BRAZIL IN GENERAL IS HORRIBLE TO MUCH DAMN CRIME!... i wouldnt recommend anyone going there.......... people just simply rob you.... (ignorants like always)

My cousin lives there and says it is beautiful everything about it especially the women. although there is a lot of poverty, besides that he said it's great.

Rio is ok, saw quite some neighbourhooods and it was fine. The Copacabana beach is beautiful but best time we had in the normal neighbourhoods and markets in the center. I enjoyed myself for 4 days and that was long enough. The food in the kilo-bars was often very nice, the people are very friendly and the metro brought us each time to a different neighbourhood with another atmosphere. The shops seemed all the same to me: Hard to find something you really like to buy, not too much quality. There are an amazing amount of drugstores, they are literaly everywhere!

Too much crime. I was robbed twice in a week.

really great place to visit!

I never faced the problems that I know exist in Rio and I was in all over the city. It helped perhaps I stayed with my Brazilian ex's family, but still it was a wonderful experience. Rio is a breathtaking city. It was actually never my destination of choice but when I landed in Rio it really hit me. Yes, Brazil has it's problems like any other big city. But the culture, the people and the great food; just a treasure of a time. The best time of the year to really go to Rio is actually in it's winter. It's tropical but still a pleasant place to be.

Rio is relaxing and beautiful, but stay away from the parts of the city where tourist are not so common. Dress up like local. Do not use tennis socks and keep your T-shirt outside the shorts. Don't wear a Hawaii shirt. Don't bring a video camera when you go out on your own. Keep the money in one pocket and THE MONEY in another. If you get lost, where you shouldn't be and someone try to rob you, give them the small money (20-30 Reals) and they will leave you alone. They rob you with a smile in Rio and even call you sir or madame doing it.

Fabulous place. While there, there are several musts: (1) hang-glide over the city, (2) take a helicopter ride around the Jesus statue on Corcovado from Pao de Acucar, (3) do the favela tour of Rocinha, (4) have brunch at the Copacabana Palace - even better would be staying there, and of course, (5) lounge all day at the beach.

I love Rio, had a blast there, spectacular scenery,exciting night life,beautiful beach, would go again in a heartbeat if i had the chance. But Igor500's comments, everyone gets along? black & white, rich and poor? Seems to me Rio has one of the highest crime rates in the world. I would not feel safe walking around alone at night, but that is the case in many American cities as well. Unfortunate result of poverty in our world today.

Yes, this city is as beautiful as everyone says it is - the beaches and mountain peaks are idyllic. Certainly a surfer's paradise. However, it has some of the same negative trappings of many tourist destinations. It is a very crowded city. Also, the restaurants are only mediocre however, especially versus Sao Paulo to the south. There is also less culture, nightlife and in general, things to do than Sao Paulo, being that it's a much smaller city. The open-air market place downtown is highly reccomended; you can get some great bargains there. Also there is a subway which is quite modern, clean and efficient. Overall, definitely worth the visit, particularly if the beach is your prime vacation interest on your destination - hands down, it blows away Cancun!

Unquestionably the most beautiful city on earth - with the people to match!

Beautiful hilly city with an annual Carnaval celebration that will take your breath away. The only problem is that there are so very, very many desperately poor people, and so many street kids.

I have two dream cities in my mind [I haven't visited any of them]. The first is New York - the second is Rio de Janeiro! The carneval, the hills [one of them with the statue], the beaches! It's fantastic! :o)

Beautiful city where everyone gets along: blacks and whites, poor and rich, catholic and jew, etc...

This is one of the few cities that effectively blends into, as opposed to taking away from, the natural beauty around it. The beaches are beautiful and an athlete's paradise with soccer games, chin up bars, and jogging/bicycle trails scattered throughout, the views are majestic, the hotels opulent... this place is a tourist's dream. Definitely do the tourist circuit (corcovado, pao de azucar). The best beaches are not Ipanema and Copacabana, but Barra, which is a little farther South. Do not stray more than 3 blocks from the beaches of this beautiful city however, because Rio is shockingly poor (and dangerous) pretty much everywhere else.