The Most Dangerous Thing About Rio Was the Glitter!
3 weeks of samba, street food, squiffy drinks, and spectacular views in Brazil's former capital.
In the weeks before I flew to Rio, my phone felt like a rolling feed of doom.
“Be SO careful.”
“Don’t take your phone out.”
“My friend’s cousin got robbed there.”
“Are you sure about this?”
A good friend of mine who’d lived in Brazil some years ago, even warned me ‘if someone robs you, give your bag straight away, as there’s likely to be a guy with a gun round the corner’.
Ok then….😳
Google wasn’t helping either. Every travel forum had a horror story, and every blog post came with a safety warning longer than the article itself.
It reminded me of one of my favourite bits in the movie Armageddon when Truman describes the asteroid..
Okay, so the scariest environment imaginable. Thanks. That’s all you gotta say, scariest environment imaginable.”
Oscar (Owen Wilson) - Armageddon:
I’m not going to lie, I was pretty darn anxious, and by the time I boarded the plane, I’d half convinced myself I was flying into an urban warzone.
And then I landed….
Arriving in Lapa (With My Guard Very Much Up)
I arrived with my sister. We’d come to do Carnaval which has been on my bucket list for years.
We both arrived with I think roughly equal measures of excitement and trepidation. But we’d done the sensible thing and booked ourselves on a group tour.
(NB: If you’re ever worried about a destination when travelling I highly recommend group tours. They’re a great way to get the lay of the land in a more secure and comfortable way).
And this one looked brilliant. 6 days, 5 nights, all based around the Carnaval. We were staying in the same hotel, with group day trips, Sambadrome nights, city tours, beach days, the lot.
We also had tickets for the Champions Parade at the end of Carnaval which we’d booked prior to doing the tour. (More on that later, because it deserves its own paragraph. Or five).
Our hotel was in Lapa, which is the party district, and just a short walk from the Sambadrome. And if I’m going to be honest, staying in Lapa during Carnaval is a bit of a baptism by fire! 😵💫
It’s loud, chaotic, a bit seedy, and it smells. Like, really smells. Think overflowing bins mixed with street food mixed with whatever happens when a million people party in 37-degree heat for a week straight. (I kid you not).
But from the moment we arrived, the Brazilians were incredibly warm, open, and genuinely happy to see you there.
It’s definitely a place where the people completely change the energy of a city. I had my guard up, sure. I was watching my surroundings, and my bag like a hawk. But if there was danger on the streets, we didn’t really feel it.
Carnaval: Organised Chaos in Glitter
Carnaval is a riot. There’s no other word for it.
Imagine every street being a party. Costumes everywhere. Colours you didn’t know existed. And so much glitter. ✨
I’m still finding it my bags! It gets into everything - your hair, your shoes, your clothes, even your soul!
I’ll be honest, I expected more live music on the streets than there was. But what you get instead are the Blocos. Massive roaming or static street parties, each one with its own vibe and energy.
We did a Beatles Bloco in Flamengo and it was genuinely one of the most fun mornings of my life. Classic tunes, dancing, a few squiffy drinks before midday (don’t judge me, it was 37 degrees by 10am), and getting soaked by fire hoses!
Just walking through Lapa and Flamengo during Carnaval week is an experience on its own. You don’t need a plan. You just need comfy shoes, a sense of humour, and a willingness to get glitter-bombed by strangers.
The Sambadrome (And Why We Stayed Until 7am)
If you do one thing in Rio during Carnaval, make it the Sambadrome.
We went twice. The first time was amazing. The second time, the Champions Parade on the final night, was something else entirely.
Here’s what I didn’t fully understand before I went. The Samba Schools aren’t actually schools. They’re communities. Each one has over 2,000 participants. Dancers, musicians, enormous floats, costumes that must weigh a tonne.
Each school takes about an hour to parade the full length of the Sambadrome, and every single second of that hour is choreographed, rehearsed, and performed with everything they’ve got.
It’s a spectacle on a scale I genuinely wasn’t prepared for.
Behind the scenes, it’s also a huge industry. Something like 30,000 people are employed each year just to build the floats, make the costumes and organise the logistics.
