About having second thoughts about Rio?

[Yasai]

hoping to travel long-haul somewhere in July or August.

love the idea of Rio but all the talk of how dangerous it is has made me have doubt. I’d be travelling with DH & DD’s age 5 and 7. Does anyone have any experience?

And agree with others, speaking some Portuguese is invaluable. My DH is white (blue eyed, dark blonde, pretty fair skinned) while I am Indian and everyone just assumed we were Brazilian and spoke to us in Portuguese. However, a few months of Duolingo should do the trick for basics (if you already speak another Romance language — we both speak decent French and Italian and some Spanish (DH more than me)).

Don’t look like tourists as much as you can. The most hassle we got (just over enthusiastic street vendors) was when DH was wearing a Hawaiian style shirt and a Panama hat. Locals dress VERYYY casually but it’s very attractive to see how loose and carefree they are in how they dress (in fact, currently in another tropical city and wearing a Farm Rio maxi and havianas while typing this — Brazilians have tropical living figured out!)

When my dc were that age I moved to Rio and we lived in Ipanema. My dc loved it and enjoyed the beach and tourist stuff like Christo de retendor. We actually used to go to the beach after school and have dinner at one of the beach bars. I felt safe walking around with them, all of us are blonde so stuck out, I always had a good look around before leaving a restaurant, the apartment or grocery store.

Of course you have to be careful, dress down a bit, no jewellery etc. I used to put my rings and watch back on during take off out of Rio. But it’s a fabulous city and we all miss it. Most of the Brazilians are friendly and love foreigners and are pissed off about the security situation themselves.

I go on the holidays I fancy, and DS has to come with me!

I went in 2016. I am bemused as to where you got such a negative perception from. We understood that it was unwise to go to the favelas but otherwise we moved freely and had no concerns.

I am still not sure I would go with a 4 and 7 years old though, not because of safety, it just seems a long way on the plane!

We did Rio on a cruise - Buenos Aires to Rio and back. We went to the carnival - ship was in port overnight - and did Christ the Redeemer and the Sugarloaf mountain cable car. Was amazing but I guess not for everyone.

Why on earth would you take small children there??

Long haul is a silly idea too, very unfair on them - saw a family like this recently who thought Mexico for a week was a great idea for 3 kids under 7…. They needed a flight to London and then on to cancun. We saw them on their return journey - all absolute road kill.

We don’t go to places that suit my 7 year old because we want to indulge him, we go to places that suit him because otherwise he’ll spoil the experience of the places that I want to go! Left to my own devices I’d wander round cities for hours, go to galleries and museums, have long boozy lunches, chat to locals in the markets, stay out late wandering round street food stalls, maybe go to a bar with dancing- none of that is going to work when you have a child in tow. He’s not a brat, he is just a kid with different interests to adults. When he’s a teenager we can do all that together.

That’s a good question because actually I didn’t have any reservations until I mentioned to people that we were thinking of booking. The horror on their faces.
i was wondering if people’s perception of the danger was based on a very real ‘likely to happen’ reality or just the usual ignorance. I say this as someone who has travelled extensively throughout the Middle East, for example.
ultimately I would like to still have the privilege of ‘strolling around’ and was curious to hear of peoples experiences.
I wouldn’t travel to a favela.
someone mentioned that they are going and they live in London - this was a good point. I too live in London and I always find it a bit 😏 when people outside of the city describe it as dangerous. I guess danger is objective.

Because I like to experience other cultures. My kids have travelled long haul since they were babies with no issue - they almost hyperventilate when they see the tv on the back of the seat and the activity pack most airlines give them. Overnight flight and they sleep for most of the journey.
They learn so much from every trip - my eldest still talks about trips we took when she was 3. And I don’t want to wait til I’m retired to see these places, I want to do it when I’m still in my prime 🤣

@Justkeeepswimming I take DC long haul and have done since they were 18m. They sleep on the plane no bother (better than me) and don’t suffer with jet lag.

DC love city sightseeing but we also get a hotel with a decent pool and choose things they like. I like them to see the world and visiting our family abroad is important.

DC said their best holiday so far was Thailand then South Africa.

This! We always choose a hotel with a pool and have a couple of hotel-based days. What kid wouldn’t like getting in a tour bus and driving round looking at amazing sights and animals. And agree with your experience - Thailand is an incredible place to take kids. I’d love to go again but try not to visit the same place twice.

I visited during the Olympics because DH was working there. It's obviously in a beautiful setting but its not as relaxing as an equivalent European city break due to the crime risk and also I found the traffic a bit stressful.
There were heavily armed soldiers stationed at the popular beaches and other tourist spots.
I didn't love the actual city much, the setting of it was the best part. Quite a lot of the historic city centre buildings are gone. Even the bits around Copacabana etc look a bit tired and scruffy.
That being said it was trouble-free for us. We took the metro and buses as well as driving.

