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?

He’s 11, so far past the pram stage. Let your hair down. He’s also d9ne a bit of the Camino. There’s more to life with children than beach AIs, camping and Disney.

My son absolutely does not run wild in restaurants. Where did I suggest that he does?

“Long boozy lunches. Sure he does”. Well some kids are happy to sit in a restaurant. If they weren’t they wouldn’t sit still, surely? You didn’t suggest that he did, but you did suggest that you didn’t believe that the poster was having a nice time in a restaurant despite having kids 😂

We spent 4 days there 20 years ago and loved it but we were advised not to wear jewelry or go on the beach at night. It was really great but I don’t think Î’d take young kids.

I think perhaps you both have a slightly more pedestrian approach to city breaks than I do, if your minor kids are happy to tag along. I did most of my travelling well before having kids too, so I don’t feel any need to squeeze in all the experiences for myself while they are so young.

Not sure why you would assume that there is no middle ground between taking a 4 year old to a favela and going to Disney for every holiday. We have never been to Disney and have no intention of going. It’s quite rude of you to suggest that based on zero evidence.

Well I dunno about you, but I prefer to remain sober when I’m in charge of my child.”Boozy” was a very specific aspect of the type of lunch I was describing.

Ps we went just booking a flight and hotel I suppose if it was an organised tour with a guide and transport to be places I might take kids ( but not sure they’d enjoy it)

I remember reading the Biggs time by Michael Biggs (son of Ronnie) and how British tourists in Rio would come to visit them- even celebrities. I've heard even years later, his house is still popular with Brits.

Known people who have been to Rio, Sao Paulo, Fortaleza and Bahia either to train in Brazilian martial arts or voluntuourism. They advise avoiding the police.

Leave all your jewellery at home in the UK and carry a “fake” wallet with some useless cards (eg old Matalan) and a small amount of cash in to hand over if you get mugged.

I personally would not take such small kids. Surely there is somewhere else you could all go?

Try reading 'Fighting on the beaches' as well (forgotten the author's name). About some British youths who stay in Rio and travel around Brazil to learn Capoeira. Some fun insights.

I did Rio once - before kids - but was accompanied by 2 (male) friends both of whom are Brazilian and familiar with the city, and we were surrounded by locals we knew the whole time. I absolutely loved it but wouldn't have wanted to be there as a clueless, non-Portuguese speaking tourist.

I grew up in Rio from the ages of 6 to 12 and it is my most favourite city I have visited. We have been back several time since and I dream about taking my daughters there one day but have been waiting until they were a bit older but more that I think they would appreciate it more when older. I echo all that has been said. I’m lucky that I speak Portuguese so obviously that helps when we visit. If using taxis don’t speak English as they will take you round the houses and charge a fortune. We also on a visit used a debit card which was taken away from us and cloned but that in all our years of visiting was our only incident. If is the most amazing city and it’s not true that the Brazilians don’t like the British. The people of Rio are some of the friendliest people you will meet. If you can learn a bit of the language they will love you even more. I am very envious!

@Yasai

Just a thought but maybe you could have checked out all these places when you were in our prime - prior to having children - when you could have actually experienced them properly child free.

@Paninaro94

Leave all your jewellery at home in the UK and carry a “fake” wallet with some useless cards (eg old Matalan) and a small amount of cash in to hand over if you get mugged.

This is good advice for anywhere really - we do this for Spain, though I do bring jewellery in a limited amount (as much as insured for) I am selective about where I wear it too.

Yeah I’ve done it for years. Learned when I lived in Russia and got mugged on a monthly basis.

Personally @Twilightstarbright it wouldn't be for me. If you have family in a far off destination or going as a larger group that is one thing as you would have more support.

Otherwise, it's a bit of a waste as they have to be in bed early (at least most of the time - 2 weeks falling asleep in a pram is not on), so you can't experience the night life as an adult and they're much too young to have a proper appreciation of things or memory.

We all have health issues (asthma to more serious) so healthcare provision is one thing we're acutely aware of - never go anywhere with anything less than the standard of private UK healthcare - especially with young children.

Haven't been to Thailand. SA it was ok but I did feel vulnerable both being white and female and we were attempted mugged a few times. Actually preferred it whenever we got away from urban centres in the bush.

When DC are 8-10+ I would consider it because I feel it would be less hassle, they'd be more likely to appreciate it and much less likely to get ill.

