Accommodation and Recommended Tour Company in Rio

[glorygaf]

We will be disembarking Rio in November this year and recall a recent thread where some recommended Hotels and a reliable Tour Company were mentioned.

We've been to Rio in the last two years and have done Sugarloaf and Christ Redeemer and would like to see other areas safely and would like to stay at a nice Hotel without paying the earth in a safe area as well.

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

What part of the city did you stay in last time? How long will you be staying this time? We really liked Ipanema as a place to stay. It's a bit further away from the downtown, but close to things like helicopter rides, and of course the wonderful beach, and fairly quiet and untouristy. Wonderful area, and we found it qiute safe, even at night. We discovered the old Bossa Nova bars and heard some great live music.

 

I think it really depends on what you want to do this time, and how long you have. Others have said that Santa Teresa is an interesting area to stay, different and off the beaten track but colourful and fun.

 

As far as guides, the one we used has moved to another city now, but we met his friend Rafa and everyone says he's wonderful--just do a search for him in this forum and you can find his contact info. Our guide customized our tours to our request and we had a great time going to a few offbeat places as well as the main sights. He also took our friends to Petropolis for the day.

[Catpow]

I can confirm that Rafa is just fantastic!!!!! We used him in February on our Regent Circle South America tour - twice. We thought the included Samba tour might be a bit commercial - too many feathers and not enough music. Rafa took us to a great bar with fantastic live music and the only Samba danced was by the enthusiastic locals of all ages.

 

We had taken a Regent tour to do Sugarloaf and Christ the Redeemer as these landmarks take time regardless of who is leading the tour. And these tours did take all day - think how long visiting the Eiffel Tower takes. With those out of the way, we asked Rafa to show us his Rio the following day.

 

We were surprised and delighted with his professionalism, knowledge and humour in showing us around. In addition he took multiple photos that he sent to us later. He knew where to eat, what to drink and how to shop. All this was done in safety and comfort.

 

He was flexible in his approach and his English was excellent - and taught us a few local words as well. Plus super reliable, yet with a great sense of fun. He's had many guests from all over the world and we surprised by his knowledge of Australia and its culture and seemed to tailor his tour to what he thought we'd like - and we did.

 

We're grateful to the Cruise Critic community for pointing us in his direction - I don't think we can post his details but a quick Google of Rafa and Rio will point you and the right direction - you won't forget or regret it.

[VidaNaPraia]

donrafainrio@yahoo.es

 

Rafa is all that Catpow said and more.

[glorygaf]

Thank you all for your suggestions, last time we were in Rio we were on board Regent marina on a circle South A (2012). We will contact Rafa and employ him for sure.

[VidaNaPraia]

As far as what to see, if you have already seen some of the basic must-sees, a good guide should be able to take you to some off-the-beaten-path places around Rio that may need a vehicle to get to.

 

Also, I find that the site:

www.ipanema.com

has a lot of good ideas for neighborhoods to explore, museums to visit, etc. in Rio.

 

A few of my favorite things to do:

*take the ferry from Praca XV across the bay to Niteroi (great views back to Rio, modern art museum, fish market for lunch, beaches)

-you can also take a boat to Paqueta island or to Ilha Fiscal

*the Feira Nordestina in Sao Conrado to get a taste of traditional life in the northeast

* coffee and a snack at Confeiteria Colombo during a stroll around the historic Centro

*lunch/dinner in Santa Teresa, maybe at Aprazivel or Bar Mineiro, during a stroll around that charming neighborhood, including a stop at Chacara do Ceu

http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-entertainment/spending-time-in-santa-teresa/

* jazz at The Maze

*samba e bossa at Bip Bip Bar

*samba in Lapa--try club Carioca da Gema