Rio de Janeiro In April??

[W8PMC]

Morning all, i'm taking my 12yr old son to Rio next Easter & having never visited South America before, was after some pointers as to interesting places to visit during our 8 day stay.

Got the obvious ones like Christ the Redeemer & Sugar Loaf mountain, both of which will be done & we're staying on Copacabana Beach so will get to experience those highlights, but anything worth doing/seeing in the area that we should consider as may not get to return to this neck of the world within the next few years so would like to fill our trip with as much as is possible/affordable?

Thanks in advance.

[audidoody]

To be brutally honest, Rio is not the most appropriate destination for a 12-year-old.

There is the beach during the day and (adult-enertainment) night clubs at night but not much is geared towards keeping a kid entertained for eight days. Corcovado mountain (Christ The Redeemer) and Sugar Loaf can be done in an afternoon.

If you keep your wits about you it's safe. The key thing is to look like one of the locals.

There is a huge amount of petty opportunistic crime against gullible tourists. Not violent stuff - just hordes of street kids who will strip all the valuables from you before you know it.:

1. Don't venture back more than a few blocks from Copacabana strip
2. Never take anything out with you that you are not prepared to have stolen
3. Leave the expensive smartphone, watch and jewellery at home. Buy a cheap PAYG phone and a local SIM card/
4. Be aware that the many beautiful women who will approach you with a smile and offers of passing the time in a pleasurable way are not attracted to you because of your animal magnetism and charisma
5. If you need to carry stuff in a bag (e.g. camera, sunglasses case etc make sure its in a tatty old plastic bag).
6. Only use official taxis (yellow Beetles last time I was there).

Edited by audidoody on Monday 24th October 15:12

[Equilibrium25]

Yep, all that Audidoody said!

It's the best city I have ever been too, spent a fortnight there in 2007. It remains one of my most memorable holidays almost ten years on.

But you 100% need your wits about you and only carry what you are happy to not take home that evening.

We had a routine of leaving the hotel first thing, withdraw enough cash for the day, return bank card to hotel safe. That way, the worst happens you are £50 or whatever down.

Not sure how much of Rio is child friendly. The place is a blast and an amazing mixture of happiness and crime, wealth and poverty (the four points not being mutually exclusive, happy and poor is a big feature).

We booked a driver for a day through our hotel (on Copacabana) and hit all the major sights in 1 day.

Helicopter flights over copacabana/sugar loaf etc. are very common, your lad might enjoy that.

[W8PMC]

Massive thanks. I'm certainly aware of the crime issue, but would consider myself a sensible tourist & would apply that in any foreign country/city.

I've read the beach by day is well policed & only seen as a concern once it goes dark so we'd be avoiding that anyway once the sun sets. I'd really like to take my son to some authentic eateries rather than no doubt paying a premium in the hotel. We have what's described as one of the best breakfasts in Rio included in our room rate so will fill our boots AM & likely last until the evening, short of the occasional snack which we'll hopefully pick up from a local store early in our holiday & stash in the room.

Quite fancied the idea of a few day trips, even out of Rio into the surrounding countryside & have always found the accompanied (usually a car/taxi for the day) a great way to take in the sights & sounds in relative safety, being they know where to/not to go.

This will be a mix of all holiday requirements so some time will be spent at the hotel doing very little (son likely glued to snapchat/whatsapp etc.), but having never been to South America before i'd like the experience to reach wider than just that & also stretch outside of just being a city break. Are no rain forests or the like within easy reach or something more cultural than scantily clad women on the beach (being honest that was a key reason to me agreeing to my son's request of going to Rio).

[audidoody]

W8PMC said:

scantily clad women on the beach (being honest that was a key reason to me agreeing to my son's request of going to Rio).

Well if your son is after scantily-clad women he's going to hit the Mother Lode!

Just make sure you have plenty of cash and condoms!

And NEVER take them back to your hotel without them showing their ID to the front desk.

Edited by audidoody on Monday 24th October 19:38

[Equilibrium25]

W8PMC said:

Massive thanks. I'm certainly aware of the crime issue, but would consider myself a sensible tourist & would apply that in any foreign country/city.

I've read the beach by day is well policed & only seen as a concern once it goes dark so we'd be avoiding that anyway once the sun sets. I'd really like to take my son to some authentic eateries rather than no doubt paying a premium in the hotel.

I'll +1 to audidoody's comment again...scantily clad motherlode of the planet is Copacabana beach, once you've exhausted the 300,000 or so hotties there, you can stroll around the corner to Ipanema.

Petty crime happens on the beach in the day, it's easy for a pickpocket to disappear in that crowd, but not a major concern. Stay off the sand at night, but it's great fun to sit at one of the many beach-side kiosks and sip a beer/coke whilst watching a foot-volley game. Their skills are awesome.

In the day, having fresh coconut is THE way to refresh (before the next Caipirinha). They slice the top off, stick a straw in, and you have the freshest, coolest drink.

I don't know how inflation has affected things, but 10 years ago things were seriously cheap, even at restaurants (not hotels) in Copacabana and Ipanema. Fantastic argentinian steaks for £5 or £10 for instance. Step back a block or two from the beach (keeping it sensible) and you'll find plenty of bars and cafes where you can mix with the locals.

Another great authentic rio memory - we went to a small square somewhere in Centrum (sorry, can't be more specific, some local girls took us there in a cab). Hundreds of locals, samba drums beating from every alleyway (we were there for Carneval), hot food stalls, caipirinhas from stands, a crazily energetic guy hammering at a set of drums in 5/10 minute sets with sweat pouring off him. Might not sound very child friendly, but there were plenty of local families there. Amazing memories.

We didn't go further out of town than Christ the Redeemer (it's a nice forested drive up there) or see any wildlife apart from the Sugar Loaf monkeys, but I am sure your hotel will be able to set you up some out of town trips or put you in touch with someone who can. Probably worth emailing them to find out. We stayed at the Pestana Atlantica (iirc), rooms were nothing special, but nice staff and a great rooftop pool and bar overlooking Copacabana.

I must stop typing now, god I miss Rio!

[W8PMC]

audidoody said:

Well if your son is after scantily-clad women he's going to hit the Mother Lode!

Just make sure you have plenty of cash and condoms!

And NEVER take them back to your hotel without them showing their ID to the front desk.

Edited by audidoody on Monday 24th October 19:38

As appealing as that sounds, my son will only be approaching 13yrs old when we travel so I don't think i'll be in a position to bring any such ladies back to the hotel, with or without ID. His Mother I imagine would be somewhat scathing of such activities so probably won't require the condoms (although thinking out loud I could perhaps change the hotel booking to 2 rooms)

Thanks for all the suggestions, I think that gives me a suitable idea of what to expect/look for.