Rio de Janeiro Travel Forum

How is Security in a Rio de Janeiro . I am planing to travel this summer.

There is a lot of bad publicity in the media about crime in Rio which gets blown further out of proportion as it is passed between one person who has never been there to another. There is some tourist crime that you can take lengths to avoid by remaining vigilant, taking along your street smarts, and not walking around displaying your valuables. Reality: Most tourists will leave Rio unscathed. :-)

Be very very careful. Rio is not a safe place. Street crime can happen day or night, it did to me, in the daylight walking down a main street in Copacabana, 5 young men on bikes armed with knives. Enjoy the view of all the beautiful homes near the beach in Copacabana and Ipanema, that is if you can see them for the gates that surround them and the armed guards with guns that protect each and every one of the them. Rio for me, never again!

Sorry to hear of your experience, yvr, but this is NOT THE NORM for visiting tourists. When it occurs, it may be just a case of wrong time-wrong place bad luck, but it is often because someone ignored all the widely published "common sense" advice, and I see no reason to further publicize gory details which scare potential visitors ro such a marvelous city unnecessarily. I have spent considerable time in Rio over the last decade and have come to no harm whatsoever. The poster should have a pleasant experience exploring all the music, history and natural beauty the city has to offer.

The only problems I experienced were with the police attempting to shake me down. I was walking back one night from dinner with an Argentine friend to our hotel. On a main avenue in Ipanema a police car pulled over and two officers got out asking to see our papers. We both handed over our documents and were told by the officers that "this was a known drug area and we must have been there to purchase drugs". I am in my 50's and do not appear to be a druggie type nor did my Argentine friend who is a professor. We explained that we were simply walking back from dinner to our hotel which was only two blocks from where they stopped us. They continued to insist that we must have drugs on us and that unless we paid a "fine" then they would have to take us in for "questioning". They demanded to see our wallets (knowing the danger of street crime we only had a small amount of money in our wallets, the rest tucked in our underwear) and they were greatly disappointed to find only a few small bills. After about 30 minutes of this they finally let us leave without paying the "fine".

Besides being aware that the police may not be your friend, do not wear jewelry, carry expensive cameras, cell phones or much cash on you. Ipanema and Leblon are much safer than Copacabana. Do not take anything of value to the beach that would be left unattended even for a short time. Tourists are targeted since the assumption is that they will have valuables, so dress down, and try and blend in as best you can. Avoid being out alone, always go with another person if you are withdrawing money from an ATM or exchanging currency (daytime only please) and only one credit card.

Be sure and inform you bank that issued your ATM card and your credit card companies that you are traveling to Brazil. I did not on my first trip down and one of my credit cards was frozen after I had made a couple of purchases. I found out once I phoned them that they do this due to the extreme amount of credit card fraud in Brazil. Once I called them they lifted the freeze but instructed me to always let them know before going. In addition, Western Union will not wire money to you in Brazil either for the same reason.

Common sense and not taking unnecessary risks will go a long way in insuring you have a pleasant and safe holiday in Rio.

Hope this helps.

Avoid Copacabana

Why? Some of my best friends live there. Never had problems.
More to the point: Avoid the blocks where the foreign s*x tourists congregate.

Even more to the point than the above poster has mentioned, avoid Rio all together, there are so many other nice place in Brazil to visit.

bahiana77, it also might be phrased "where the Brazilian S*X trade congregates. It is not only the sex trade on Copacabana it is also the roving gangs of younger kids that surround tourists and try to steal whatever they can.

suerte
SAM

Hi,
Security in Rio is not that good but still better than it was a few years back.
All I say is, don't trust the Police, prostitutes, any street kid(no matter how innocent they look or act)if any street kid approach you be careful with your pockets because as they are talking to you their scum light hands are going through your pockets, if anyone offers you any drugs do NOT even talk to them as usually they're working with the police to catch you than take a lot of money from you(It happened to someone I used to know)Don't walk around with too much money and if you have a card always keep it hidden away from your cash that way if you do get robbed they won't take your card. If you stay some where like Copacabana or Ipanema which is very tourist orientated be careful who you befreind as most times people will hang out with you and expect you to pay for all their drinks(man or woman)the one thing about Brazilian people that I really don't like is that they see you as a walking wallet.
I know it sounds really bad, but dispite all these problems Rio still worth visiting and the likely hood that some thing will happen to you is very small as long as you take care. I've been to Rio 7 times and have friends that have been there too, I was robbed once and it hasn't put me off(maybe is because all they took was my lip stick!)my bank card was hidden away! I'm going back next week for 3 wks so if you are there we could meet, I'm trying to arrange a VT meeting. Finely I hope you'll find this information useful and hope that non of us have put you off going to Rio!

I first arrived in Rio in 1970, lived here then for 3 years, and (living subsequently all over the world) returned for an average of a month each year until last year, when I chose it for my retirement post. It has had its ups and downs in terms of security: when I first arrived, very safe, but pretty edgy in the early 90s. Now, I don't feel threatened (though obviously one must behave sensibly: and yes, from time to time we hear gunfire from a nearby favela (= shanty-town), when the police conduct a drugs raid).

You must be careful not to let your credit/debit card out of your sight, for mine was cloned last year, and it was a major hassle to get my stolen money back. But that's the only crime we've ever suffered here. The only place in the world where my Brazilian wife has had her handbag stolen was on the King's Road, Chelsea, London! Come to beautiful Rio without fear, and enjoy it.