Meant to comment earlier but was on a bender when this came out.
Rio is absolutely the most beautiful place in the world in terms of scenery. The beauty and sheer amount of things to do outweighs the danger for me. To truly experience the place you need to speak Portuguese, but here’s a quick guide for those who don’t.
In the day time wear shorts, a tank top and a pair of havaianas. No jewelry, carry a cheap phone without any socials or financial apps. Carry a bit of cash and use your card for most things (everyone accepts cards here). If someone asks you for your stuff just hand it to them. Don’t be a hero. Don’t speak a foreign language too loudly when out on the streets, you never know who’s listening.
Only walk around the Zona Sul and Barra and only until 10pm. Uber any other time/place. Avoid taxis if you don’t speak Portuguese. Tip everyone heavily and they’ll give you tips and usually have your back in case you leave a wallet/phone behind in their cars/restaurants. Brazil doesn’t really have a tipping culture so you’ll stand out.
Spend a day just hanging at ipanema beach, rent a beach chair and the people from the stands will bring you food/drinks the whole time. You’ll eat and drink whatever you want with the best views in the world and spend less than $50 for an entire day
Restaurants to visit
Sushi Leblon - pricey but the best sushi in rio for me
Aprazivel - touristy but has the best views in the city and the food/drinks are pretty good
Chez Claude - restaurant by the Brazilian Gordon Ramsey. Food and drinks are incredible
Find a spot to eat feijoada on a Sunday, it’s the National dish and rio is the capital for it.
Nightlife is all over the place but you can’t go wrong going out in Leblon if you’re a foreigner looking to meet people. From there you can find recs or a group for your next spot.
This is a place I think everyone should go at least once in their lives. Might be my favorite city in the world
Great tips overall. The good thing about Rio is that Zona Sul and Barra is just by the beach and the locals actually have a beach culture
Unlike other places in latam where gringos are the only ones with flip-flops and shorts, in Rio it's quite normal (and actually recommended for safety concerns)
Interesting to hear about "social classifications" based on which football team locals cheer for. Excellent point about Rio. In Belo Horizonte, the "general" population and working classes cheer for "Galo" or Athletic Mineiro while the more "sophisticated crowd" cheers for Cruzeiro. I believe yuppies in Porto Alegre cheer for Grêmio whereas it's "general population" rooting for Internacional.
Had fun visiting many Brazilian cities in the past including Rio but had a chance to study abroad in Curitiba which was great! I most definitely prefer Barra da Tijuca for cleaner water sources than Zona Sul personally. Felt Ipanema & Leblon had that snooty old money vibe similar to Upper West/Upper East in NYC....there's a beach there opposed to Central Park however.
Great post! All really accurate (brazilian from SP but who loves Rio here)
Tá bom ver um comentário d'um brasilerio aqui!
Meant to comment earlier but was on a bender when this came out.
Rio is absolutely the most beautiful place in the world in terms of scenery. The beauty and sheer amount of things to do outweighs the danger for me. To truly experience the place you need to speak Portuguese, but here’s a quick guide for those who don’t.
In the day time wear shorts, a tank top and a pair of havaianas. No jewelry, carry a cheap phone without any socials or financial apps. Carry a bit of cash and use your card for most things (everyone accepts cards here). If someone asks you for your stuff just hand it to them. Don’t be a hero. Don’t speak a foreign language too loudly when out on the streets, you never know who’s listening.
Only walk around the Zona Sul and Barra and only until 10pm. Uber any other time/place. Avoid taxis if you don’t speak Portuguese. Tip everyone heavily and they’ll give you tips and usually have your back in case you leave a wallet/phone behind in their cars/restaurants. Brazil doesn’t really have a tipping culture so you’ll stand out.
Spend a day just hanging at ipanema beach, rent a beach chair and the people from the stands will bring you food/drinks the whole time. You’ll eat and drink whatever you want with the best views in the world and spend less than $50 for an entire day
Restaurants to visit
Sushi Leblon - pricey but the best sushi in rio for me
Aprazivel - touristy but has the best views in the city and the food/drinks are pretty good
Chez Claude - restaurant by the Brazilian Gordon Ramsey. Food and drinks are incredible
Find a spot to eat feijoada on a Sunday, it’s the National dish and rio is the capital for it.
Nightlife is all over the place but you can’t go wrong going out in Leblon if you’re a foreigner looking to meet people. From there you can find recs or a group for your next spot.
This is a place I think everyone should go at least once in their lives. Might be my favorite city in the world
Great tips overall. The good thing about Rio is that Zona Sul and Barra is just by the beach and the locals actually have a beach culture
Unlike other places in latam where gringos are the only ones with flip-flops and shorts, in Rio it's quite normal (and actually recommended for safety concerns)
Interesting to hear about "social classifications" based on which football team locals cheer for. Excellent point about Rio. In Belo Horizonte, the "general" population and working classes cheer for "Galo" or Athletic Mineiro while the more "sophisticated crowd" cheers for Cruzeiro. I believe yuppies in Porto Alegre cheer for Grêmio whereas it's "general population" rooting for Internacional.
Had fun visiting many Brazilian cities in the past including Rio but had a chance to study abroad in Curitiba which was great! I most definitely prefer Barra da Tijuca for cleaner water sources than Zona Sul personally. Felt Ipanema & Leblon had that snooty old money vibe similar to Upper West/Upper East in NYC....there's a beach there opposed to Central Park however.
BTB, or anyone know the post that has links to all the e-commerce posts? I’m trying to find it for past 2 days to no avail. Can anyone help me here?
Found it: it was June q&a update. Amazing post
We'll keep it organized there for all monthly Q&As so its easier to find
Thank you so much for this 🙌