Bore off. People like different things. I’ve lived a good life and I want that to continue with my kids in tow. Not all of us see life as “child free” vs “with kids” 🥱🥱

@Yasai

Taking kids to areas where you and they are liable to be harmed is not in their best interests.

Argentina!!! I expect Argentina to be in flames by the summer. They've got a violent lunatic for a president

My thoughts exactly. I had considered adding Buenos Aires on to the trip but not since he’s pledged his unwavering support. You bet I am choosing holiday destinations based on the actions of their governments in recent months.

I'd

I been to Rio just before covid and agreed it felt quite dodgy especially the beach area. The beaches and sights were lovely though.

I had stupidly taken my phone out to take a picture of the beach and held it in my hand and I noticed a gang of about 6 teenage boys surrounding us and giving each other eye signals. Fortunately I realised so I changed direction and they fled couldn’t grab my phone. There are police around but the kids are brazen.

My friend had his gold necklace snatched off his neck near the beach by someone on a bicycle in broad daylight. We also witness someone’s phone getting stolen off a selfie stick at the sunset viewing point near Ipanema Beach and the thief climb down the rocks fast and ran away onto the beach.

We stayed 2 mins from copacabana beach and definitely leave all your valuables at the hotel when you go to the beach. At night time the hotel recommended you to stick to the main roads, don’t venture off and try not to go outside the main area. We only went to reputable places to eat also in case. Most people were nice and friendly to be fair.

In terms of visiting Christ the Reedemer and the Sugarloaf Mountain - we felt fine - make sure you prebook the tickets (which we did) as there was no slots until late afternoon when we went in the morning.

We also visited Iguazu Falls which was most lovely (no issues with taxi or safety) and cross the border to Argentina there.

I went in Dec 22 and we had a great time (albeit not with kids).

We did 4 days in rio then iguazu and ilha grande.

Rio- We were sensible with valuables (leaving at least one credit card and new phones in safe in hotel). Took out an old phone to take pics. Our hotel, on copacabana, had it's own section so we got chairs near the bar and the people that looked after it kept a watchful eye over things. We got Ubers which were dirt cheap and we used the metro (dead easy using contactless). In the evening we went out and about for dinner, no problems whatsoever. The only place that felt sketchy to me was the steps.

We did sugar loaf, ctr, favela tour, stadium, the little tram ride to the top of the arty district, beach, shopping malls (rainy day and fancied a Starbucks). I absolutely loved it.

Iguazu and ilha grande were perfectly safe with very few precautions taken.

The caveat to all this is that I am quite an experienced traveller and have quite a confident air about me (been to places with bad reputations before) and my other half could pass for Brazilian if he kept his mouth shut so maybe we were left alone.

I would go if I were you 😄. Enjoy!

We stayed in the Copacabana palace march 2023 for 6 nights. It was FANTASTIC. I can't say enough good things about our trip to rio. We booked taxis through the hotel that were about £25 for 4 adults total per hour and the drivers were tour guides who took us up sugarloaf mountain, to Christ the redeemer and around the city. Really easy we just booked through the concierge on the day, no pre booking or anything. Royal Portuguese reading room was stunning. Botanical gardens great fun- saw toucans and lots of monkeys up sugar loaf too. It felt very safe everywhere except perhaps beyond the Escadaria Selaron, where I would keep an eye for pick pockets etc. we walked across the road to the beach and hired bikes from the hotel and cycled to ipanema one day- felt much safer than we expected and we are quite paranoid I'd say. We booked the airport transfers through the hotel and again, totally uneventful great service. The real asset was the pool in the hotel though. We didn't sit on the beach much as we loved the poolside and the staff were fantastic. You absolutely could though, we just couldn't be dragged away from the pool tbh. We had a fantastic week there overall exploring what is a truly beautiful city and we were blown away by how much fun we had and how safe we felt too. We didn't eat out, only because we have allergies and the hotel was so so good but I ate really well and nothing was too much trouble. It was all good value all in all and we heartily recommended it to all our friends when we got back. One thing to note, the uk gov advises against any entry to favelas including tourist "favela tours" which imo are distasteful anyway. This would invalidate your insurance if you entered one and something were to happen. A tourist was shot a few years ago entering one. I cannot emphasise enough how you really shouldn't take a family into them. Genuinely otherwise, particularly with the hotel, we felt super safe. Don't flash cameras / phones/jewellery around outside the hotel but again tbh we took our phones everywhere and it felt much better than we expected.