Post: #1

Yes, another Brazil thread. My apologies I did a search and didn't find any specific info on this but I'm sure it's out there.

Anyway I'm currently looking for a room / apartment in Rio using Easyquatro.com.br and Craigslist for a few weeks time and wondered if anyone could shed any insight as to the best area to live in for our needs?

I know a lot of people on the forum have spent considerable time in Rio. I've been looking at Ipanema mainly as I heard Copa is a lot more shady (especially at night) but it seems a fair way away from Lapa / Centro etc. Is the nightlife in Ipanema any good or where is most of it based?

I am guessing Rio is very spread out like Sao Paulo and have no idea how good the public transport is.... I'm likely to be going out to Lapa on Fridays etc and don't want to spend hours crossing the city or anything.

Would somewhere like Botafogo be a good option because it's more central and I can just get the bus to Ipanema or Copa when I want to go to the beach?

If anyone can give me some details about their preferred location and why that would greatly help with my search!

Thanks,

Post: #2

I think the best area should be Lapa..go to couchsurfing and ask someone to help you finding a flat or room in rio..try even offer 100 dollars for helping you out.

Man iwhy dont you go to salvador instead? Salvador is a black city, more good looking girls, more friendly people...and not so many fake people like in rio..i dont see anything special in rio..maybe is me..but try salvador if you havent been there..specially if you are into black girls

Post: #3

I think Botofogo is a good area as well. You would be very central to Lapa and Ipanema/Leblon and plenty of train and bus connections right there next to Botofogo Shopping Mall. I couchsurfed with a nice girl there last year for Carnival and was impressed with the area and parks in the area and there is a beach area at the large park close by as well.

It was a solid Middle to Upper Class neighborhood and didnt have the shady feel of Copa. I would definitely live there or Ipanema If I moved to Rio with Botofogo being a bit less expensive. I wouldnt want to live in Lapa. Botofogo doesnt have a Favela sitting on top of it either which is a HUGE PLUS.

Post: #4

if money is not a concern than live in ipanema. I actually liked the nightlife in copa better. to many gringos in ipanema...

if u wanna save some money and still stay at the beach then u can find a cheap place in copa. (it aint that bad, its lively at night people walking everywhere)

or you can go for middle ground and stay in Botofogo. only a short bus ride to the beach.

cant go wrong with either choice.

Post: #5

I only spent about 3 weeks in Rio so I don't know it that well but I would probably live in Botafogo. Copacabana is to congested and you have to worry about favela dwellers running up on you when you come home at night. If you have the money Ipanema would be a good call(but it's very touristy). There some other neighborhoods near Botafogo like Flamengo that could be chill too.

Post: #6

The girls in Salvador are busted. Don't get me wrong, I had a ton of fun there and the beaches are nice. But the girls are ugly and 1/2 the city is sketchy as hell. Nice to visit, but don't stay.

Post: #7

Ipanema/Leblon for sure, if money isn't the big issue. Leme or Botafogo are other good options but would mean that you'll need to head back by taxi most of the nights (short cheap drive, around 10-15R$). A lesser ideal option, but ok to be would be Copacabana. Prices are better, metro & short taxi drives away from most of the places.

Forget LAPA! It's nice to go out in the night but about the worst location to stay ) far away from the beaches, no direct Metro connection and pretty dangerous out of the party hours (many people & police make it safe @ night). Another option would be Santa Teresa, but again you'll be spending to much time on busses during the day & money on taxi's in the night... !

Also: forget about Salvador - I've spend 6 months there. Yes it's nice if you like black girls, but hey there are black girls enough in Rio + about all the other beautiful combinations you could imagine

Ps I'm living & working in the "rent a buddy concept" in rio, mail me if you need any info: [email protected] .

Enjoy it ! You'll have a grate time there

Post: #8

I can only go off of my personal experience. Ipanamea is a quick cab ride from lapa, plus you have the nice beach right there, that would be my first pick for a short term stay, longer term it might get too expensive... Leblon was a bit too far out there for me personally. Copacabana didn't seem that dangerous to me, but I've heard of many people getting robbed there. Hope that helps a bit...

You could also try staying at a hotel for one or two days, check out some apartments until you find one with a good location that you like. If you go after carnavales you should be able to find some vacancies. Just make sure you call some of the owners/agencies before hand to see how booked they are (or will be), you don't want to end up without a place to stay and stuck in the hotel.

