Brazil - where to visit

[Hairbrush123]

I am going to Rio next month for 9 days. Has anyone been? Did you enjoy it? Any must do’s other than the obvious? What was the safety like? DP is Brazilian and insists it’s very safe if you follow the same precautions as anywhere you go in the world but just wanted to hear other people’s experience.

I've been. It's was 15 years ago, so not exactly recent, but I'm guessing that the main things to see and do haven't changed all that much. I'm just trying to remember what we did - we went up to see Christ the Redeemer on a little funicular, we did a guided tour of two favelas, we did a day trip to Petropolis, we went to the botanical gardens, we did a tour of the H. Stern jewellery emporium in Ipanema, we went to the beaches (the water was dirty - plastic bags and rubbish in it ), we went to Oscar Niemeyer's house, visited the Sugar Loaf ... can't remember anything else off the top of my head.

It is dodgy, so don't wear or take anything valuable with you. If you want to wear jewellery, buy some locals beads or something - that's what I did. I saw someone being mugged in the street in Copacabana and my DSis was mugged at knife-point in Santa Teresa, which is an otherwise pretty with some fab shops (particularly this one: www.lavereda.art.br/) and a cute little yellow tram. Ipanema and Leblon were nice areas back then and I much preferred Ipanema to Copacabana (where we stayed).

The food is wonderful - I put on 4lbs in a week, but it was worth it. Amazing fish stews, beans, rice, fried fish, beer, freshly squeezed fruit at juice bars on every corner.

Despite the occasional menace of the place, I loved it and would go back.

We also went about 15 years ago and mainly did the main things in Rio like Sugarloaf, city centre, football stadium, Christ the Redeemer etc, beaches very scenic and interesting but not very safe then. We also went to Paraty which was beautiful, rainforest, lots of little boats you could ride on, conbbled streets, horse and carriage rides, lovely white houses, felt very safe, we stayed at Pousada Bromelias which was lovely and in rainforest. I would still go to Rio but take local advice re safety if its not improved, we did tours and followed hotel advice, lots of prostitutes on beach then.

I've been - didn't enjoy Rio that much to be honest although the weather was pretty grim some days which meant the beach wasn't on the list. Some of the many beach bars have music on so we went there for lunch a couple of times. We enjoyed sugar loaf mountain though and we went on a tour that drove us through the favellas and to the Selaron steps which were worth seeing. Do you plan to stay in Rio or travel further out?

Thanks all. Rio sounds nice! So we were thinking about going to Iguazu Falls however it seems unlikely with covid restrictions as it spans across 3 countries and DP says the Argentine side is the best! However we also looked at Salvador or Brasilia.

I wish we'd had time to go to Paraty. The other place people told us was nice was Buzios.

I used to go to the Botanical gardens in Rio quite a lot which is lovely if you want a stroll through the rain forest. Also take a licensed taxi up to the Chinese vista point. You get an amazing view over Rio and there are waterfalls, rain forest trees etc.

It can be dangerous of course but your Brazilian dh will know the best action to keep you as safe as possible.

The weather will be getting nice and warm in November and I recommend Ipanema beach over Copacabana but I’m biased because I used to live there

There is a Carioca saying ‘don’t take anything to the beach that you don’t won’t to lose’

Have a lovely trip.

Also Paraty - lovely

Want to lose*

Hey OP, we went in 2019 for our honeymoon - we had 2 weeks and had a travel agency organise a tour for us, which we an absolute lifesaver as it included all transfers etc so we always felt safe and looked after.

We did:
Rio - botanical gardens, Sugar Loaf mountain, Tijuca Forest, the Copacabana...
Iguassu Falls - we did both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides but you could def just do Brazilian if easier - we loved both!
A few days in a lodge in the Amazon Rainforest, 2 hrs by speedboat from Manaus. Absolutely incredible and would 100% recommend if you're feeling adventurous. Absolutely no wifi, phone signal etc - great canoeing, crocodile spotting, piranha fishing, wild swimming, trekking through the forest. Definitely the trip highlight for us
Salvador - really pretty town with fascinating history, wonderful African heritage (although with really depressing/eye-opening stories of the slave trade). This was probably where we stuck out most as tourists though, a bit of harassment from locals and didn't feel comfortable wandering too far but we loved our hotel and the restaurants/bars in the main town square.