There’s a political side to it too. Lots of back-scratching, community ties, roots deep in the Favelas. It’s way more complex and significant than I’d imagined. This isn’t just a parade. It’s an identity, a pride, and a culture running through every beat of every drum.
My sister and I stayed at the Champions Parade all night. We didn’t leave until 7am. We watched every single school come through.
Were we tired? Absolutely. Would I do it again tomorrow? In a heartbeat.
The Favela Tour
This one’s harder to write about with a grin on my face.
We did a Favela tour with a registered guide, and I’d recommend it to anyone visiting Rio. Not for the spectacle of it. For the education.
It was confronting, heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time.
Standing in a community where people have built lives out of almost nothing, while the city gleams below them with wealth that never quite reaches up the hill. I find it so shameful in our world that so few have so much while so many have so little.
But Favelas are misunderstood. They’re not all drug dens and danger zones. Many are tight-knit communities with incredible spirit and resilience, and once again, the people you meet are warm and welcoming.
But the problems are real. Drugs, gangs, violence. It’s complicated and messy and there are no easy answers.
If you go, always go with a guide. Always be respectful. And buy some souvenirs from the local sellers while you’re there. That money goes directly into the community.
The Phone Snatching
So my article headline was flippant.
There are of course very real dangers in Rio and the whole of Brazil. But they’re far less violent for us tourists than many headlines would have us believe.
Most crime comes in the form of petty theft, bag grabbing, phone snatching and the very occassional armed robbery.
A woman had her phone snatched literally metres from us as we came out of a restaurant one lunchtime. She had it in her hand, out in front of her, and a motorbike just pulled up and grabbed it. Gone. Just like that.
It was fast and brazen. And it was a sharp reminder that petty theft and phone snatching are the biggest things to worry about in Rio.
Here’s my practical take on it. Use a small crossbody bag and keep your phone in your pocket or your bag when you’re walking. Don’t wave it around.
I have a clasp that secures my phone to my bag, so if someone grabs it, I’ll be going with it!
Also don’t flash expensive jewellery or cameras. Apparently gold is the big one. Don’t wear big gold necklaces or rings.
Keep your bag close. Stay aware, and basically, do what you’d do in any big city anywhere in the world, just maybe dial it up a notch.
I never once felt genuinely unsafe. Even in Lapa during Carnaval. I was always aware, and sensible (well maybe not so much after my morning bloco!). But I wasn’t afraid. And there’s a big difference between being cautious and being scared.
Barra de Tijuca: The Breather I Didn’t Know I Needed
After Carnaval, my sister flew home and I headed to Barra de Tijuca to wait for my husband to arrive.
After the chaos of Carnaval, it was exactly what I needed. A beautiful, chilled beach in a very safe, upmarket area. No chaos or smells. Just long stretches of sand, cold strawberry squiffy drinks, and nothing on the agenda (except my own work schedule).
If you’re looking for somewhere to decompress, I’d recommend staying at The Regency Barra Hotel. Mid-range pricing, right opposite the beach. Perfect.
I spent a very relaxed week there doing very little and loving every minute of it.
Round Two: A Completely Different City
When my husband arrived, we headed back into the city to do Rio all over again and based ourselves in Botafogo not far from downtown Rio.
And what a change!
The Carnaval chaos had disappeared. The streets were cleaned up. The smells were gone. Even Lapa had transformed. It was like someone pulled back the curtains and let the sun in properly for the first time.
The city was calmer, more chilled, and more touristy but in a good way.
Market stalls selling stuff other than glitter and alcohol appeared. There were fewer people, though still busy. But you could now actually see the architecture, the bay views, and the little details that get swallowed up during Carnaval madness.
It felt more community-based, less intense and easier to walk around.
Botafogo turned out to be a gorgeous base. We did Christ the Redeemer again (I’d already done a city tour as part of our tour group, but I wanted to see it all again with my husband).
But this time on the Corcovado Train, which is the oldest electric train in Brazil and genuinely fun. If you’re choosing between ways to get up there, take the train. Trust me.
We did Sugarloaf again too. The cable car is an experience in itself (one of the oldest cable car systems in the world) and the views over Copacabana from the top are ridiculous. Make sure to stop at Urca on the way, and have a wander. It’s worth it.
