Rio/Iguassu
Rio/Iguassu
I will be travelling to Rio on the 22 Jan and would be very grateful if anyone has any hotel/restaurant recommendations. My boyfriend and I are going to Rio for a weeks holiday and are looking for mid-ranged accommodation in a good location.
We will also be flying down to the Iguassu Falls and will be looking for accommodation here too.
We anticipate booking the Iguassu trip (flights/accommodation) whilst in Rio - is this a good idea or is it better to arrange from the UK?
Many thanks
Answers:
This is going to be loooong...sorry in advance!
Stay in Ipanema rather than Copacabana if you can. When mistermae was posted there with work for 7 months, we stayed at the Everest Rio, a block from the beach. It's less crowded/touristy, and an easy (and cheap!) taxi ride to Copacabana. The beaches were much less crowded, but enough so that I could do plenty of people watching. It is more expensive, though, so you might want to have a look around.
One thing I just thought of - when you get to the airport, don't use one of the taxi companies on the inside, go outside and get a taxi from the rank.
I think January is the rainy season - that's something you might want to check. I just went on weather.com, and it looks as if you're in for some
sunny weather.
You should have dinner one night at the Copacabana Palace - it is pricey, but well worth it.
On a Sunday afternoon, go to the beach and then go to Garota de Ipanema for feijoida (fway-jwah-duh, not sure of the correct spelling, but that's the pronunciation) and a caipirinha, which is the traditional Sunday meal. Kind of like a Sunday roast for warm weather! After that, go to the hippie market at the General Ozorio square. Look for the jeweler named Leo - I got some beautiful turquoise and sterling jewellery from him. You'll find some fantastic bargains.
I did more shoe shopping when I was there than I have ever done before or since (and I'm a shoe person), so try to leave room in your suitcase for a few pairs.
When we went to Iguassu - one of the most gorgeous places on earth!!!! - we stayed at the hotel in the national park on the Brazil side. We went across the border on a day trip (the hotel arranges these) to Argentina and took a boat trip, which I highly recommend. I'd go ahead and arrange it now, before you leave. There are some hotels outside of the park, but you have to pay to get into the park (if I remember correctly). We went through a tour operator, but that was in Brazil and we were there several weeks before we planned to go.
Also, here are some tips from a 'Carioca' (native) that were extremely helpful to me:
***As a promised, here are some tips:
1) Beaches – You must go to Barra da Tijuca. It is an enormous beach and the sea is very clear. The most famous point is called PEPE. You will see a lot of people and windsurfers there.
On Sundays, it is nice to walk on the board walk along Leblon, Ipanema and Arpoador. All “cariocas” do this. After this, if you want to swim, go to Posto 9 in Ipanema beach.
Don’t go to the beach in Sao Conrado or Copacabana! Copacana is only for tourists and, you know, it is not safe.
2) Malls – The most fashionable mall in Rio is Sao Conrado Fashion Mall, but it is the most expensive too. Barra Shopping or Rio Sul is other good malls.
If you wanna buy clothes for you go to Ecletic, Shop126, Fernanda Chies and Animale.
For men clothes, definitely you must see Richard’s.
For shoes you may go to Mr. Cat, Arezzo or Andarela.
Everything will be cheap for you, as R$1 is almost U$3.5.
If you wanna have a very “carioca” thing, buy the Havaina sandals. You can find it in every store on the streets. Choose one color and go everywhere with them!
You will find great accessories in many places, including market streets.
Around Ipanema you will find great stores (especially near Visconde de Piraja e Anibal de Mendonca streets).
You will find fancy bikinis at Salinas or Blue Man, they are my favorites!
Most of our stores don’t open on Sundays.
On Sundays you can go to a market street in General Ozorio square in Ipanema. It is really interesting.
3) In the afternoon, or in the morning on the weekends, walk around Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. For me it is the most beautiful scenario in Rio. It is good for biking, jogging or just walking. There is a park, called Catacumba nearby. It is like a small mountain and if you walk to the top you will have a wonderful view of the city.