We always felt perfectly safe in Rio, just stuck to well-known areas, stayed in the upmarket touristy bit and did a couple of trips on the metro to museums etc - we didn't visit any favelas and mostly had a guide with us. I'm sure you'll be absolutely fine with DP!

Hope you have a great time!

Thanks for the suggestions! This has put my mind at ease. Can any of you remember the name of the hotels you stayed at? Thanks!

We stayed at PortoBay in Rio, had a balcony overlooking copacabana beach as well as the Sheraton. Both nice hotels, Sheraton area not as good and could hear gunshots in the favela which the waiter said was normal. PortoBay if overlooking the beach was very nice, good location though a man at breakfast was negiotiating buying prostitutes. He was after 1 and the woman was trying to give him 10 on a boat.

In Paraty we stayed in Pousada Bromelias which we loved though were lots of insects as in rainforest, very romantic place in rainforest. Was about 15 years ago so check current reviews for these.

We liked Rio but definitely felt a bit on edge at times there, especially on the drive to Santa Teresa. I’m sure it would have been better with someone with local knowledge. We stayed in Ipanema which was we liked.

If you could make it to Iguazu then I would really strongly recommend it, it was gorgeous. We stayed on the Argentine side but I’d visit from either rather than miss it out.

I lived in São Paulo for a year and went back to a Brazil twice on my own since, although last time was about 15 years ago (seems like we were all there around the same time!) I LOVE Brazil an£ would move there in a heartbeat.

Some of the places I loved:

Salvador is amazing, although they have 'cleaned' it up since the last time I was there - I understand it is less seedy but has lost a bit of the colour.

Rio is beautiful, but I did feel it was somewhat over-rated, for example Copacabana beach is lovely, but there is a really busy road right next to it!

I absolutely loved Brasilia - it is a strange place, feels like a film set in places! But I found it fascinating and could have happily spent longer there (I was only there for 3 days)

Belem- of all the places I went this was were I felt least safe, although it is a really interesting place

Curitiba - I loved it! When I was there it was a really forward thinking place - recycling bins everywhere, colour coded buses so you could see instantly if the bus was express, suburban, local etc. Libraries (shaped like lighthouses!) all over the place, incredible botanical gardens... it was one of the few places I went back to. Also, if you go there make time to go to Ilha do Mel - just gorgeous.

Florianopolis - amazing beaches!

Iguazu Falls - definitely worth a trip if you can.

Generally I felt safe - I speak Portuguese which I am sure helped get me out of some potentially sticky situations! Be sensible with valuable etc. Take/Buy a cheap plastic watch and phone when you are there. It will help massively that your DH is Brazilian.

You will have an amazing time wherever you go! (I'm very ! )

Forgot to mention Minas Gerais! Ouro Preto is lovely, and there are loads of beautiful colonial towns all around there (you can play spot the church - there are loads!)

I thought I'd update you all on how my trip went and just in case someone else reads this!

I really enjoyed it - I experienced no crime whatsoever, even going out at night wasn't a problem. I stayed at Fairmont on Copacabana in a suite which was stunning! We visited Christ Redeemer, Botanical Gardens, Museum of Tomorrow, the stadium, Pedra da Sal, Santa Teresa and we went to a place called Barra Da Tijuca for a few nights which was lovely. I did feel slightly on edge the first few days but quickly disappeared. We used the metro and I was surprised to see half of the carriage using their phones and not paying attention to their surroundings. I am already thinking about our next trip to Brazil as it's such a beautiful country from what I've seen and want to see more.

I actually had fewer problems in Rio than I did in Lisbon (constant offering of drugs, someone stole DH's sunglasses off his shirt, very shady areas).

Thanks all for your help!