Labor Day Weekend in Rio: Getting There, Getting Around, and General Impressions
In honor of the ongoing 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, I’ve decided to publish some previously un-published blog entries that I already had written about my trip there last September. I’m not going to change anything since these were my thoughts immediately upon returning from Rio. Also included are some pictures from the soccer futbol game I attended at the famed Maracana Stadium.
For previous installments from this trip, please see the links below:
Introduction
Ten Things I Did in Rio
Revew: JW Marriott Rio de Janeiro
An entry from a previous stop in Rio:
Getting there and Getting around
As previously mentioned, a group of friends and I booked this trip down to Rio due to an extremely low price that was offered by United last February for Rio flights leaving Orlando. This forced me into a pretty crazy routing, as I flew all over the place to and from Rio. Getting down there, I flew Washington to Orlando to Houston to Rio. And on the way back, I flew Rio to Houston to Denver to Orlando to Washington. Yeah — that’s a lot of flying. But hey, I got mad miles for it, and I slept most of the time, so it wasn’t all that bad!
The flights were nothing terrible, and nothing great to speak of. Since my long flights were in economy class, I don’t find those particularly interesting, so I’ll hold off on a full-fledged flight review. I did get a very roomy first row of economy plus behind BusinessFirst on United’s B777-200 (two-class, pre-merger Continental configuration). This was great because it featured even more leg room than the standard Economy Plus, and there was only a bulkhead in front of me — not another seat.
Getting to and from the Beaches from GIG
Ground Transportation to and from the beaches (Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, and Barra)
We arrived at Rio de Janeiro’s Galieleo International Airport around 9:30am and proceeded directly through immigration and customs. Since this was not my first time in Brazil, I already had obtained a Brazil Visa, which is necessary for entrance to the country for US citizens. We pre-arranged a shuttle to our hotels through shuttlerio.com. This cost 20 real per person, each way, and it a pretty good deal. Considering the Real Onibus is 13 real per person each way to the beaches, the extra 7 real is definitely worth it since the shuttle takes a much more direct path to the beach with fewer stops. The shuttle took a little less than an hour to get to the JW Marriott on Copacabana, while the bus can take 90 minutes to two hours at times.
For detailed information on taking the Real Onibus to or from GIG to the beaches, see this post: Eight Hours in Rio de Janeiro.
Our trip back to the airport took well over two hours on the Real Onibus from Copacabana, so be sure to allot plenty of time. In fact, be sure to allot plenty of time no matter which mode of transportation you choose — the traffic in Rio is horrendous.
During the next three days, I did a whole bunch of different activities. From lounging on Copacabana and Ipanema Beaches to visiting Cristo Redentor to attending a Botafogo soccer game at the famed Marancana Stadium – I had a packed three days.
Transportation along the beaches
The three major beaches in Rio are Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon (from north to south). While Ipanema and Leblon are connected, there’s a mountain between Copacabana and Ipanema, so transit is needed. There are a series of public buses that run every 5-10 minutes from multiple stops along all beaches, so that’s the cheapest and easiest way to get from one spot to another. Since I was with a group, we found it easier to just take a cab to meet different parts of our group at Ipanema. Split three ways, the cab was quick and cheap.
Seeing the sights (Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain)
There are various tour operators that can arrange a trip for you to either of these landmarks. Since we had a group, we hired a guide who took us everywhere in a minibus — it was really fantastic, and I highly recommend you look into that route just for convenience sake. Otherwise, you can easily take a cab to Sugarloaf Mountain. Cabbing to Christ the Redeemer could be a little more complicated. You can either cab to the base of the mountain and take a tramway up, or you can cab all the way to the top. You can likely negotiate a round trip rate for the cabbie to wait for you up top, but I imagine it would be a tad pricey.
General Impressions
Admittedly, I was a bit apprehensive about my trip to Rio, simply because of Brazil’s somewhat negative reputation due to the violence in Rio and other large cities. After spending four days there, I am happy to report that at no point did I feel in danger in any way, shape, or form. Granted, you need to be aware as you do in any large city, but from my experience, the danger of Rio did not apply. Now, do keep in mind that I stuck to the upper end beach communities of Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon during my time, there – it wasn’t like I was roaming favelas at 3am. Still, most tourists – especially from the US – focus their time on those beach communities anyway.
One big takeaway from the time I spent there was the terrible, terrible traffic. It took two hours to get from the beach to the airport, and traffic in general was gridlock – especially during anytime close to traditional rush hours.
The single most attractive quality of Rio – its location on the ocean and along the mountains are it’s single biggest challenge. Due to these geographical restrictions, infrastructure is pretty poor in Rio. I honestly cannot imagine how they will successfully rectify their infrastructure and improve it enough to successfully host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. I imagine the city will come to a literal stand-still for those 16 days. Rio may survive next summer’s FIFA World Cup, simply because the event will be spread throughout 12 different cities in Brazil, and only 5-6 games will actually be held in Rio.
Despite these infrastructure deficiencies, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Rio. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited anywhere in the World. I am completely looking forward to returning sometime soon… will I be there for the World Cup next summer? There’s a very good chance!