4) Restaurants:
+ Porcao Rio’s or Marius – for a Brazilian barbecue
+ Academia da Cachaca (Leblon) – don’t lose this, because there you will find the famous “caipirinhas”. For eat: escondidinho de carne seca and caldinho de feijao.
+ Cobal (Leblon) – it is a fruit and vegetable market during the day, but at night you can find many bars and people! Get a pizza and a beer. It is very close to the Academia da Cachaca above.
+ For a snack, have a Pao de Queijo. You must try it!
+ Our tradicional soda is guarana’. Take a guarana’ instead a coke, ok?
+ For a quick lunch or after the beach, it is very typical for cariocas: a sandwich (not a hamburger!) with a natural fruit juice. There are great ones in Bibi Sucos in Leblon (you have to try the Acai’ juice and spinach and minas cheese sandwich).
5) I don’t know a lot about night clubs, but “Nuth” is a very good one in Barra da Tijuca (after 11:00pm!).
6) Tourists points: Corcovado and Sugar Loaf.
7) Downtown: There you can find old buildings. Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil and Municipal Theater are great to see. Go in business days because you will be surprised with so many people on the streets!
Rio, as the most of big cities, is not safe. Don’t go out with you a lot of money or a nice watch…. Try to stay only around Ipanema, Leblon and Barra da Tijuca. I know that you have to see Copacabana, but nowadays it is not so interesting and it is not safe, especially at night.
Feel free to ask me more about it, right?
Enjoy it!
Luciana***
HTH - ellie
Answers:
You're going to have such a fab time. Rio is my number 1 city out of all that I've visited and Iguassu is mind-blowing!
I would reallly really recommend Arpoador Inn to stay in in Rio. It's on the Copacabana side of Ipanema. Arpoador is basically the small peninsula that separates Ipanema and Copacabana. It's a mid-range hotel (prob 3 star) and they have a range of rooms. We stayed there over New Year a couple of years ago so prices were double the norm. If I remember rightly smallest rooms started at about US$40 for 2 at non-festival times, including a good buffet breakfast. It is the only hotel in Rio that is actually on the beach. All others are over the other side of the beachfront road. Whilst you have breakfast you can watch all the cariocans power walking along the beach before breakfast. Think the seaview rooms are double the price and may be worth it for the balconies, but depends on your budget. Cheapest rooms were small, but perfectly functional. Mid priced rooms face the street and are larger. Bit noisier, but the one we had did actually have a bit of a beach view if you stuck your head out of the window. (Enough to get a fab sunset snap over Ipanema beach!)
We booked our trip to Iguassu when we were in Rio. We stayed at the lovely posh hotel in the park on the Brazilian side too. Well worth the cash if you can do it because it is seriously romantic! (My OH proposed last year and said that the only other time he seriously contemplated doing it was watching the sunset over the Iguassu Falls from the top of that hotel - not planned at all - just because it was v v romantic).
It was fine to book it all from Rio, but obviously did take a bit of shopping about. Loads of small travel agents in Copacabana. You probably save some money booking there, but depends on budget vs having more sight seeing time i guess.
In Iguassu def take a trip to the Argentinian side. Book the tour with the hotel. Don't do what we did - try and save pennies by going on local buses and end up stranded somewhere on a busy road in Argentina having missed the last bus and having to take a pricey taxi home. Oops!
Do the boat ride in Argentina not Brazil. Way more expensive in Brazil and you don't get to go as close to the falls because most belong to Argentina.
I also enjoyed visiting the bird park on the Brazilian side - probably because I have an abnormal obssession with toucans and you got very close to some semi-tame ones.
Other tips:
Drink lots of Caiparinha on the beach
Do the favella tour (can't remember name or company, but think there's only one. V interesting and not voyeuristic, as we feared it would be!)
The usuals - Sugar Loaf, Corcovada, Santa Theresa tram, wander round Centro area taking in the real mix of architecture
Have a fab fab time!!!
