Rio de Janeiro Travel Forum

My cousin and I are visiting Rio next year for Carnival. I'm researching now so I can find out as much as I can about hotels, hostels, carnival and rio in general, as well as any other info that would help make this the trip of a lifetime for us. We'll be staying for 4 or 5 nights. Any suggestions on which Hotels are best or staying in a hostel versus a hotel would be extremely helpful. Also anyone that went to carnival this year or last year that could offer some tips and info about ticket prices and where their seats were would also be greatly appreciated. I'm so excited and have so many questions, so any info I can get would be a priceless. I'm new to this site, but I love to travel and it's a wealth of information from what I've seen so far. I love it! Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing from my new virtual family :0)

Here's the Carnaval site you can buy tickets from--all the info, maps, descriptions, etc.

Check www.ipanema.com for a lot of accomodation choices by neighborhood and price---good maps.
Accomodations are sold as packages for Carnaval, are very expensive and fill VERY early. Hostel vs. hotel vs. rented apartment is a matter of price and comfort.
Ipanema is a good neighborhood, right by the beach, if you can find something affordable.
If you're interested in hostels, there is a whole little street of them at 175/177 Rua BArao de Torre in Ipanema.

Carnival in Rio is very expensive. Hotels usually have 5 day packages at double or triple their normal daily rates. Hostels are also expensive for what you get. 4-5 days in a dorm room with 4-6 other people at 800.reais or more per person. Depending on how long you stay you could be better off with a private apartment. they usually have 7-10 day package deals at lower prices that Hotels. We rented a studio for 9 days for last years Carnival and paid 2,000.reais.

Hi Nodd-n,

I would be interested to know how you booked an apartment and where. This seems like a good option for us and we would be grateful if you could give us any info eg. a link or apartment name.

Thanks