Getting around

Cities with Metros (subway systems)

• Belo Horizonte
• Brasília
• Fortaleza (Under Construction - 2010)
• Porto Alegre
• Recife
• Rio de Janeiro
• São Paulo
• Salvador (Under construction - March 2008)

Rio de Janeiro by taxi

A cab is one of the best ways to move around Rio. All legal cabs are yellow with a blue stripe painted on the sides. Taxis not designed like this are special service cars (to the airport or bus stations) or illegal. Rio has some of the cheapest taxi systems in the world, so don't bother spending a little more in exchange of speed and safety. Most of the tours in the South Zone will cost around R$15, and the car can usually hold four people. You can ask a cab for a city tour, and arrange a fixed price (may be around US$20). Major taxi companies include Central de Taxi, Ouro Taxi and Yellow Taxi.

Rio de Janeiro by car

Traffic within some parts of Rio can be daunting, but a car may be the best way to reach distant beaches like Grumari, and that can be an extra adventure. Avoid rush-hour traffic jams in neighborhoods such as Copacabana, Botafogo, Laranjeiras, and Tijuca, where moms line up their cars to pick up their children after school. In Rio, most road signals are placed after the curve you were supposed to take, and do not help unless you already know how to go there. Buy a map, and have fun.

Rio de Janeiro by bus

Buses are a cheap and nice way to get around by day, while not exactly safe. By night they are more scarce but you can ride them anyway. Buses usually cost R$ 2.10 (as of December 2007), but some buses with air conditioning charge higher fares. The fare is paid in cash to a controller or the driver inside the bus, by passing through a roulette. There are no tickets. Some residents and students have a digital card for free pass. Keep an eye out for pickpockets when the bus is crowded, and don't be surprised if your driver goes a little faster than you'd like. Except for minibuses, all buses have two doors: passengers get in through the front door and get off through the back (it was otherwise until 2001-2002).

Bus stops in the South Zone are often equipped with a shelter and a bench, but sometimes, far from tourist areas, they are less obvious and have no signs at all - you might have to ask. Buses stop only when you hail them, by extending the arm. If you don't hail and there are no passengers waiting to get off, the bus simply won't stop. Actually, sometimes even if you wave your arms desperately, the result is the same. Even more absurdly, you could even try to block one of them by standing in the middle of the road; if the driver is not in the right mood, he will dodge you and won't take you. It's a matter of pure luck. There are no schedules nor timetables. Usually buses run no longer than every 15 minutes. However, unless it's daytime and downtown, they may take even an hour or longer (in fact, they may take this long even in normal times and places). The rule of thumb is: don't schedule your trip based on bus transportation.

Rio de Janeiro by subway

The Metrô Rio subway system is very useful for reaching areas from Copacabana to Downtown, although the rest of Zona Sul is not particularly well-served and it closes after midnight (it opens 24x7 during Carnival). It is the only totally safe transport in Rio. The air-conditioned subway is clean, comfortable, and quick, and in 2006 it received bilingual Portuguese-English signs, maps, and a loudspeaker system to make the life of millions of foreign tourists easier (sometimes in a low volume and difficult to understand or they just forget to announce, so pay attention as if you rely only on the speaker you can miss your station). There are two main lines: Line 1 (Orange) has service to Copacabana, the Saara district, and much of Downtown, as well as Tijuca, where you can visit Corcovado. Line 2 (Green) stops at the zoo, Maracanã stadium, and Rio State University. The two lines intersect at Estácio station.

Cheap Tickets

Brazil Hotels

Rio de Janeiro

	$72
	$74
	$91
	$176
	$500

Sao Paulo

	$94
	$61
	$66
	$117
	$481

Current Weather (Jan 07)

	Rio de Janeiro Mostly Cloudy, 73° F
	Sao Paulo Cloudy, 64° F
	Brasilia Partly Cloudy, 70° F
	Foz do Iguazu Fair, 66° F
	Manaus Mostly Cloudy, 77° F
	Salvador Mostly Cloudy, 79° F
	Belem Fog, 79° F
	Belo Horizonte Mostly Cloudy, 63° F
	Blumenau Fair, 66° F
	Curitiba Mostly Cloudy, 55° F
	Florianopolis Fair, 72° F
	Natal Mostly Cloudy, 79° F
	Recife Partly Cloudy, 84° F
	Fortaleza Partly Cloudy, 82° F
	Buzios Light Drizzle, 70° F
	Campinas Fair, 66° F
	Ribeirao Preto Fair, 68° F
	Porto Alegre Fair, 61° F
	Source: Yahoo! Weather