New years in Rio de Janeiro- any advice?

[Berlin]

Hi guys,

I'll be traveling South America with my partner over the holidays this year and as part of that, we'll be in Rio over new year. I've been told that just jumping into the fun with Millions of other people at the Copacabana is not the smartest idea as the chance of being mugged or 'losing something' would be quite high.

A friend of mine mentioned that most hotels on the strip have parties on that night which allow you to see all that's happening but within the safety of an enclosed venue. Now, it might just be that German soul inside of me who ideally wants to book everything months in advance, but it has been incredibly difficult to find any information online. I always end up on rather dodgy looking ticket re-seller pages who clearly want to make a buck with unsuspecting tourists. I remember my friend mentioned he just bought some tickets the day before right here and there but that just feels far too risky for me- what if we end up with nothing, standing densely packed behind a wall of locals and not seeing any fireworks at all? This would totally mess with our entire holiday and if I have to part with $500 per ticket so be it. But I don't want to do that and then find out we could have paid half that in person.

Staying at our hotel is not an option as we're one beach further on Ipanema. We've contacted the Concierge (at the Sheraton) but he obviously didn't even bother reading my friendly email and instead just send us their hotel dinner packaged (great service, Sheraton). Any advice where to get more info, specifically for parties on New years eve? Anyone having any first hand experience? Thanks a lot already!

 

[Janusjiang]

I'm planning to go to Rio as well. Is safety really that bad?

 

[Berlin]

I'm planning to go to Rio as well. Is safety really that bad?

I'm in process of writing a very detailed trip report and will post that soon hopefully (I came back with a really bad infection that I most likely got in Argentina, not in Brazil so I was out for a while).

In short: We were really really deeply disappointed by Buenos Aires but we loved loved loved Rio. All that talk of safety seemed totally over the top, as long as you display normal safety caution as you would even here in Australia. We even walked right through the masses at the Copacabana on New Year's night and to be honest- New Years in Amsterdam or Berlin (where gangs of kiddies tend to throw their fireworks after innocent passer-bys or at cars passing) feels much more like a war zone than Rio!

The favelas (slums) of course are visible everywhere but who would want to go there as a tourist! We also saw a group of elderly Germans noisily arguing which direction to go to, right in the hours leading to midnight on NYE and they (and their clearly visible money belts that were strapped to the fat bellies under their shirts) attracted lots of attention by the 'wrong' people. I was damn glad to have my Aussie passport these days because such behavior is just scaringly stupid. In other words: Don't take unnecessary risks, use Uber (we used it all the time and it was SO much safer than the often dodgy looking cabs plus you don't need cash) whenever necessary and otherwise have fun. It's a great city with awesome beaches and mostly friendly and fun people. Bonus- we felt that more people spoke English there than in the rest of South America and were rather a bit cut if we tried in Spanish instead. So no issues at all from that perspective either!

 

[juddles]

Sorry, I have no real advice - (as in Brazil experience) - I just saw the thread title and loved it.

I agree with the comments - some tourists make such an effort to be a target - don't do that.

As far as booking something, cannot help you with that, but as far as safety and enjoyment, start off with the high - you will be in Rio on New Year's!!! That is awesome!!! But plan the basics. Nothing flashy like those infernal money belts to attract attention. Instead maybe tuck your important stuff into a deep pocket, and carry a cheap wallet with a few hundred dollars in that you can happily give to any mugger. The odds of being mugged are very very low - and to get mugged twice in one night means you are just doing everything wrong. So carry that throw-away wallet, happily hand it over, then keep on enjoying the night

 

[Berlin]

Good ones! Only to add to it (and that's what some friends of mine who live in Colombia had told me and it works always quite well: Only carry a little amount of local cash on you and maybe one or two credit cards which you could quite easily block and cancel if it comes to a mugging or theft (or one that only has a tiny limit- that's also a good way to do it!). Leave passport and IDs in the hotel safe and rather make photocopies of these documents which you carry in your wallet. Will be good enough if you need to show to someone like the police but nothing's lost in the worst case.
And I also re-instated a backup of my Iphone onto a much older gen Iphone I had left from the past. The phone was a bit sluggish but still good enough to call an Uber or look at a map and if someone had stolen it- well, better an iPhone 5 than an iPhoneX!

