Rio de Janeiro is a beautiful state, full of diversity, color and culture; perfect for tourists who want a new and exciting vacation experience. More commonly known as Rio, it is the second largest city of Brazil as well as the third biggest metropolitan area in South America. It has beautiful natural settings, carnivals, long beaches and the famous Christ the Redeemer landmark, making it one of the most visited cities in the southern hemisphere.
There are many things for tourists to visit, such as the theatre, the carnivals the international film festival and of course, the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue. The city has been awarded the best travel destination in the South American category, by the World Travel Awards, thanks to its music, literature, festivals and many tourist resorts. Visitors have the choice to stay near the beach in a hotel, or if you have had good experiences staying in hostels in London or Paris during previous holidays, then there is also this type of accommodation available if you want to save some money. The Panorama of Leme Beach and prime district are popular tourist resorts, providing a stunning view of the city landmarks from across the water.
Rio is also home to stunning, bright and colorful cultural events, especially seen during their new year celebrations. Each December, more than 31 million people – normally dressed in white – congregate at Copacabana Beach. Celebrations continue through the night, hosting events and shows along the beach. The people share chilled champagne which they spray amongst themselves as the clock strikes midnight, which is considered to be good luck.
However, the carnival is by far the biggest event of the year, attracting millions of people to see costumed performers, floats and hear traditional Brazilian music. The celebration allows the people to have fun, make merry and eat loads of red meat, before they begin their lent fast.
This huge pyramid shaped cathedral in Rio was consecrated in 1976 after 12 years of construction. In addition to the cone shaped building you find sculptures and artwork. The four colorful stained glass windows that extend 60 meters into the ceiling. The cathedral can accommodate up to 20,000 people.
Cariocas (people from Rio) love their beaches. Sun, romance, swimming, picnicking for the family, surfing, football,sunset, no shame party…Rio has beaches for all!
If you want to see guys in a speedo this is the right place.
- Ricky Gervais, Episode when Karl Pilkington went to Rio
The two largest and most famous beaches in Rio de Janeiro are Copacabana and Ipanema, both are crowded with little space between people, and have different postos or sections with fine sand.
Cobacabana
35.2 km (21.9 miles)
Cobacabana with the well-recognized pavement is one of the longest and most famous of all beaches. Walk a bit up and down the first few days and discover that families with children, transvestites, prostitutes, football teams, bikini girls, bodybuilder s…The people play soccer and volleyball and a lots of other activities going on an butts everywhere of course. Lots of bobbing silicone breasts and you will probably notice why Brazil is No 1 country in plastic surgery.
The over 60 kilometers beaches are not the place where you can read a book half asleep and there are even outdoor gym for people who want to flex their muscles. Along the Copa Cabanas white beach and classic and famous wavy pavement there are many hotels and restaurants Copa Cabana stretches across 3 km and looks the Guanabara Bay and gives a fantastic view of the Sugarloaf Mountain. You have Copacabana’s Posto 6, furthest towards Ipanema with the cool beach people. The red light district is located on the Copacabana boardwalk.
Ipanema in Rio
32,3 Km (20.1 miles)
Maybe you have heard about the tall, young, beautiful and brown girl from Ipanema?
Ipanema is more residential, saferand counted as more fashionable and trending than Copacabana. People go rollerblading while they tighten the muscles and often more than 30% of the women wear thongs. Posto 9 is hip. Posto 10 you find skaters and girls with right T-shirts.
Rio has it’s famous gay beach section with the rainbow flag after Posto 8 and directly outside the Armeodo Rua Farm is the largest gaybeach throughout Brazil. Rio was chosen as the sexiest gay destination in 2010 by TripOut Gay Travel Awards. At the gay beach you will find good-looking men playing volleyball and several who have gone through plastic surgery just to get nicer breasts.
Beaches for surfistas
Arpoador (near posto 7) is the most talked surfing beach in town and meeting place for all young surfistas and at the beaches of Barra, Recreio, Joatinga (Praia do Joa) a 220 meter long beach, and the red beach Grumari, and Macumba with large waves wich is the Mecca for surfers – you’ll certainly find some surfers here. ASP World Master Championship was held at Arpoador in 2011.
29.4 km (18.3 miles) You probably want to spot beautiful people at the beach and then you should go to exclusive Leblon, directly below the district Leblon, where you will find the wealthy and rich people.
São Conrado Beach – Hang Gliding over Rio
26.0 km (16.1 miles)
São Conrado is famous for its hang gliding and fashion mall with over 150 stores and it is close to the largest favela Rocinha. Pedro Bonita is launching pad for the delta wing flight. Landing is at the São Conrado beach.
Family beaches
Praia do Leme
Praia do Flamingo
Wide park with skateboarding, jogging, soccer museums and large marina.
