Rio de Janeiro Carnival is one of the greatest parties in the World.

Milions come to Rio to party on Carnaval in Samba rhythm, and also for street parties, Brazilian girls and Copacabana beach.

 

My advice is to come at least one or two weeks before the Carnival.
This way you can acclimatize in Rio and get the most of it.

See the Christo Reventor Statue, Capacabana Beach and even visit Rocinha the biggest favela in Brazil. ⇒RIO

 

Where to stay

Some hostels and hotels are fully booked months before the Carnival.
So if you plan Rio de Janeiro Carnival prepare early. It’s wise, but don’t expect to get early birds extra deals. Maybe you just book better location.
I did the Carnival twice and both times I booked everything a few days before. Most places were booked but I managed to get great location and very cool place to stay.
You’ll need somewhere vaguely hospitable place to rejuvenate after some all-night street parties.

Imagine that you party all 5 days and you need is a place to shower and crash for 2 or 3 hours and then party on…

Hostel

Be prepared to get the whole 5 days CARNIVAL PACKAGE
Prices rise drasticly during Rio de Janerio Carnival. You can pay 50-70 USD for a bed in 10-20 person room.
It’s not that bad idea after all.
I stayed in Lapa Hostel on Rua do Rezende just 2 or 3 blocks from main party streets. Safe and close to most party places. Lapa Hostel is a social place where lots of fun people stay. The staff helps a lot with hints for places and events. BIG LIKE from me to this hostel.

I stayed also in Copacabana, Botafogo, Santa Teresa- BOOKS HOSTEL I totally recomend and Ipanema Beach House hostel with a pool.

Hotel

Great and expensive option. Perfect if you want privacy.
3-star hotel room during Carnival prices start from 150 USD
4-star hotels like Atlantico Tower prices start from 200-350 USD depenting if you want the view or not.

Airbnb

Lots of Cariocas ( people from Rio ) rent their apartments or even single rooms.
It’s also very cool option and can get you a ‘home stay’ vibe if you know what I mean.

Couchsurfing

If you are a part of this community it’s also great way and it’s free!!!

 

Secure your place in the Sambadrome

The main spectacle of Rio de Janeiro Carnival takes place in the Sambadrome.
In Sambodromo Rio’s hottest samba schools strut their stuff in front of a 90,000 crowd, each vying to be crowned the winners of the Sambadrome parade. Nothing can describe the atmosphere and exhilaration you get from actually being in the middle of it.

 

Tickets for the parade on Sunday and Monday are the most popular and can sell out months in advance – so book as soon as you can.
Budget option is ticket into Section 11 of the Sambadrome.

Sections 5 and 7 in the Sambadrome will get you the best views, but if you want a guaranteed seat, go for Section 9 – it’s the only section with allocated seating. Even better, get a seat in Section 13 and you’ll have first dibs on the costumes left behind by the samba dancers.

If you want Sambodrome vibe for free you can get there one week before when most schools take their rehersals before the main show. They are dressed in trial costumes, not to reveal an artistic vision to their competitors, but you can get very close literally feel the samba music on you.

Book ahead to make sure you get views like this in the Sambadrome or be a part of Rio de Janeiro Carnival like I did doing my RIO photo project.

beautiful Brazilian girls in their Carnival costumes.

 

 

Money

Cash machines have been known to run dry during Rio de Janeiro Carnival – so get plenty of cash out before you go.

I had a bad experience and got my card cloned:/ I was using ATM and fortunately checked my balance and realized that someone cashed out more than 1000$ from my account!!! During one hour in 3 distant parts of the City. I filled the report at the Police station and shut down my card! If I did’t have this police report I couldn’t get insurance back in my country. So mind that not always it’s safe with you money.
And never take too much cash on you, because if you get robbed, you’ll loose just small part of you money.