I will be travelling to Rio on the 22 Jan and would be very grateful if anyone has any hotel/restaurant recommendations. My boyfriend and I are going to Rio for a weeks holiday and are looking for mid-ranged accommodation in a good location.
We will also be flying down to the Iguassu Falls and will be looking for accommodation here too.
We anticipate booking the Iguassu trip (flights/accommodation) whilst in Rio - is this a good idea or is it better to arrange from the UK?
Many thanks
Answers:
This is going to be loooong...sorry in advance!
Stay in Ipanema rather than Copacabana if you can. When mistermae was posted there with work for 7 months, we stayed at the Everest Rio, a block from the beach. It's less crowded/touristy, and an easy (and cheap!) taxi ride to Copacabana. The beaches were much less crowded, but enough so that I could do plenty of people watching. It is more expensive, though, so you might want to have a look around.
One thing I just thought of - when you get to the airport, don't use one of the taxi companies on the inside, go outside and get a taxi from the rank.
I think January is the rainy season - that's something you might want to check. I just went on weather.com, and it looks as if you're in for some
sunny weather.
You should have dinner one night at the Copacabana Palace - it is pricey, but well worth it.
On a Sunday afternoon, go to the beach and then go to Garota de Ipanema for feijoida (fway-jwah-duh, not sure of the correct spelling, but that's the pronunciation) and a caipirinha, which is the traditional Sunday meal. Kind of like a Sunday roast for warm weather! After that, go to the hippie market at the General Ozorio square. Look for the jeweler named Leo - I got some beautiful turquoise and sterling jewellery from him. You'll find some fantastic bargains.
I did more shoe shopping when I was there than I have ever done before or since (and I'm a shoe person), so try to leave room in your suitcase for a few pairs.
When we went to Iguassu - one of the most gorgeous places on earth!!!! - we stayed at the hotel in the national park on the Brazil side. We went across the border on a day trip (the hotel arranges these) to Argentina and took a boat trip, which I highly recommend. I'd go ahead and arrange it now, before you leave. There are some hotels outside of the park, but you have to pay to get into the park (if I remember correctly). We went through a tour operator, but that was in Brazil and we were there several weeks before we planned to go.
Also, here are some tips from a 'Carioca' (native) that were extremely helpful to me:
***As a promised, here are some tips:
1) Beaches – You must go to Barra da Tijuca. It is an enormous beach and the sea is very clear. The most famous point is called PEPE. You will see a lot of people and windsurfers there.
On Sundays, it is nice to walk on the board walk along Leblon, Ipanema and Arpoador. All “cariocas” do this. After this, if you want to swim, go to Posto 9 in Ipanema beach.
Don’t go to the beach in Sao Conrado or Copacabana! Copacana is only for tourists and, you know, it is not safe.
2) Malls – The most fashionable mall in Rio is Sao Conrado Fashion Mall, but it is the most expensive too. Barra Shopping or Rio Sul is other good malls.
If you wanna buy clothes for you go to Ecletic, Shop126, Fernanda Chies and Animale.
For men clothes, definitely you must see Richard’s.
For shoes you may go to Mr. Cat, Arezzo or Andarela.
Everything will be cheap for you, as R$1 is almost U$3.5.
If you wanna have a very “carioca” thing, buy the Havaina sandals. You can find it in every store on the streets. Choose one color and go everywhere with them!
You will find great accessories in many places, including market streets.
Around Ipanema you will find great stores (especially near Visconde de Piraja e Anibal de Mendonca streets).
You will find fancy bikinis at Salinas or Blue Man, they are my favorites!
Most of our stores don’t open on Sundays.
On Sundays you can go to a market street in General Ozorio square in Ipanema. It is really interesting.
3) In the afternoon, or in the morning on the weekends, walk around Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. For me it is the most beautiful scenario in Rio. It is good for biking, jogging or just walking. There is a park, called Catacumba nearby. It is like a small mountain and if you walk to the top you will have a wonderful view of the city.