Post: #9

Ipanema and Leblon are tops if you can afford it. Just to live too far west or you get near the Rocinha favela. I would also suggest you go there and stay a couple weeks then find a place. Looking online, especially in English, is not the best way to find a place in Brazil.

Post: #10

Lapa is nice, I live in Centro, the tourist areas will be expensive, I bought my apartment for 20 thousand US in 2004 in the Centro area. It's a 2 bedroom 2 bath in a decent area.

Post: #11

(12-30-2010 08:21 AM)KanyeWest Wrote:  Yes, another Brazil thread. My apologies I did a search and didn't find any specific info on this but I'm sure it's out there.

Anyway I'm currently looking for a room / apartment in Rio using Easyquatro.com.br and Craigslist for a few weeks time and wondered if anyone could shed any insight as to the best area to live in for our needs?

I know a lot of people on the forum have spent considerable time in Rio. I've been looking at Ipanema mainly as I heard Copa is a lot more shady (especially at night) but it seems a fair way away from Lapa / Centro etc. Is the nightlife in Ipanema any good or where is most of it based?

I am guessing Rio is very spread out like Sao Paulo and have no idea how good the public transport is.... I'm likely to be going out to Lapa on Fridays etc and don't want to spend hours crossing the city or anything.

Would somewhere like Botafogo be a good option because it's more central and I can just get the bus to Ipanema or Copa when I want to go to the beach?

If anyone can give me some details about their preferred location and why that would greatly help with my search!

Thanks,

Hey Kanie,
I was in Rio recently and I live in SP.

Rio is not so spread like SP,Anywhere in Zona Sul (South) is a good option.Botafogo is a good option in Zona Sul , but I rather live at walking distance from the beach.Anywhere from Leme beach till Leblon is good.Flamengo is also a good neighborhood but its getting spensive.
Leblon and Ipanema are for Baller$ only. I was in Copa.


Barra da Tijuca and São Conrado are good options but far from the center so I wouldn't recommend it for "beginners" in Rio/Brazil.
The problem with Barra/Sao Conrado is that you need a car there,while in Zona Sul area its easy to walk/use public transport.

Avoid anywhere near Favelas who are under Drug/Militias , if you want to live near a Favela choose any of the "pacified" ones (With "UPPs" - Like Santa Marta in Botafogo ,where Roosh was)

Post: #12

What about Santa Teresa? I never hear anyone talk much about that neighborhood but it seemed pretty interesting with a lot of character. With the hills, trolly cars and cultural scene, it reminded me of a Brazilian-flavored San Francisco.

Post: #13

What are the best Brazilian real estate sites?

Post: #14

Santa Teresa has its charm as an unique and "cool" neighborhood. But in my opinion it is currently in poor condition and is not the safest place to be , even though it is safer than it was in the past.

Post: #15

If you're on a budget i think copa's the best spot. I didn't find it to be very shady and its pretty cheap. My friend I was staying with was paying around $400 a month for a one bedroom a couple of years ago only 2 blocks from the beach right by posto 3. It's good in terms of location, pretty much in the middle of everything. Ipanema is walking distance depending what part of copa your in, either way its a short and easy bus ride pretty much anywhere, plus the metro can take you to most places you'll want to go.

Post: #16

If you have the cash Ipanema would probably be ideal. Close to the beach, upscale area, and not as far from Copa, Lapa, and Botafogo as Leblon is. I stayed at the Mango Tree hostel a block away from Posto 9 and it was ideal. If money's an issue I would stay in Copa. It didn't seem very sketchy to me (in fact there are a ton of tourists there) and the central location and proximity to the beach are hard to beat.

Post: #17

Check out Urca. Can be hard to find a place and it's expensive, but its safe, quiet and clean. Like a little oasis. I had a pad there for 6 months and would never live in any other part of the city.

Post: #18

(09-14-2011 06:59 PM)Mr.GM Wrote:  Santa Teresa has its charm as an unique and "cool" neighborhood. But in my opinion it is currently in poor condition and is not the safest place to be , even though it is safer than it was in the past.

I like Santa Teresa a lot, the condition of it is half it's charm. It's a little run down but without being a dump, the graffitti etc just adds to the atmosphere IMO. Despite everyone I met telling me it's dangerous and I was crazy to stay there I didn't encoutner any trouble or feel threatend at all. The only problem is that aside from a few neighbourhood bars and restaurants (which are great) I didn't find much else to do, it's a bit far from the beaches (but close to Lapa) and can be tricky to get home sometimes at night because taxi drivers aren't keen of going there.