Praia da Barra da Tijuca
15.7 km (9.7 miles)
Three times as long as Copacabana, filled with the drive-middle class, plus a large part of the sportiest clientele.
Pontal
3.1 km (1.9 miles)
Diabo
33.9 km (21.1miles)
Itacoatiara
49.8 km (31 miles)
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New year celebration in Rio
The beaches in Rio are also known for their New Year celebrations also called Reveillon. New Year’s Eve is one of Rio de Janeiro’s most important celebrations, second only to Carnival in popularity. The event attracts over 2.5 million of people to Copacabana every year!
One great place is Forte de Copacabana (Copacabana Fortress). The second most visited place in RiodeJaneiro, the Copacabana Fortress, is located between the two most famous beaches.
Many want to leave Rio for a few days?
If you have time and a car, you should go to Prainha.
Northeast of Rio you also find one of the hottest beaches throughout Brazil – Búzios.
Búzios is a peninsula that extends out into the ocean with 23 beaches and is known as “Rio’s Saint-Tropez”.
There are many attractions in the colorful and vibrant city and you probably have heard about the beaches with miles of golden sands, carnival, majestic sugarloaf mountain, gardens, christ statue and football games.
Sambódromo Carnival avenue with stands for 62 000 spectators. Here is the big parade during carnival and it is possible to view when different Samba schools are rehearsing. Sambódromo, Rua Marques de Sapucaia, Centro. Hotels close to Sambodrome
Paço Imperial
Rios governor’s palace from 1743, home to the Portuguese royal family, 1808-1889. Cultural center, shop and restaurant. Tue-Sun 12-18.30. Praça XV de Novembro 48, Centro.
Maracanã Soccer Stadium.
Brazilian football culture main sanctuary. There is also a small museum with trophies, photographs, etc. The stadium is open for supper at 17, sat in at 15. Rua Professor Eurico Ribeiro, gate No 18.
Jardim Botânico.
Botanical Gardens, which originates from the 1800s.
Nossa senhora da Glória do Outerio It was the favourite church of the emperor family and the church also have a museum.
Museums
Museu de Belas Artes.
14 000 works of art, among others, Portinari, Di Cavalcanti, Picasso and Rodin. Shop and café. Subway to Cinelândia. Tue-Fri 10-18, Sat-Sun at 14-18. Of Rio Branco 199, Centro.Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM).
Modern Art Museum (MAM) Tue-Fri 12-18, Sat-Sun at 12-19. Of Infante D. Henrique, Parque do Flamengo. Museum of Contemporary Art
National History Museum (Museu Histórico Nacional)
Historical Museum (history, ethnography)
Tue-Fri 10-17.30, Sat-Sun at 14-18. Praça Marechal Ancora, Centro.
Museu do Indio
Museum of Brazil’s indigenous history. Crafts store and café.
Tue-Fri 10-17.30, Sat-Sun at 13-17. Hotels close to Museu do Indio
Carmen Miranda Museum A museum dedicated to the samba singer Carmen Miranda popular in 1940s and 1950s.
Call free over Internet WiFi Skype and Truphone offer free software for making cheap international calls using WiFi with absurdly low rates. The Vonage Mobile app for Facebook permits travelers to make free international calls over WiFi to Facebook friends who also downloaded the app. Skype is available for both PC and mobile and it is a smooth application for tele and video conferencing and the service offers free Skype to Skype calls.
Buy a Brazilian SIM card
A good idea is to buy a Brazilian SIM / prepaid cards to reduce the cost of calls and data traffic. You must unlock your phone to make it possible to use local SIM cards
If you need to recharge your phone
Electricity is like in the U.S., 110-127 volts so if you are using European phones a good idea is to buy a transformer from your European destination.
GSM phones (1800 MHz band) works in many parts of Brazil, however, it is unfortunately not always clear why some phones work and others do not. Note that the surcharge for hotels or “roaming allowance” by mobile operators may occur. You can also buy a prepaid phone card or if you visit an internet café (Lan house) many of them have Skype if you want to call for free over Internet.
For calls within the same area code, dial the number without area code normally. This also applies to mobile phone (7 or 8 digits). If this does not work, dial 041 + area code + telephone number. Current area code and current state can be seen on mobile phone display.
For inter-city and international calls must actively choose the operator each time. Operators “21″ and “23″ operates throughout Brazil.
Call in Brazil, dial 0 + area code + operator + No
Call internationally, dial 00 + operator + country number + area number without a zero+ the phone number.
Example How to call from another country to Brazil
Dialing from Stockholm Sweden to Rio de Janeiro
Result, dial: 00 55 21 X
00
00 is the international prefix used to dial somewhere outside of Sweden.
55
55 is the international code used to dial to Brazil.
