I am finally heading to Rio after living in Buenos Aires for 8 years. How safe is Rio compared to Buenos Aires?

[JonToronto]

Big Jon needs some rest and relaxation and I just broke up with my novia. I have lived in Buenos Aires for 8 years but I have never been to Brazil. I just booked a trip to Rio de Janeiro as I heard it's fabulous and I heard even a blind guy there can find a beautiful gorota. I'm a big runner and routinely run 8 miles a day. Is it going to be safe for me to jog in the day? I heard Rio can be rough but I will be safe running yes?

 

[earlyretirement]

I own an apartment in Copacabana and I spent a lot of time in Rio. I don't get there as often as I would like these days. I spent more time there when I was a single bachelor. You will be fine during the day. I only had one incident with an attempt of someone trying to rob me and that was probably my own fault for walking around super late at night and some kids were begging for money and I took out some money to give to one kid and then got swarmed like bees and they tried to get some cash from my wallet and my watch but I just went all Bruce Lee on them. Ha, ha. (They didn't get anything).

The biggest issue with Rio is that the slums and favelas are next to nice neighborhoods as well but honestly if you aren't wearing any jewelry you will be ok during the day. I've walked around quite a bit and never had issues. It's beautiful running along Avenida Atlantica and also in Ipanema. You can run all along the beach back and forth only in Copacabana it's a few miles so you can run back and forth or run along the beach and then over to Ipanema along the beach. You won't have issues.
I was just there in July with my family. My wife has been there many times as we would stay in my apartment but my kids just went to Rio this summer and loved it. I looked and the distance between Leblon and Museu do Amanhã is just over 8 miles.

Here is a good website where you can see some running routes:

Running in Rio de Janeiro. Best Places to Run in Rio de Janeiro

A guide to running in Rio de Janeiro. The best places to run are along the spectacular beaches & waterfront, the Urca neighborhood, Lagoa loop, and Olympic sites tour.

greatruns.com

Be careful at night depending on where you go. I speak some Portuguese. One thing you won't have trouble finding is a new Novia. Cariocas are very friendly and easy going and also beautiful. It's funny the first time I went I thought a girl was stealing my phone but she was putting in her phone number.

Rio is a magical place. I think one of the most naturally beautiful in the world. The view from Sugar Loaf is amazing.

 

[JonToronto]

I own an apartment in Copacabana and I spent a lot of time in Rio. I don't get there as often as I would like these days. I spent more time there when I was a single bachelor. You will be fine during the day. I only had one incident with an attempt of someone trying to rob me and that was probably my own fault for walking around super late at night and some kids were begging for money and I took out some money to give to one kid and then got swarmed like bees and they tried to get some cash from my wallet and my watch but I just went all Bruce Lee on them. Ha, ha. (They didn't get anything).

The biggest issue with Rio is that the slums and favelas are next to nice neighborhoods as well but honestly if you aren't wearing any jewelry you will be ok during the day. I've walked around quite a bit and never had issues. It's beautiful running along Avenida Atlantica and also in Ipanema. You can run all along the beach back and forth only in Copacabana it's a few miles so you can run back and forth or run along the beach and then over to Ipanema along the beach. You won't have issues.
I was just there in July with my family. My wife has been there many times as we would stay in my apartment but my kids just went to Rio this summer and loved it. I looked and the distance between Leblon and Museu do Amanhã is just over 8 miles.

Here is a good website where you can see some running routes:

Running in Rio de Janeiro. Best Places to Run in Rio de Janeiro

A guide to running in Rio de Janeiro. The best places to run are along the spectacular beaches & waterfront, the Urca neighborhood, Lagoa loop, and Olympic sites tour.

greatruns.com

Be careful at night depending on where you go. I speak some Portuguese. One thing you won't have trouble finding is a new Novia. Cariocas are very friendly and easy going and also beautiful. It's funny the first time I went I thought a girl was stealing my phone but she was putting in her phone number.