Post: #19

Depends , If you don't like the latina type of woman then rio will be a nightmare for you.

Post: #20

"Latina type" & nightmare? Rio has blonds, redheads,... if you are looking for the real Latina type you'll have to go (a little) more North. of course you'll find Latina's everywhere, but I had many blond very light skinned girlfriends in Rio before.

Anyhow, back to the question: Santa Theresa changed a lot, like many places in Rio (especially around Zona Sul) as they cleaned up most of the favela's. Santa Theresa is pretty safe now, even during the night. The problem however remains the same: you are on a hill, pretty far from the beach & only have some pubs in your area. Fridays & Saturdays are ok, as you can go to Lapa, but all the other nights are shit.

Ipanema/Leblon are the best places to stay. Point. But it comes at a price. Second comes Copacabana (also safe now, and 95% of the hooker bars closed), Leme (next to Copacabana) and after that Botafogo/Flamengo. Urca is a great place, but not if you want to go out! There's no metro, and it's pretty far from everywhere. Not the place to be as a single guy. Barra is to far away. Enjoy !

Post: #21

(09-23-2011 11:19 AM)GiovanniRio Wrote:  "Latina type" & nightmare? Rio has blonds, redheads,... if you are looking for the real Latina type you'll have to go (a little) more North. of course you'll find Latina's everywhere, but I had many blond very light skinned girlfriends in Rio before.

Anyhow, back to the question: Santa Theresa changed a lot, like many places in Rio (especially around Zona Sul) as they cleaned up most of the favela's. Santa Theresa is pretty safe now, even during the night. The problem however remains the same: you are on a hill, pretty far from the beach & only have some pubs in your area. Fridays & Saturdays are ok, as you can go to Lapa, but all the other nights are shit.

Ipanema/Leblon are the best places to stay. Point. But it comes at a price. Second comes Copacabana (also safe now, and 95% of the hooker bars closed), Leme (next to Copacabana) and after that Botafogo/Flamengo. Urca is a great place, but not if you want to go out! There's no metro, and it's pretty far from everywhere. Not the place to be as a single guy. Barra is to far away. Enjoy !

Theis blonds are mostly fake, If someone like natural blonds would avoid going to rio. They definitely dont look like blonde women in european germanic countries. I've been many times in brazil and the few blondes that are in southern states and are more like a mousy brown shade naturally rather than strong natural yellow blond hair, usually italian/german/portuguese mixes.

Post: #22

If you are young, free and single and want to party and pull women most nights where is the best place to stay then? Having only stayed in Santa Teresa for 2 months and Lebon for 1 month (neither of which are single guy territory) I'm not sure where is best. I ended up in both these places by accident and liked both just they aren't exactly party central nor conducive for meeting girls. I don't care if I have to go to a bar fill of grino hunters or not I just want to know where in general is the best area.

Post: #23

(09-23-2011 08:23 PM)KingofScotland Wrote:  If you are young, free and single and want to party and pull women most nights where is the best place to stay then? Having only stayed in Santa Teresa for 2 months and Lebon for 1 month (neither of which are single guy territory) I'm not sure where is best. I ended up in both these places by accident and liked both just they aren't exactly party central nor conducive for meeting girls. I don't care if I have to go to a bar fill of grino hunters or not I just want to know where in general is the best area.

I would say that it would depend on what kind of girl and venue you are going for...

The most 'classical' partying neighbourhood is Lapa, down at centro. It is varied, you can get from eletronica to samba to rock to live music within a few blocks, very full on weekends and maybe even weekdays. But living there on a day-to-day basis might not be that interesting. Being close to downtown (centro) provide lots of cultural options and other assorted facilities, but it is just not as pretty (or clean) as other places would be during the day, and it is somewhat far from the better beaches. It might be considerably cheaper to stay in centro, but it is not a common choice amongst travellers.

