Estado do Rio de Janeiro Travel Forum

hello everyone, my name is Galya and I am from Bulgaria. Me and my friends are visiting South America in February - 14th starts it all. On the way to Argentina we have a 12hrs stop over in Rio. And we would like to see some of the city - as much as possible. So if you can advice us how we can hire some person with a car ( not taxi, as I asume will be very expensive), to take us from the airport, show us some of the city and drive us back to the airport? how much this can cost? and do you think it is possible to find such person? thank you in advance Galya

I sent you a reply to your email.

You can see some of the city in 12 hours, but in reality I think that your
visit would be more like 8 hours once you adjust for traffic and for airport
check-in/security.

What time of day is your 12 hours? Do you have a Visa (Brazil requires Visa)?

I do know a good lady who drives a car and offers tours. I'll have to talk to her
and get a quotation for price.

"hire some person with a car" is going to be much much more expensive than a taxi, which you wrongly "asume will be very expensive". However, "some person with a car", probably known as a 'tour guide', will speak English and most taxi drivers don't.

I also think you will have about 8 hours, after customs/passport control and allowing for travel time from/to the sirport. (Note: You must pay fro everything in reais, the currency of Brazil. Be careful using the ATM machines, since many people have reported cloning of their cards from the airport machines in Rio.)
Bulgarian passport holders do not need a visa to enter Brazil. http://www.brazilsf.org/visa_by_country.htm

If it is a sunny day, go immediately to the Christ statue on Corcovado to see the view. Just before Carnaval, there might be a long line for the train that goes up the mountain, but it is worth the ride. You will enjoy the samba band that plays on the train, and the views ont he way up.
There will be taxis waiting at the base of the mountain when you come down, to take you on to your next stop. Just to give you an idea of the most popular possibilities.....You could visit the beach at Ipanema or Copacabana and have a coconut water or some lunch. Then go on to the Sugarloaf mountain(s), closer to Copacabana by taxi. Or you could see some of the downtown historic buildings on foot (downtown empties after work hours and is more dangerous) and then do Sugarloaf and take a look at the beach. Again taxis will be waiting at the base of Sugarloaf.

Have a good trip.

Thank you very much for the prompt and full reply. I know we do not need a visa for Brazil, but THANK YOU for checking. You are really very kind. We do not really need a tour guide, but just a driver that knows the city well and can bring us to the places of interest and also to predict the traffic a little. You are right that from 12hrs we will have maybe 7-8, but still ok. We will land at 5am and leaving at 5pm somewhere. How much is normally a taxi from the airport to the statue of Crist? Thank you one more time

"How much is normally a taxi from the airport to the statue of Crist?"

Well, "normally" people don't go directly from the airport to Corcovado without stopping at their hotel I suspect, but maybe R$40-50 by regular (not pre-paid) taxi, depending on traffic.

Avianca Aerovias is your best choice. Copa Airlines also flies from Bogota to Cali. LAN can be a great international airline but some of their domestic flights they give lower priority to like Mira indicated. Be sure and make your ticket purchase within the next week or so because ticket prices go up within 21 days of the flight.

thank you Laura, your blog is very helpful. I do have some questions for you but can not really see your email address. PLease contact me on ,y VT email to write your skype and email, so we can keep in touch. Thank you again, you are very good.

You might also take a thorough look at the info on www.ipanema.com if you haven't found that very complete site yet.