Rio de Janeiro - Part 1

Arrival

We had a night flight from Frankfurt to Rio, so we arrived very early in Rio. The transfer was organized by the hotel (Injoy Hostel in Botafogo) and cost 85 BRL. Already at the taxi ride we experienced that knowing some phrases in Portuguese is very important.

Day 1

After getting a short introduction by our receptionist, our room was ready – we did not have to pay extra for the early check in at around 06:00 am. We started our first day of sightseeing by going to the Parque Lage (free entrance). We used the public bus, which was easy, safe and cheap (3.80 BRL for a single ride – wave your hand to stop the bus; buy the ticket on the bus).

The Parque Lage itself was great. You see monkeys running around and you get a sort of rain forest feeling while being actually in a large city. If you want to take a hike up to the Christ the Redeemer, you would start here. After having a coffee at the small café, we continued walking to the lake Lagoa.

On our way we found a small market where vegetables and other food was sold. Here we already had our first traditional dish: Tapioca with cheese and one with banana – both were delicious.

When you continue walking close to the lake, you will get to the famous Ipanema beach. Unfortunately the weather was not that great, so it was not really busy on the beach. Still, we enjoyed having a caipirinha and a coco gelado at the beach. To go back to the hotel, we used the metro – again simple to use as any other metro system in the world. A single ride is 4.30 BRL.

Botafogo is a nice area to stay. We did not feel unsafe at all, you have several restaurants around and the metro station is close by.

Day 2

On the next day in the morning we went to the train stop to go up to Christ the Redeemer, bus number 584 brought us there. The advantage of travelling to Brazil in May is that you don’t have any lines, so we did not have to wait at all to buy the tram ticket for about 50 BRL (includes a return ride and entrance to the park). Sit on the right hand side to get some nice views when you go up there, but don’t worry too much if you have to sit left – the views from the top are even greater than during the ride. Be aware that the Corcovado has an altitude of 710 meters, it can be quite windy. You have a souvenir shop and a restaurant up there, but other than enjoying the views there is not that much to do.

After going doing again with the tram, we took another bus to go to Ipanema. Every Saturday there is a so called “Hippie Market” where you can buy paintings, handcrafts and other things. You can really find some nice things there. We also tried out some of the typical fried snacks (one like a fish pie the other something with chicken) but were not really impressed.

In the afternoon we wanted to do something else typical Brazilian: watch a soccer game at the famous Estádio do Maracanã. Even if you are not a big soccer fan the experience is just great. We initially booked a package from our hotel, including transfer and the ticket. Luckily, they messed up our booking, so we went there on our own using the metro. We bought the tickets directly at the stadium (again kind of difficult if you don’t speak Portuguese). In the end it was about half the price as if we would have gotten the package from our hotel. By chance we chose the right sector, so we could celebrate a 1:0 victory with the Vasco da Gama fans against Botafogo.

In the evening we had Picanha (another thing you have to try if you like meat) for dinner close to our hotel in Botafogo.

Back to the full itinerary & FAQs
Video: 50 things to do in Brazil