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The Insider’s Guide to Rio & Brasil

By Letícia Duboc & Renata Guizzardi

When visiting a new city or a new country, nothing beats the recommendations of local people to find those spots and to have those experiences that shouldn’t be missed! Two of our RE’13 Organizing Committee, Letícia Duboc (Posters & Demos) and Renata Guizzardi (Student Volunteers), have put together their own insider’s guide for you to discover and enjoy both Rio and Brasil, “the local way”.

Letícia’s Top Things to do & Places to Visit in Rio:

Yes, there is more to Rio than Corcovado and Copacabana beach! Here are some not-so-touristy suggestions (most are free or really cheap!)

• Pista Cláudio Coutinho, from where you can climb to Morro da Urca, the intermediate stop of the cable car to the Sugar Loaf (watch out for the monkeys).
• Drink your own bottle of wine at one of the wooden decks at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas (near Parque dos Patins).
• Watch the sunset from Arpoador rock, on a clear day.
• Botanic Gardens. Lovely place to appreciate a wide variety of tropical plants. There is a free guided tour.
• Chácara do Céu Museum and Ruin Park in Santa Teresa. Lovely museum, with a nice garden, and the Ruin Park from where you can get a 270 degree view of Rio.
• Bahia de Guanabara boat trip, leaving from Marina da Glória. Only worth it on a sunny day.
• Fort Copacabana, to see Copacabana beach from a different angle and to have a nice coffee at Confeitaria Colombo (avoid weekends).
• Only if you happen to be in the neighborhood, check out the view from the terrace of Botafogo Praia Shopping (the shopping itself is not so nice).

Renata’s Top Things to do & Places to Visit in Rio:

• Go to the beach in Ipanema (better and a little less touristic than Copacabana - lots of local Girls of Ipanema there!), and stroll around the busy streets of this charming neighborhood. There are plenty of shops, some of them are the ones of the well-known brands, but some are very nice local shops with nicely designed souvenirs (be careful because there are also the regular souvenir shops, so you have to find the neat ones!), and locally made clothes and shoes (Brasilian style, quite nice!).
• Go to a Samba bar at Lapa. I personally like the one called “Carioca da Gema”, but there are plenty there. In this kind of bar, there are “rodas de samba”, which consist of local Samba bands playing and people dancing in a very democratic way (ranging from professional ones dancing really well to tourists trying to make their first steps). Also, there is a nice selection of typical Brasilian appetizers and dishes, cold local beer, caipirinhas, and other drinks. You can see the events that happen in this Bohemian neighborhood in their calendar. However, you will need the help of a local person because the info is only shown in Portuguese.
• Eating at “Porcão”, a rodízio-style restaurant where you can have the taste and experience of a Brasilian barbecue, which is different from everywhere else in the world. Great meat and, especially, lots and lots and lots of meat. You usually pay a fee and then, it is an all-you-can-eat place. Just be careful not to enjoy the side dishes too much (they are also delicious btw) because the whole point of going is to eat meat! : D
• Sunset at Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf), one of Rio’s top post card locations. Or, if you want another nice option for this time of the day, a well-known one for locals is Arpoador (in the junctions between Copacabana and Ipanema beach). Great landscape in both places and the warm feeling of the sun... very relaxing! I can just feel it right now! : )
• Barra da Tijuca beach. Although not that famous, this is my favorite beach. Clear water, nice fine sand, busy but not crowded everyday of the week. Also nice for afternoon walks. If you want to see pretty, very fit people, you might want to go to Pepê (this is a specific point in the beach, where there is a trailer that goes by this name). But otherwise, just pick any spot on the beach and you will be able to rent beach chairs and parasol, eat nice fruit salad, have coconut water, and enjoy the sun and the sea.
• For a bit of the history, you may visit Rio’s city center and Santa Teresa neighborhood. In the former, you may go to Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB) for nice exhibitions and to the traditional Colombo Cafe, which offers nice coffee and cakes, and it is decorated in the Portuguese style. In the latter, you may ride a cable car, see interesting graffiti and artistic galleries, and also have a look at the Portuguese architecture that was typical of Rio in colonial times.

Letícia’s Top 3 MUST-SEE Destinations in the Rest of Brasil:

1) Chapada Diamantina.

2) Lençóis Maranhenses.

3) Fernando de Noronha.

Renata’s Top 3 MUST-SEE Destinations in the Rest of Brasil

1) Close to Rio, there are nice beach towns, like Búzios, Angra dos Reis, and Paraty.

2) If you have more time to go further, I would go to the Northeast region: Bahia (locations: Salvador, Porto Seguro, and Morro de São Paulo), Maceió (not forgetting to visit the village of Maragogi, 1h30 from this city), and Natal. All these places have wonderful beaches and landscapes, also different local cultures and historical places to visit.

3) If you would like to see some of the tropical forest, I would go to Pantanal, which is an area in the center of Brasil, which is dry half of the year and flooded the other half. You will find lots of different animals, especially birds (beautiful birds of all colors). One specific nice location is Bonito because of its natural pools that go inside caves. Very distinct landscape and nice trekking routes.

We welcome you to Rio and Brasil, and we hope that you find these tips helpful in planning your travels. We will be more than happy to point you in the right direction if you come and find us at RE’13.

-- Letícia & Renata