Brazil

For those that were wondering, Gol airlines in is a reputable carrier.

Gol airlines is one of a number of low cost airlines in Brazil.

Gol flies nice planes that are fairly new and well maintained.

The airline flies many direct flights within Brazil, including flights to major cities.

It is a good choice if you need to take domestic flights in Brazil.

Gol is the best deal for intra-Brazil flights so if you’re planning a trip to other locales served by no international carriers, consider flying Gol to save money on your Brazil flights. This is especially the case if you need a flight to Brasilia, Florianopolis, Belo Horizonte, or Salvador.

Be aware that there are two major airports in Sao Paulo.

Congonhas (CGH) is the mainly domestic/regional one and Sao Paulo International (GRU) also known as Guarulhos, where the intercontinental airlines fly into (United, American, Continental, Delta, British Airways, etc.)

Connecting between the two isn’t very hard but it takes patience since they are about 13 miles apart and require fighting traffic across town. There are buses between that run about hourly and cost around $10 US.

Alternately, you can take a metered taxi which runs about $25 US. Be sure to use an ATM and get reals first since not all taxis take foreign currency. There are taxi stands where you can prepay for your taxi too and use credit cards.

Here are some tips for Carnaval in Brazil:

Carnaval (aka Carnival) is the biggest event of the year in Brazil.

If you’re planning on going to Carnaval in Brazil, book now to make sure you don’t have to pay high prices for flights to Brazil.

There are two major choices of destination for Carnaval in Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and Salvador.

Rio is known for the festivals, parades and art.

Salvador is known for the Carnaval parties.

If you are looking for the wild times you hear about, you want to go to Salvador for Carnaval in Brazil.

Check out these other sites from Visiting Brazil. See the links on the side of this page to get to the sites listed below.

Visit Colombia

Visit Ecuador

Visit Venezuela

Visit Peru

Visit Chile

Visit Argentina

Visit Paraguay

Visit Uruguay

Visit Cuba

Visit Costa Rica

Visit Belize

All of the sites are now live and have a wealth of information about traveling in Latin America.

It is sometimes difficult to decide where to stay in Sao Paulo, as the city is large and there are many options for hotels.

In a metropolis like as Sao Paulo you need to decide where to stay based on the location of the hotel.

It’s terribly painful to travel long distances, so you want a hotel that is central to all the places you will be going.

If you want bars, clubs and nightlife in Sao Paulo, you should look to stay around Paulista Avenue. This is in central Sao Paulo and where the finance companies are located. The Renaissance and Intercontinental hotel in Sao Paulo are here.

The Morumbi Hilton and Grand Hyatt are way outside of the Sao Paulo city center in the Nacoes Unidas district.

That is where most of the multinational companies are and where you would be doing business if you visit Sao Paulo on a business trip.

The Morumbi Blue Tree hotel is located in this area. It is convenient to the Mall and many big buildings in Sao Paulo.

Apart from the international chain hotels in Sao Paulo, there are some smaller boutique hotels in downtown Sao Paulo. The Hotel Unique and the Faisano hotel in Sao Paulo are two good examples of places to stay.