 

[OZDUCK]

. Bonus- we felt that more people spoke English there than in the rest of South America and were rather a bit cut if we tried in Spanish instead. So no issues at all from that perspective either!

I am not trying to be facetious, but is the Portuguese in Brazil similar enough to the Spanish from the other South American countries so as to enable easy communication. I know that there are some differences between Spanish "Spanish" and that spoken in South America (with regional differences as well) so I am not sure how similar it is. I have a fantastic/terrible facility to mangle any foreign language I try to speak so I am I am interested if a foreigner can pick up the differences easily.

 

[juddles]

I am not trying to be facetious, but is the Portuguese in Brazil similar enough to the Spanish from the other South American countries so as to enable easy communication. I know that there are some differences between Spanish "Spanish" and that spoken in South America (with regional differences as well) so I am not sure how similar it is. I have a fantastic/terrible facility to mangle any foreign language I try to speak so I am I am interested if a foreigner can pick up the differences easily.

OZDUCK, I have lived in Chile and Colombia for most of my life - my spanish is solid. But I just cannot speak / understand portuguese! Reading is fine - the written language is similar enough that I can understand probably 80% of it. But verbal - for me it just does not work And Portuguese friends complain incessantly about the coughized version of their language that is spoken in Brazil

 

[juddles]

Good ones! Only to add to it (and that's what some friends of mine who live in Colombia had told me and it works always quite well: Only carry a little amount of local cash on you and maybe one or two credit cards which you could quite easily block and cancel if it comes to a mugging or theft (or one that only has a tiny limit- that's also a good way to do it!). Leave passport and IDs in the hotel safe and rather make photocopies of these documents which you carry in your wallet. Will be good enough if you need to show to someone like the police but nothing's lost in the worst case.
And I also re-instated a backup of my Iphone onto a much older gen Iphone I had left from the past. The phone was a bit sluggish but still good enough to call an Uber or look at a map and if someone had stolen it- well, better an iPhone 5 than an iPhoneX!

I agree as to being prepared. I live in Colombia (where all sports such as robbery are developed to a high degree), and I have been robbed quite a few times. I disagree with the "only carry a little amount of cash" though - robbers are engaged in a high-risk activity, and if they can get a couple of hundred dollars easy cash, will be happy and will let you go quickly - which is what you want. My worst experience was when I only had the equivalent of one dollar on me - this enraged them, and that day was not amongst my prettiest. But what I have learnt is that having the dummy wallet, WITH a decent amount of cash in it, is an amazing thing to have ready if you are one of the very small amount of people who actually does get robbed. If you are unlucky enough to get into such a situation, trust me, you will be so happy that you lost a few hundred bucks and the thieves left quickly.

People happily spend a grand on travel insurance, but in a high-risk crime area, that is all meaningless. 2 or 3 hundred US dollars is enough to satisfy almost any street robber, and you walk away alive. To me a simple equation.

P.S. I completely agree regarding only carrying photocopies of passport. Never had a problem doing that. So much easier than facing a day in a foreign country having had your travel docs stolen. But then you have to leave the real docs in your hotel - which is an art all in itself

 

[Berlin]

I agree as to being prepared. I live in Colombia (where all sports such as robbery are developed to a high degree), and I have been robbed quite a few times. I disagree with the "only carry a little amount of cash" though - robbers are engaged in a high-risk activity, and if they can get a couple of hundred dollars easy cash, will be happy and will let you go quickly - which is what you want.

Apologies, I now realize that my advice was a bit misleading- 100 or 200 Dollar or equivalent to it was what I had meant by "a little amount of cash" and what my friend (who also happens to live in Colombia) had told me. I'm in total agreement- 200$ and a cheap mobile phone for anyone's life, that shouldn't be too difficult a decision!

But with all this talk, it's important to remember that this shouldn't be a reason not to visit those places. Rio, very much like Colombia, is definitely places I would recommend to anyone to visit. And have lots of fun doing so!