Rio de Janeiro Travel Forum

I am looking for accommodation during Carnival 2009. I'm on a budget so have been looking at hostels. I'm not sure of the best place to base myself. I know that Lapa is close to all the action but am wary that it could be too loud and am worried about safety. I have found a cheap hostel in Botafogo but haven't heard much about this area, is it safe? Would it be too far away from the Sambadrome? Lastly, I was thinking of staying in Copacabana or Impanema but these are further away from the sambadrome - how is the transport with regards to cost and safety. Hopefully somebody out there has some good advice.

Thanks

The subway on Rio serves Copacabana (Siqueira Campos Station/Cardeal Arcoverde Station), Laranjeiras, Ipanema (General Osorio Station).
Sambodromo is near Central Station or President Vargas Station.
I am sendig below the link concerned with Rio's subway:
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagem:UBahnLinienbandRioDeJaneiro.png
Flats/Hotels:
Ipanema Tower
Ritz (Leblon)
Rio Internacional (Copacabana)
Copa D'Or (Copacabana)
Cassiovieggore

I usually stay in Che Lagarto in Copacabana. The hostel is beautifully located on Rua Anita Garibaldi, a pleasant street planted with trees, four blocks from the beach and very close to Siqueira Campos metro station.

Rua Anita Garibaldi 87
telephone: +0055 21 2256 2776
e-mail:copacabana@chelagarto.com
MSN: chelagartocopa@hotmail.com
http://www.chelagarto.com/copacabana-hostels.php

There are two more Che Lagarto hostels in Rio, one in Copacabana and the other in Ipanema, but I never stayed in none of them.

http://www.chelagarto.com/rio-de-janeiro-hostels.php

Wish you a wonderful stay in Rio and hope you'll enjoy the Carnival.

mira

cassiovieggore, she/he is looking for a low budget accomodation (cheap hostel) but I don't think 200 euros is one of the cheapest options - even for Rio.

in Rio's Carnaval a good way to get around and don't get stuck in the traffic is to get the metro, so Copacabana is a good choice and Botafogo either if the hostel is near the metro, Botafogo is a safe area in general. Besides that you go to Sambadrome only 1 night and not every night, so it doesn't really matter if you're staying in Ipanema or Copa.