Top 10 Things to Do in Rio on a Backpacker’s Budget

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Crazy costumes, thong bikinis, sugary lime cocktails, beaches, mountains and sexy Brazilians partying through the night are images that have put Rio on the tourist radar. But with fame, comes fortune and Rio’s wow factor now carries an increasing price tag. Hang with OTP as we show you how you can still live it up without giving it up.

Catch any intra-city match up of Rio’s four teams to watch fan lunacy at its peak. Grab a cheap ticket (starting at $15) to sit with the rowdies, but head way up top to elude the showering of drinks turned projectiles after a shitty call. The drums, songs and sea of giant flags up there are just as good as the show on the pitch. While you’ll still find the same crazed carioca fans at every stadium, the legendary Maracanã stadium is unfortunately undergoing a $600 million Joan Rivers-esque face lift and won’t see soccer again until 2013.

OTP Tip: Flamengo is Brazil’s Yankees, so you already have a team to either love or hate. Warning: Away team fans are physically distanced from the locals, get police escorts out of the stadium and bring a change of clothes to avoid trouble outside.  So check team colors beforehand to avoid actual nosebleeds in the cheap sections.

Rising from Guanabara Bay like a pair of titties in desperate need of augmentation, Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf) and the lesser Morro de Açucar (Sugar hill) are on every Rio postcard.  The cable cars that herd tourists to the top were made famous in the James Bond film Moonraker. Make Bond look like an Octopussy by skipping the cars and climb that shit instead. Unless you’re an expert climber, you’ll want a guide (about $35 bucks) or experienced local to lead you and rig up the ropes.  Dodge the midday heat and start in late afternoon to summit by sunset. At the top, watch the sky fire up as the sun dips behind Christo Redentor and sets Rio into motion for the night.  Cable cars down are free after 7 pm.

Get Schooled
Carnaval is Rio’s most famous party, but the million tourists that pack the city leave little room for a backpacker on a budget.  You can still get a taste of Carnaval at a weekly samba school rehearsal starting up to six months before the main event.  For $5 – $10 at the local favorite Mangueira school, you’ll sample what others will be paying hundreds to see at the sambadrome during the festival.  The show gets more polished and extravagant as Carnaval approaches, but the drinks stay cheap and the people are always welcoming.

Where art galleries, restaurants and bars occupy century-old mansions, Santa Teresa is a great place to wander.  The tram is out of action indefinitely after a deadly derailment, so cab it to the top and trickle your way down on foot.  Stop for a late dinner at Bar do Arnaudo where a huge $20 dish of carne de sol will make you dream of stretchy pants.  Afterward, waddle out to the street and let gravity guide you to the world famous Selarón steps (as seen in Snoop Dogg’s “Beautiful” video).  At the bottom of this forever evolving masterpiece of tiles and international ceramics, you’ll be in Lapa, where evenings quickly turn to all-nighters.

On Friday nights, young cariocas and tourists head to the arches in Rio’s Lapa neighborhood for a raging free street party, where vendors hawk cheap drinks and drunk food. Get your fill of liquid courage on the streets, head inside one of clubs lining the arches and bust out your gringo dance moves.

OTP Tip: A fancy-looking hole in the wall (next to the Rio Rock & Blues), the tiny Drinkeria Express com Coelho, is the spot to hit for an endless array of caipirinhas and caipifrutas for only 5 reais (about $3).

So You Say You’re an Ass Man?
Rio is dominated by a coastline of beaches, with sights that range from bronzed and beautiful to god awful prune and sag. Copacabana beach became famous in the ’50s, which still draws the nostalgia crowd from that era (prunes).  Ipanema beach is much easier on the eyes.  At posto 9, make-you-jeaous dudes kick around soccer balls while damn-gurl ladies sip from coconuts. If Ipanema is too crowded, venture west to the 11 mile beach in Barra da Tijuca where you’ll find an equally sexy collection of cariocas at Pepê – between Posto 1 and 2.

OTP Bonus: The remote Prainha and hidden Joatinga, both only reachable by car, are the closest to beach solitude you’ll find around Rio.

On Sunday nights, the brothel turned nightclub of Casa Rosa is miles from the touristy zones in the Laranjeiras neighborhood.  While $20 will no longer let you drop your pants here (or anywhere), it will get you two Brazilian favorites – entrance to see a live samba band and a heaping plate of feijoada.  This national dish of Brazil piles a heavy stew of black beans and reject pig meat on a bed of white rice with sides of collard greens, farofa and orange slices.  After your feast settles, join the locals dancing samba in the courtyard or pop into one of the other rooms for a DJ, live local band or capoeira show.  Don’t think about the unspeakable acts that took place here in the past.  Instead, warm up to a carioca and work on getting the goods for free.

As you may know from City of God, life in these shanty towns isn’t all peaches and sunshine. But passing up the favelas during your stay in Rio gives you a sheltered look of the city that fails to consider one-fifth of Brazil’s population. Get the full picture by spending some time down in real poverty. While a lone day walk through a favela will not land you in a stack of gasoline-soaked tires, a guide is useful to learn some history and avoid getting lost in the concrete jungle.  The favela residents from Carioca Free Culture will walk you through Rocinha, the granddaddy of Rio favelas and home to several hundred thousand cariocas.  This zero-overhead, intimate tour through life on the broke side of town is the most authentic and reasonable you’ll find in Rio.

Take a Hike
You don’t need to leave the city for a break from the Rio’s bustle and heat.  Jardim Botânico, located just across the lagoa from Ipanema, is a lush, peaceful garden escape for about $3.  More adventurous options exist a bit further away in Tijuca National Park – the largest urban forest in the world where you can hike endless trails through waterfalls, caves and mountain peaks while exotic birds and monkeys taunt you from above, all for nada.

Are you loving the new Sony Cybershot you bought just for this trip?  So is that shady guy watching you from across the street.  Rio has historically been a dangerous place for tourists, but recent attempts to clean up the city for the World Cup and Olympics have raised safety levels some. Common sense worth printing:

• Keep valuables in your front pockets and keep your hands on them or over your purse zipper when walking through crowds.
• Wear the camera wrist strap when taking a picture to avoid a snatch and dash.
• Carry a wallet or purse but only keep a small amount of cash, passport copy and a single credit/debit card.
• Avoid dark or deserted streets at night and jump in a taxi if needed.

Hey look, you’ve got all your shit. You’re welcome.

The best of Rio can be yours for cheap or less. Throw your hips on samba mode and see why cariocas call their city the best in the world.

 

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