SAFETY

Rio can be a real dangerous place if you don’t follow basic safety rules:

– be aware what is happening around you / No shady street corners at night, not having drinks from strangers in clubs, no too much alcohol, etc/

– go out with friends or fellow mates from your hostel, better not to go allone

– keep low profile with not showing of fancy camera or money ( I was using small Fujifilm X-100 camera which looks like a baby toy not a huge profi DSLR, and it fits in my pocket)

– Have small amounts of cash on you, and if someone will threat you with a knife or a gun- just let it go, it’s not worth the injury or worse.

 

Transport

Use Metro – very easy to get to other part of town, no traffic jams

Buses are also OK or a scooter?

Uber – but duringCarnival lots of crowds pure onto the streets so sometimes it can get really busy.

 

Blocos

Take it to the streets my friend

This is where the real carnival beggins.

A seat in the Samabadrome is so cool to watch the Rio de Janeiro Carnival – but what if you want to be a part of the action?

Take it to the streets and go for Blocos! There are about 450 blocos in Rio. Pick the best ones.
Talk to other travellers in your hostel or the staff and keep your ear to the ground.  You’ll soon find where the hottest blocos are taking place.
Lapa and Santa Teresa are known for their great blocos, so they’re a good place to start.

Downtown Rio

Ipanema or Copacabana bloco

 

night Blocos are also cool to get the Rio rhythm.

Samba Schools – Quadras

I picked UNIDOS DA TIJUCA Quadra for party.
They organize samba parties with wonderful, energetic samba vibe.
Usually these parties start month before carnival, just check when the part is?
Unidos da Tijuca Quadra address is Avenida Francisco Bicalho 20220-310 Rio de Janeiro

Cidade de Samba

Samba City formally known as Cidade do Samba Joãozinho Trinta
It is a complex of buildings in the neighborhood of Gamboa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is used for Samba schools to prepare for carnival.
I came here with a photographer I met in Unidos da Tijuca Quadra party and got a permition to take photographs in their warehouse before the parade by the samba school management.

Fourteen of the major samba schools have a warehouse in the complex. Each samba school keep their Parade costumes and Platforms in Warehouses here.
1. Viradouro  2. União da Ilha 3. Paraíso do Tuiuti 4. Grande Rio 5. Vila Isabel 6. Portela 7. Império Serrano

8. Salgueiro 9. São Clemente 10. Mocidade 11. Beija-Flor 12. Unidos da Tijuca 13. Mangueira 14. Imperatriz.

 

Put yourself on parade

If watching the parade isn’t enough for you, then why not take part in it? Seriously! Some of Rio’s samba schools are open to keen travellers willing to arrive early, rehearse for a few weeks, master the moves and don a costume. Oh, and wear it in front of several hundred thousand people, of course.

Dress up
Fantasias – Carnival Costumes

SARRA Market –  Sahara district -use metro station “Uruguaiana”. Cool place to find all the fantasias (carnival costumes) or you can find pretty much anything you can imagine for a cheap price, like beach clothing, electronics and souvenirs.
You can’t go to Rio de Janeiro Carnival and not expect to get involved in some of the fancy dress action.– you’ll feel like a kid in a toy shop with the array of costumes on offer

 

1 caipirinha, 2 caipirinha, 3 caipirinha, 4…

Go easy on the caipirinhas – it’s likely they’ll be a lot stronger than what you’re used to, and the Brazilians don’t tend to knock them back like we do. Cachaça with lyme and sugar tast great and kicks like hell…

A sunrise finish
After you’ve partied at a bloco into the early hours, finish it all off by watching the sun rise at Copacabana beach.

Stay longer

Don’t leave Rio as soon as Carnival ends. If you hang around until the following Saturday, you’ll have the chance to see the winner’s parade at the Sambadrome. Not only is this show guaranteed to show you the best of the best of Rio’s samba, it’s also the parade that most of the locals attend, so you’ll get an authentic Brazilian party experience.

Carnival continues?

Carnival is celebrated all over Brazil, and many of them continue the party for weeks afterwards.

Check out Salvador, Recife or Olinda for the best pre and post Rio parties.

For more pictures  ⇒ Rio de Janeiro Carnival Gallery

to see that Cidade Maravilhosa go to ⇒ TOP TEN SIGHTS IN RIO DE JANEIRO.