21
21 is the local area or city code used to dial to Rio de Janeiro.
X
X is the local number you wrote. Exchange X with your number
Business travel
Thanks to the expansion of Brazil’s oil and gas extraction, many German and international companies set up offices in the port city, making it an increasingly popular destination for business travelers.
Nonstop flights from Europe to Rio It takes 12 hours and 30 minutes to fly the distance from Frankfurt to Rio.
Cheap trips to Rio de Janeiro
The Brazilian airline TAM (Star Alliance) has a several trips to Rio. From Rio de Janeiro TAM also offers many connecting flights.
GOL Airlines
GOL have a lot of cheap tickets within Brazil. http://www.voegol.com.br/int/Paginas/home.aspx Flights from Stockholm or Copenhagen: Air France, British Airways, Iberia, TAM, and TAP fly from Stockholm and Copenhagen.
Lufthansa is also launching flights to Rio from Frankfurt airport hub which is marketed with low prices in the Nordic countries (Sweden and Denmark). Lufthansa departures on the new line (LH 500 and LH 501) and the flights will leave five times a week with Airbus A340. The new line will supplement Lufthansa’s current offer from Frankfurt and Munich to Sao Paolo. It is possible to book online at www.lufthansa.com.
How to find cheap tickets to Rio de Janeiro
Try to have some flexibility about departure and arrival times. Many claim the cheapest day to fly is Wednesday for domestic travel others days are Tuesday and Saturday. It is usually cheapest time to fly as early in the morning. Airlines don’t start releasing cheaper seats until 4-5 months before departure in international travel. You can sign up at Farecompare to get an alert when prices drop.
Travel to Rio de Janeiro
The international departure tax from Brazil is approx. 40 USD. It can be included in your ticket, but if not, you must pay cash when you leave the country. Remember to save the form received at your flight and stamped by passport control officials on arrival in Brazil. The form should be presented together with their passport upon departure from Brazil. If the form has disappeared on departure a fine is issued.
Airports
Rio de janeiro airports All international departures and most domestic departures takes place at the Aeroporto Internacional Antônio Carlos Jobim, also known as Galeão. The airport is located about 45 minutes northwest of the beach areas and most of the city’s hotels. In recent years, Brazil’s domestic flights had a growth of forty percent, which meant that airports have become undersized. Periodically, there is flight chaos in the country. According to the Brazilian Football Federation’s, the airports are the biggest threat to the World Cup that Brazil will organize 2014th.
All nationalities requires a valid passport
Exemptions apply to nationals from the following countries, which also can present a valid alternative identity instead of passport: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Citizens who belong to the following countries does not require a visa for admission as a tourist:
Andorra, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, United Kingdom, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Holy See, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg , Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, Korea, New Zealand, Austria, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, San Marino, Switzerland, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia , Turkey, Germany, Hungary, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Remember to save the form you get on the plane and passport stamped by inspectors upon arrival in Brazil. The form must be presented together with their passport upon departure from Brazil. If the form has been lost you may get fines upon your departure.
The climate in Rio is beautiful hot and enjoyable throughout the year and the Cariocas are known to hate clouds on the horizon. The warmest period occurs in November-March. The temperature never falls below 20 ° C so the likelihood is high that you will sweat behind your ears. In the summer it rains a lot.
The most popular sport in Rio and throughout Brazil is football. Serie A consists of 20 teams of which four teams are from Rio de Janeiro and six are from São Paulo area and the atmosphere at matches is amazing. Famous international football players from Rio includes Adriano, Romário, Ronalo and Zico.
There are four big soccer teams in Rio
Rio is basically split in four soccer teams: Botafogo which is the smallest club, Flamingo (Mengo) which is Brazil’s most popular sports club with 35 million fans and Vasco da Gama (Vasco) and Fluminense (Nense). Flamengo is considered the most corrupt, violent and unruly club in Brazil. Its nickname is “Clube dos Bandidos’ but for most fans it was a suprise when the captain, Bruno Fernandes das Dores de Souzas was charged with murder and the disappearance of a former lover last year. Some of the Flamengo’s supporters gather in the Clipper Bar before the match. Located at the corner Ataúlfo de Paiva (the main street in Leblon) and Rua Carlos Gois. When Flamengo and Fluminese play it is calleed the FlaFlu game.
Brazilian series
Brazilian series goes from April to December and is followed by regional State cups and the Brazilian Cup between January and April. Copa das Liberadores is South America’s Champions League. By the way in case you have not heard – FIFA World Cup 2014 will be in Brazil.
Maracana Stadium
Rio De Janeiro is the proud owner of the world most famous football stadium, the Maracana Stadium – Brazil’s largest stadium. The stadium hosted the 1950 World Cup Final where Uruguay defeated Brazil in front of almost 200 000 people.