We jumped on the Hop on Hop Off bus, which I know sounds painfully touristy, but is actually a brilliant way to see the city. Get the open-top seats if you can, it’s way more fun. You can grab a cold beer and just watch Rio roll past you.
The best surprise though was a walk we did from Botafogo Beach to Flamengo Beach one morning. The views were absolutely stunning. Christ the Redeemer on one side, Sugarloaf on the other, the bay stretching out in front of you.
It’s one of those walks where you keep stopping to take photos and saying “oh come ON” to nobody in particular. 😂
Oh, and if you’re in Flamengo, watch the planes coming in to land. There’s an optical illusion from the beach that makes them look like they’re flying under the Sugarloaf cable car lines. It’s genuinely startling the first time you see it.
The Food Situation
You have to try a Churrascaria. I probably butchered the spelling there, but you’ll know it when you see it. It’s a huge salad buffet with freshly cooked meat carved and served right at your table. They just keep coming with different cuts until you physically cannot eat another bite. It’s an experience and the food is brilliant.
On the beach, grab a queijo stick from a street seller. Ask for oregano on top. Thank me later.
Try a Caipirinha at least once, because it’s the thing to do. It’s a local lime-based rum drink. It wasn’t for me at all, but I gave it a fair go.
The strawberry squiffy drinks though? Absolutely my thing. I may have had a few too many of those along Copacabana.
So Was I Right to Be Anxious?
Yes and no.
The anxiety wasn’t unreasonable. Rio has its issues, like any major city. Phone snatching is real. Petty theft happens. Some areas need more caution than others. I’m not going to pretend it’s all sunshine and samba.
But the fear I’d built up before going? The doom-scrolling, the warnings, the mental image of constant danger? That was wildly out of proportion.
Rio is vibrant, chaotic, beautiful, messy, warm, loud, proud, and absolutely full of life. The people are wonderful. The food is great, and the views will stop you in your tracks every single day. The culture runs deep and hits you in ways you don’t expect.
I walked around Copacabana, Ipanema, Flamengo, Botafogo, even Lapa without feeling uncomfortable. I stayed sensible. I stayed aware. But I also stayed open. And that made all the difference.
If you’re thinking about going and you’re nervous? Book a tour for the first few days. Get your bearings. Talk to the locals. Keep your valuables tucked away and your eyes open. And then just let Rio be Rio.
It’s a city that rewards the brave. And by brave, I don’t mean reckless. I mean willing. Willing to show up, push past the worry, and discover that most of the scary stuff lives on the internet, not on the streets.
Go. You’ll be glad you did.
A few of my favourite experiences in Rio, if you’re saving this for later:
During Carnaval:
Stay all night at the Champions Parade.
Dance your face off at a Bloco.
Wander the streets and soak up the atmosphere (and the glitter)
If you’re ok with super late nights and heat, you can even book to be a part of the parade! One of the girls on our tour did this and said it was a once in a lifetime experience.
Any time of year:
Take the Corcovado Train to Christ the Redeemer.
Cable car to Sugarloaf and stop at Urca.
Catch the sunset from Arpoador Rock between Ipanema and Copacabana. Walk from Botafogo Beach to Flamengo Beach.
Watch the Selaron Steps come alive (made famous by Snoop Dogg and Pharrell in ‘Beautiful’).
Sail around Guanabara Bay.
Visit a Favela with a registered guide.
Visit the Museum of Tomorrow and walk around the outside first for views of the bay.
Find the famous ‘Ethnicities’ mural by Kobra on Olympic Avenue (it was the largest graffiti mural in the world until he went and did a bigger one in São Paulo).
Hop on the open-top bus tour with a cold drink.
Spend a few lazy days in Barra de Tijuca.
Eat at a Churrascaria.
Try a queijo stick with oregano.
Dance along Copacabana.
Have fun & smile.
And please, whatever you do, don’t let the internet scare you out of one of the most incredible cities on the planet. 🥳😎🇧🇷💃🏻
I always wear my cross body phone protector everywhere I go
Great article, Jo! Thank you. Loved learning all about Rio and your travels there.