Actually I disagree with this. I’ve lived in London for decades and am very street-smart. I very much roll my eyes at relatives visiting London from the sticks who are worried about it being dangerous. I’ve also travelled throughout Asia, some of Africa and several major US cities.
I lived in São Paulo for 6 months and I have travelled to most of the other major cities in South America (though not Bogotá or Caracas, which are probably up a notch again from Rio on the danger scale). I also lived in Mexico City for 4 months. I speak fluent Spanish and Portuguese.

I can assure you that the sort of danger that people experience in London is very very different to the risks one might encounter in Rio or Latin America generally. People rarely get car jacked in London. There are many fewer guns. I remember clearly being warned by a middle class colleague against using the metro in SP and scoffing at that because I was a veteran of the Paris metro, NY subway and London Underground and she was just a snob who lived in a posh bubble right? I was very wrong, it was a deeply uncomfortable experience and I only did it once. I’d go so far as to say that “I’m cool in London so I can cope with anything” is the worst sort of false sense of security.

Look, I’m not saying don’t go, but don’t get distracted by thinking that Hackney is in any way a useful comparison.

I've just been to Rio! It's mu favourite new place. I was quite worried about safety. I would concede that it is rather edgy, but not so much that you shouldn't go. Its not the most dangerous feeling place i have been (that would be Bogota or Cape Town) We took a lot of ubers which were cheap and felt safe, so make sure that you can buy a data passport or similar for your phone. The metro also felt safe but it has limited reach. Nothing bad happened to us, but walking back to our hotel at 9pm (in Ipanema, one of the nicer bits) felt a bit creepy. The Centro area is pretty squalid but interesting. The area around the famous tiled steps felt a bit dicey to be honest but again uber is your friend. All of the sights felt perfectly safe. I think realistically the worst that has much likelihood of happening is someone pinching your phone so I would leave that in your hotel, if you're not moving much or zipping it up i a secure bag if you are. But I loved Rio , its colourful, beautiful, ugly, quite mad, and the beaches are surprisingly clean, despite the throngs of people using them.

Oh no not at all. You make excellent points and my post was lazy. I totally appreciate this and you echo my understanding entirely. I’m not complacent with safety because of course I will have my children with me.

in practical terms would it be better to simply take organised tours then? Rather than navigating ourselves? Tbh I only really want to see the sights. We’ll be going to iguaza for 3 days afterwards.

What kid wouldn’t like getting in a tour bus and driving round looking at amazing sights and animals.

A kid who gets travel sick, like mine and many others. This also lessens, the older they get. You’ll be pleased to hear that we do make him grin and bear it once a year to go skiing though.

Thank you! Very useful advice. ive been to places where I’ve kept my phone in my bra for example. Did you take a small cheap bag (I was thinking cross body, something like that) or is that not advisable? And when you’re at the sights, say CtheR or the botanic gardens, are you still feeling the risk? Or is this just out and about in the streets?

Yes I just wore a small backpack, using both straps. Some people wore them at the front, but I couldn't bring myself to. CtheR and the botanical gardens felt completely safe, ditto Sugarloaf Mountain. Be warned that the botanical gardens requires cash payment and its rather extortionate! That's probably keeping the crooks out. Which reminds me, we struggled with ATMs sometimes, Santander seemed to like us, others less so. What I liked best of all was the people watching, particularly on Copacabana beach. Lots of characters.

Its not the most dangerous feeling place i have been (that would be Bogota or Cape Town)

I’ve just been to Cape Town. Didn’t feel dangerous to me at all!

Well, DS has been doing that since birth, coupled, now he’s older, with him finding stuff he wants to do wherever we are going, and us being flexible and including that.

Boozy lunches and bars since birth. Sure he has. Anyone can walk round a city or a gallery or a market with a kid in a pram though.

You really do come across as smug with your “of course we’re flexible” sideswipe.

Haven't been to Rio so feel free to skip this. But have been to other edgy places. What I found useful was to book a couple of tours with private guides, who pick you up from the hotel, on foot, or in blackened out cars in dodgier places, and do the main sights.

They'll tell you where is safe, where isn't, where's a good place to chill or eat and what to watch out for. Then you are good to go on your own.

It was me making the Hackney reference- I specifically meant it in terms of phones being snatched as that happens all the time around Dalston. It’s second nature to me to not walk along the street in my phone, I pop into a shop to use it etc.

Everyone has different risk tolerances and what they feel comfortable with. People were aghast when we took DC to South Africa!

Like some people have said, I’m not planning on taking the subway there and will book private tours for sightseeing.

In laws take their kids to the dangerous parts of Mexico and Colombia- that would be a step too far for me!

I don’t know why this has irritated you so much? Not every kid runs wild in a restaurant and actually lots rather enjoy it.

she didn’t sound smug at all. You don’t have to spend every holiday at Disney land just because you have kids. My kids enjoy a lively environment and so do we so that pleases everyone.

thanks - I think we’re probably quite similar in our ‘home’ environment and our travel tastes. Have a wonderful time - if you can be arsed to come back and give your verdict I’d be really grateful 🙂