Rio taxi guide recommendation

Four of are arriving in Rio de Janeiro on Feb 17/19 (Sunday) on the Royal Princess and are looking for a recommendation for a taxi that could give us a day tour in English of the city including Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer statue. Any suggestions are much appreciated!

It is a little more complicated than you think. It requires a train ride, waits for elevators and cable cars and at that time of year crowds of people doing the same thing with line ups to buy tickets and board each type of ride.

We used Do Brazil Right this year. I see they have a tour for that day for your cruise. https://www.dobrazilright.com/product/2019-rio-pre-carnival-full-day-private-tour-with-lunch-royal-princess-17feb19/

We were pleased with our three day tour with them as well as Carnival tickets and transport.

Anyone who has a vehicle and speaks any English is going to bill themselves as a "tour guide", not a taxi driver, and charge accordingly.

A good guide to contact is Rafa (donrafaguestsinrio.blogspot). A guide with a vehicle can show you some off the path places, and do so in a more efficient manner, so you can see more in the time you have.

If not, just get a regular yellow taxi to take you to the sights you want to see. The popular tourist sights always have taxis waiting for when you are finished.

Get to the the statue when it opens. You can take the train up or get a van in Copacabana that takes you most of the way up and connects with an official van to the top. Sugarloaf is nice at sunset. The lines there move quickly. You need a sunny day for both or the views are obscured, not always a guarantee in February. There are also other "vista points" in the Tijuca forest.

Saw this today in a UK newspaper.

My husband and I were the victims of credit card fraud while on holiday in Brazil. Our cruise ended in Rio de Janeiro, where we were to spend five days before flying home. Our cruise ended in Rio de Janeiro, where we were to spend five days before flying home. We took a taxi from the port to our hotel in Copacabana, some ten miles away. The fare was 156 reals, about £35. The driver took my credit card and inserted it into a card reader connected to his dashboard. He kept his hand over the machine as the wire would not reach me in the back seat. I checked the price and entered my PIN. No receipt was given. At the hotel, I telephoned the card company and found the driver had put through a charge of 3,156 reals, or £705.

They got nothing back - the credit card company said as they had no receipt they could not prove the bill was inaccurate plus they had used their PIN so it was approved by them.

Some one commented why would they use a credit card but it is becoming more widespread down here to try to combat robberies and murders of taxi drivers for their cash. Uruguay is changing to credit card only once the taxi companies get the necessary card readers and gas stations are not supposed to take cash after dark.

Like many ports, there are many taxis and/or tours that can be hired at the port. We hired a private taxi with English speaking driver for the day and paid about $100 total, which was probably double what you’d pay using just a meter, place to place. This included visits at most of the touristy spots. Our driver just waited for us while we did our thing... we knew ahead of time what we wanted to see, and wanted the convenience of the same car/driver for the day. Tours could be negotiated just outside the pier area. Booths were set up in front of a warehouse like structure towards the Museum of Tomorrow. Prices are negotiable. Admissions to some attractions were extra, such as the cable car ride at Sugarloaf.

If you decide to go with an official guide, I can highly recommend TourGuideGus (http://www.tourguidegus.com/ and click on English in the middle of the right column). He has well deserved excellent trip advisor reviews: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g303506-d4976222-Reviews-TourGuideGus-Rio_de_Janeiro_State_of_Rio_de_Janeiro.html. He will pick you up at the port and deliver you to your hotel or the airport.

Saw this today in a UK newspaper.

 

My husband and I were the victims of credit card fraud while on holiday in Brazil. Our cruise ended in Rio de Janeiro, where we were to spend five days before flying home. Our cruise ended in Rio de Janeiro, where we were to spend five days before flying home. We took a taxi from the port to our hotel in Copacabana, some ten miles away. The fare was 156 reals, about £35. The driver took my credit card and inserted it into a card reader connected to his dashboard. He kept his hand over the machine as the wire would not reach me in the back seat. I checked the price and entered my PIN. No receipt was given. At the hotel, I telephoned the card company and found the driver had put through a charge of 3,156 reals, or £705.

They got nothing back - the credit card company said as they had no receipt they could not prove the bill was inaccurate plus they had used their PIN so it was approved by them.

Some one commented why would they use a credit card but it is becoming more widespread down here to try to combat robberies and murders of taxi drivers for their cash. Uruguay is changing to credit card only once the taxi companies get the necessary card readers and gas stations are not supposed to take cash after dark.

I prefer not to see a panic started, or rumors that live forever and get blown up and up on the internet, over a third party story in a newspaper we don't know the credibility of. Not knowing these people, and how savvy travelers they might be, it's a bit unclear if they did all they could to prevent this happening.

From the airport in Rio (GIG), it's possible to pre-pay at a booth inside with your card and get a receipt to hand to the driver. Not sure if this is available from the cruise pier.

Also if I were in that position, I would certainly not allow the credit card company to get off quite that easily, and might take legal action.

Maybe having friends who are responsible business men just trying to make a living for their families as taxi drivers in Rio influences my thinking that what is described is not a common practice. Personally I've never had a problem with a taxi anywhere as a frequent traveler in Brazil.

We had an issue with a taxi at the port in Santos - gave us a price in US dollars and when we got to the destination said I was mistaken and it was ten times more. I asked for the price in reals and he gave me a much lower price, but still a lot more than the original quote.I have been overcharged here in Uruguay and now I avoid any cab that does not have a meter. Cruise passengers I am sure are seen as "rich" and able to afford premium prices.

It is very common for Brazilians to bargain, off the meter, with taxi drivers, for a better fare.

For someone whose Portuguese does not come across as fluent, perhaps write down the number to show and confirm it with the driver. If fluent, just repeat the numbers clearly.

If some service person says one number and at the end tries to charge more, I have given that person the original amount and challenged them to call the police. And I am a woman most often travelling solo. If you pay the inflated price, it just signifies that you can afford to do so.