4) Restaurants:
+ Porcao Rio’s or Marius – for a Brazilian barbecue
+ Academia da Cachaca (Leblon) – don’t lose this, because there you will find the famous “caipirinhas”. For eat: escondidinho de carne seca and caldinho de feijao.
+ Cobal (Leblon) – it is a fruit and vegetable market during the day, but at night you can find many bars and people! Get a pizza and a beer. It is very close to the Academia da Cachaca above.
+ For a snack, have a Pao de Queijo. You must try it!
+ Our tradicional soda is guarana’. Take a guarana’ instead a coke, ok?
+ For a quick lunch or after the beach, it is very typical for cariocas: a sandwich (not a hamburger!) with a natural fruit juice. There are great ones in Bibi Sucos in Leblon (you have to try the Acai’ juice and spinach and minas cheese sandwich).
5) I don’t know a lot about night clubs, but “Nuth” is a very good one in Barra da Tijuca (after 11:00pm!).
6) Tourists points: Corcovado and Sugar Loaf.
7) Downtown: There you can find old buildings. Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil and Municipal Theater are great to see. Go in business days because you will be surprised with so many people on the streets!
Rio, as the most of big cities, is not safe. Don’t go out with you a lot of money or a nice watch…. Try to stay only around Ipanema, Leblon and Barra da Tijuca. I know that you have to see Copacabana, but nowadays it is not so interesting and it is not safe, especially at night.
Feel free to ask me more about it, right?
Enjoy it!
Luciana***
HTH - ellie
Answers:
You're going to have such a fab time. Rio is my number 1 city out of all that I've visited and Iguassu is mind-blowing!
I would reallly really recommend Arpoador Inn to stay in in Rio. It's on the Copacabana side of Ipanema. Arpoador is basically the small peninsula that separates Ipanema and Copacabana. It's a mid-range hotel (prob 3 star) and they have a range of rooms. We stayed there over New Year a couple of years ago so prices were double the norm. If I remember rightly smallest rooms started at about US$40 for 2 at non-festival times, including a good buffet breakfast. It is the only hotel in Rio that is actually on the beach. All others are over the other side of the beachfront road. Whilst you have breakfast you can watch all the cariocans power walking along the beach before breakfast. Think the seaview rooms are double the price and may be worth it for the balconies, but depends on your budget. Cheapest rooms were small, but perfectly functional. Mid priced rooms face the street and are larger. Bit noisier, but the one we had did actually have a bit of a beach view if you stuck your head out of the window. (Enough to get a fab sunset snap over Ipanema beach!)
We booked our trip to Iguassu when we were in Rio. We stayed at the lovely posh hotel in the park on the Brazilian side too. Well worth the cash if you can do it because it is seriously romantic! (My OH proposed last year and said that the only other time he seriously contemplated doing it was watching the sunset over the Iguassu Falls from the top of that hotel - not planned at all - just because it was v v romantic).
It was fine to book it all from Rio, but obviously did take a bit of shopping about. Loads of small travel agents in Copacabana. You probably save some money booking there, but depends on budget vs having more sight seeing time i guess.
In Iguassu def take a trip to the Argentinian side. Book the tour with the hotel. Don't do what we did - try and save pennies by going on local buses and end up stranded somewhere on a busy road in Argentina having missed the last bus and having to take a pricey taxi home. Oops!
Do the boat ride in Argentina not Brazil. Way more expensive in Brazil and you don't get to go as close to the falls because most belong to Argentina.
I also enjoyed visiting the bird park on the Brazilian side - probably because I have an abnormal obssession with toucans and you got very close to some semi-tame ones.
Other tips:
Drink lots of Caiparinha on the beach
Do the favella tour (can't remember name or company, but think there's only one. V interesting and not voyeuristic, as we feared it would be!)
The usuals - Sugar Loaf, Corcovada, Santa Theresa tram, wander round Centro area taking in the real mix of architecture
Have a fab fab time!!!