Health & Safety
Is Rio Safe?
Rio has a reputation for being the kind of place where you can go to the beach in the morning, get your watch nicked in the afternoon and catch a bullet at night. Anyone who's seen City of God probably imagines that they'll spend half their holiday fleeing from packs of 9 year olds with semi-automatics.
In reality you'll never see any of this. The shootouts that happen between the cops and the trafficants take place in the favelas and poorer neighbourhoods – places that you will never have occasion to go. The most you'll ever be aware of the conflict is the sound of a distant gun shot on the night breeze. But hey, that's just all part of the romance of living in Rio de Janeiro.
The only thing you will want to be careful about is wearing jewellery or watches in public. There are a lot of children in Rio who don't have enough to eat and they are very skilled at swiping your belongings on the beach or as you walk down the street. It doesn't happen very often and if you follow the advice of your Anything in Rio guides then you'll have no problems at all. Relax – everyone else in Rio does.
In general Brazilians are some of the kindest, friendliest people in the world. They will do all they can to help you out and if you use a bit of common sense you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.