The photo shows Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro stadium playground for world-famous stars such as Ronaldo, Romario, Sócrates, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo, Rivelino, Romario, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo Socrates, Zico and Pele. There are museums open every day of 8-17 and two days a week at Rio’s clubs matches are here!
Rio Carnival: The traditional carnival in Rio de Janeiro
- one of the world’s most spectacular shows
Rio is perhaps best known for her colorful and musical annual carnival. It is time to look forward to the next Rio Carnival 2012 between February 17th until February 21st - it will be a nice spectacle with samba, beer and sparkling sensuality!
In March 2011, 800 000 people make pilgrimages to Rio to take part in the annual samba festival also called the baddest party on the earth. The carnival(or Carnaval in Portuguese) lasted for 4 days and 4 nights.
At the opening ceremony the mayor of Rio give the city’s keys to “King Momo” (Rei Momo in portuguese) and the carnival king declares the carnival open according to the tradition.
During the carnival is a high pulse and great party-atmosphere with 1,000 blocos (street bands). There are more car accidents and the prices are generally higher, but on the other hand you should not complain since you are at the world’s most famous carnival!
Carnival in Rio is beautiful but can seem a bit monotonous for Brazilians from other regions. Brazilians from other states will tell you with a small touch of envy that the Rio Carnival is almost the same thing every year and they can argue for hours the place for the best carnival. Ok let us face it – gringos in general only have heard about Rio. But the carnivals in Brazil is going on like a tour since the big stars, like Ivette Sangal, can not be in the same place all the time. There are competing carnivals with different flavours in Recife (frevo), Fortaleza and the street carnival in Bahia (Salvador).
The official parade is not free and you must buy ticket for the stadium. The Sambodromo (also known in English as Sambadrome or Sambodrome) is the “stadium” of samba. Carnival on the purpose-built stadium is probably the world’s biggest and greatest show with colorful dancers, drummers and cars for the attention of the audience and jury. It is possible to have a look at the spectacle when they are rehearsal for the Carnival so if you look at some of the big Samba schools you will have a good time. There are also free street parties everywhere.
History of the Rio Carnival
According to one version, the Portuguese from the Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde started the first carnival in Rio in 1723. In the beginning the carnival was a prank in which participants threw water and fruit at each other but the tradition lived on. During the 1800s, the carnival was elegant high society balls, which also usually mentioned in Carnival history. In the 1920s, started the first samba schools.
Samba schools
There are different samba schools that are competing with each other much like sport teams, representing different areas of the city. The subjective competition, when the winner is announced at the ash Wednesday, is very much disputed. The samba schools create floats and costumes, compose music and lyrics and choreograph the dance shows and there’s no cash prize for first place, only a trophy. Tourists can expect to pay between $50 and $100 to hire or buy costumes depending on the prestige of the samba school responsible for creating it.
Karl Pilkington
The Cariocas are rehearsing for carnival, for instance Karl Pilkington went to a training samba in the funny episode when he went to Brazil.
Top 12 samba schools competed in the top league 2011; the lowest-ranking are demoted to the minors.
Beija-Flor winner 2011
Unidos da Tijuca (2:nd best 2011)
Mangueira (3:rd)
Vila Isabel (4th)
Salgueiro (5th)
Imperatriz (6th)
Mocidade (7th)
Porto da Pedra
Sao Clemente
Excluded Samba schools during 2011 from the competitive scoring – because of the big fire. Only four weeks before the start of the carnival was a major fire in Rio de Janeiro.
Portela
União da Ilha
Grande Rio
Carnival in Rio
Future Rio Carnival dates
The carnival is in February or early March depending on the Easter.
2013 dates: February 8th – February 12th
2014 dates: February 28th – March 4th
2015 dates: February 13th – February 17th
2016 dates: February 5th – February 9th
2017 dates: February 24th – February 28th
2018 dates: February 9th – February 13th
2019 dates: March 1rd – March 5th
2020 dates: February 21st – February 25th
2021 dates: February 12th – February 16th
2022 dates: February 25th – March 1st
2023 dates: February 17th – February 21st
2024 dates: February 9th – February 13th
2025 dates: February 28th – March 4th
2026 dates: February 13th – February 17th
2027 dates: February 5th – February 9th
2028 dates: February 25th – February 29th
2029 dates: February 9th – February 13th
2030 dates: March 1st – March 5th
Rio de Janeiro is a beautiful state, full of diversity, color and culture; perfect for tourists who want a new and exciting vacation experience. More commonly known as Rio, it is the second largest city of Brazil as well as the third biggest metropolitan area in South America. It has beautiful natural settings, carnivals, long beaches and the famous Christ the Redeemer landmark, making it one of the most visited cities in the southern hemisphere.
