Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, also known simply as Rio, is the capital and largest city of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
It is the second-largest city in Brazil after São Paulo, and the largest by international tourists. It has a population of 6 million in the city proper, and 13 million people in its metropolitan area as of 2025. It is also the sixth-most-populous city in the Americas.
Getting to Rio de Janeiro
Rio is one of the country's major transportation hubs, second only to São Paulo. Metropolitan area airport code for the two airports of the city is unsurprisingly RIO IATA. International and most domestic flights land at
Worth seeing
Corcovado, the 710 m (2,330 ft) granite peak located in the Tijuca Forest in central Rio is known worldwide for the Cristo Redentor statue. The funicular train up to Cristo Redentor is definitely worth the view. The queue for the train, in Cosme Velho, can get rather long though. There's also a hiking trail that begins at Parque Lage and gets there (see Hiking and Trekking on the 'Do' section below).
Things to do
Still the greatest reason for visiting Rio seems to be the Carnaval. This highly advertised party lasts for almost two weeks and it is well known for the escolas de samba (samba schools) that parade in Centro, on a gigantic structure called Sambódromo (Sambadrome). During Carnaval, Rio has much more to offer though, with the blocos de rua, that parade on the streets.
Where to eat
In Rio de Janeiro you can probably find something to fit any craving. A good approach to local food is "comida a kilo" – buffet style restaurants where you pay by the weight of the food on your plate. Don't miss the most famous Brazilian dish, feijoada (fay-zho-AH-da), a black bean stew filled with big chunks of meat, like sausage, pork and beef.
Getting around Rio de Janeiro the local way
- Get in]] Ferries (barcas) connect neighbouring Niterói to Rio de Janeiro and arrive at Praça XV (see down), in the city centre.
- Get aroundAmong the public transportation modes, there is subway, heavy rail, light rail, bus rapid transit, local buses, microbuses, cable cars and ferry boats.
- Get aroundFerry boats depart from Santa Teresa Tram, Centro Corcovado Rack Railway, Zona Sul Sugarloaf Cable Car (Zona Sul) Buses are still the cheapest and most convenient way to get around the South Zone (Zona Sul) of the city due to the high number and frequency of lines running through the area.
- Get aroundExcept for minibuses, buses now have two doors: passengers get in through the front door and get off through the back (it was otherwise until 2001–2002).
- Get aroundBuses 511 (Ataulfo de Paiva) and 512 (Bartholomeu Mitre) are also popular as they take you to Urca for the station to take the cable car up the Sugarloaf mountain.
- Get aroundSince the city grew around the Tijuca Range mountains, these neighborhoods will never be served by the subway, but you now can take the integração (connection) minibuses.
- Go nextFrom Rio to Niterói it's a short ferry ride or you go by bus.
- Go nextThe most northeastern municipality of Rio metropolitan area, it is another peripheral municipality which has become an attraction for trekking, mountaineering, rappelling and other types of extreme sports and ecotourism.
From Wikivoyage: Rio de Janeiro, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Arne Müseler (CC BY-SA 3.0 de), Wikimedia Commons.
