Rio de Janeiro Getting Around

Getting Around

Getting around Rio is easy and no car is needed. There are plenty of buses and subways, even in the most isolated areas. By taxi A cab is one of the best ways to move around Rio. Most of the tours 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 (maybe around US$20). The main taxi companies include Central de Taxi, Ouro Taxi and Yellow Taxi. After getting into the taxi, check if the taximeter has been started. If not, ask the taxi driver to do so. You may be ripped off by some taxi drivers. Avoid the blue, green, and white taxis as they tend to charge considerably more for the same ride. By car Traffic within some parts of Rio can be daunting, but a car may be the best way to reach distant beaches like Grumari, and that can be an extra adventure. In Rio, most road signals are placed after the curve you were supposed to take, and do not help unless you already know how to go there. Buy a map, and have fun. By bus Buses are a cheap and nice way to get around by day. By night they are more scarce but you can ride them anyway. Buses usually cost R$ 1.90, but some buses with air conditioning charge higher fares. 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. Bus lines with a * means that this bus has a variant. It means that there may be a bus with the same name, same number, same origin, even same destination but with a complete different tour. Ask the driver, he won't mind. Buses with air-conditioning will have a little higher fare than those without. 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's open 24 hours during carnival). The air-conditioned subway is clean, comfortable, and quick, and in 2006 it received bilingual Portuguese-English signs and maps to make the life of millions of foreign tourists easier. There are two main lines. Line 1 has service to Copacabana, the Saara district, and much of Downtown, as well as Tijuca, where you can visit Corcovado. Line 2 stops at the zoo, soccer stadium, and State University. The two lines intersect at Estácio. Recently the last wagon of each train has been marked women-only with a pink window sticker, in order to avoid potential harrassment in crowded trains. Some men, however, are still to get used to this separation and many women, who are accostumed to hassle-free everyday travel in Rio's subway, also think the measure is unnecessary. Anyway, if you're a man, avoid getting into trouble with local security and stay off the pink-marked wagons.