The girls that go to Lapa tend to be more varied, from other parts of the city, but is easier to find more "easy going" (easy laying?) and overall sociable girls that are into samba and brazilian music, without the posh attitude of the patricinhas at Ipanema or Leblon, but with their looks

The patricinhas of Ipanema or Leblon tend to dress better, be in better shape, but with shitloads of attitude. Yet, they seem to responde better to caveman game of sorts. These girls tend to flock the high-end-expensive-as-fuck venues at those neighbourhoods. If you play that way, know that staying in Ipanema or Leblon will be considerably more expensive, with a reasonably active nightlife at the clubs during the weekend, but less partying going on during the week, more concentrated on the local bars. Mind you, the kind of bars people go to "sit and drink" and not "walk and mingle" as I mentioned on another thread.

My personal choice for night venues focus on Botafogo. The cost of living is cheaper than Ipanema or Leblon, but possibly not as cheap as Centro/Lapa. Botafogo and Humaitá is were the more intellectual/hipster/alternative crowd from zona sul mingle to escape from the high end "snobs" at the other neighbourhoods. People party a lot on the streets, and there are some cool rock/electronica clubs around. Casa da Matriz, Pista 3, Casa de Espanha and Bar da Rampa to name a few very popular choices. It has also a ton of bars and a "Centro Gastronomico" where you find different and assorted restaurants to eat. Lots of choices, and close enough to other cool neighbourhoods.

Copacabana gets points for cost of living... but varying GREATLY within the same neighbourhood. Easy access to the beach and good transportation that can take you pretty much anywhere throughout the city. The thing is, I personally dislike the nightlife at Copa. Clubs that open there don't tend to last, and although it has many popular and crowded bars in several spots, those are not the best places to pull up chicks, as the people tend to sit and drink within their own groups. There is a good pub though that I like there called MUD BUG, quite big and croweded from thurs to sat. The crowd might be a bit older, in their 30s, but it is a good place overall, with several imported beer options. But for partying (and not partaking in the sex industry you can find at Posto 2 at the beach, full of gringos) I suggest Botafogo, a nearby option.

To choose a place to stay, I'd firstly consider what kind of girls / groups you'd think you'd mingle best, and budget, before you make a choice.

Rio is a big place, and there are tons of venues that pop up everywhere and that I don't really know! But you can definetely be sure that were you stay defines the kind of girls you are going to meet and their attitude.

Boa sorte!

Post: #24

Good post. I like Lapa, went there both at weekends for street parties and midweek to Samba bars. Pulled a girl in the street during Carnival in Lapa with ease, people are relaxed, have fun and up for interacting. Wouldn't like to live in either Lapa or Centro however, bit sketchy at night when quiet have known people to get robbed in broad daylight on a Sunday in Centro / Lapa. Not a pretty place to live.

I also partied in Botafogo in a few bars and went to Club De Matriz but only on a Monday night when it was really quiet as a girl I met was DJing. Looked like it'd be a cool place though when busy.

Didn't party in either Ipanema or Copocobana as just didn't know where to go, could barely find any bars at Copa aside those beach shacks and a couple places out front of hotels on the opposite side of the road from the beach but were instantly hounded by whores which wasn't something I was interested in. Where are all Copas clubs hidden?

I'm mostly into going to NON expensive and flashy venues with approachable women who aren't only interested in cars & money or whatever shit it is Brazilian women care about, where is the best place for that? I'd like to know somewhere other than Lapa to party at next time I'm in Rio.

Post: #25

If you are not into the "expensive" places (still the best looking carioca's/model types will be found here), Ipanema (Boox, Baronetti, Club Londres, Nuth Lagoa) and in Capacabana (Bar do Copa) will be out of your interest. The same counts for most of the clubs & crowd in Barra.

You could go to Carioca da Gema or Rio Scenarium on Fridays & Saturdays. The street parties in Lapa are nice, but will give you a very average (looking) crowd with in between some nice women, most of them however heading to the clubs. Most Zona Sul girls will not go to Lapa, or limit it to the clubs only. Clubs there are pretty cheap and fun ...

I personally love the girls in Zona Sul and their attitude. But, I also enjoy girls from the Tijuca/vila Isabel area. They are middle class girls, all working/studying at the same time, looking for some fun in the weekends. I spend lots of time there during the weekends. The problem is however that you need to know locals who tell you where to go on a specific night. And... Portuguese will come in handy, because many of them just have a basic to zero understanding of English.

Maybe you should focus some more on day game? Women here are extremely easy to talk with, you could play the tourist/business man role looking for something, and before you know it, you are invited to a party... Just don't be to much of a tourist, most women in Zona Sul don't like them...

Have fun