Rio is a magical place. I think one of the most naturally beautiful in the world. The view from Sugar Loaf is amazing.

Wow! Thanks so much @earlyretirement! This is great. Greatly appreciated.

 

[Floripa]

I used to live in Ipanema for a few years, and I'd walk around the southern zone (zona sul) every day, which is quite a big area. Personally, I felt "safe enough" and enjoyed a good quality of life, but I did witness a fair share of incidents:

1. There was a shootout with automatic weapons between the police and kidnappers who hijacked a taxi in front of Shopping Leblon. They sped away down the main street of Ipanema, and some bystanders got shot and wounded.
2. I got stuck in traffic in a tunnel, and suddenly, hundreds of people came running and screaming in terror through the tunnel. Criminals had entered and were robbing motorists at gunpoint.
3. I saw a similar scene on the beach in Ipanema, where criminals were robbing beachgoers at gunpoint. This kind of mass robbery has its own word: arrastão.
4. I encountered a dead body lying in the middle of the running path in front of the lagoon. Most people, including families with children, were casually walking around it.
5. There was a bank robbery in Ipanema where they literally blew up the bank with a bomb one night – it shook me awake.

Many people I know in areas like Barra and Recreio have directly experienced violent crimes like home invasions and kidnappings over the years. These are less likely to occur in the more densely populated south zone, where the main issue is usually opportunistic street crime. Almost everyone I know there has their own "crime stories" to share.

Looking back, the worst part is that it becomes normal after a very short time, and it's easy to shrug off what's happening to others around you.

To be frank, there's zero comparison between the two cities in terms of safety. Rio is one of the most violent big cities globally, no sugarcoating it. Every year, over 200 people get hit by stray bullets (not even crime targets), over 1000 people are killed by the police, and more than 2000 fall victim to murder.

If this sounds nothing like what you know from Buenos Aires, there's your comparison. If you want to talk numbers, that one city approximately has more murders each year than all of Argentina.

Here you can see comparisons between the 2 cities. I don't mean to scare you but take note it's not like BA:

Crime Comparison Between Buenos Aires, Argentina And Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Safety Comparison.

www.numbeo.com

 

[Swowbird]

I live in Brazil part of the year and own an apartment in São Paulo.

Rio and Buenos Aires are like chalk and cheese, no doubt about it. But let me be straight with you, Rio takes the cake for being more on the wild side.
If you're planning a holiday in Rio, you'll likely stay in Zona Sur or maybe around Copacabana or Ipanema and the beginning of Barra. It's all walkable, but you've got to be way more on your toes than you would in Buenos Aires. Foreigners stand out, and crime is not just a thing that happens occasionally – it's more like an unwelcome neighbor that never leaves. A switched-on Carioca friend just spilled the beans yesterday, saying that crime has spiked in the last few months.

I'd say go ahead, take a stroll, but only carry what you're willing to part with. Blend in, be extra cautious of beach thieves. Some beaches are safer, like Leblon posto 12 (where the wealthy hang out), Vidigal beach (Sheraton) on weekdays (no stealing on 'favela grounds'), Joatinga (secluded and tricky to access), or Praia Vermelha Urca (military base). Ipanema depends on which posto you hit. Copacabana? Well, let's just say Leme is slightly more local.

And if you land in Rio after dark, watch your phone and belongings in the Uber on the Linha Vermelha, especially the first few kilometers from Galeo airport to Zona Sul.
Living in Rio, the biggest risk I faced (apart from flooding, because, you know, weather) was being collateral damage in a shooting – wrong place, wrong time. Not much you can do about that.

Now, plenty of tourists hit up Rio all the time and have a blast. Just keep your wits about you, and you'll be fine. It's like a thrilling adventure with a few caution signs, but that's part of the fun, right?

 

[earlyretirement]

Definitely for sure you can't compare the two crime wise. Buenos Aires is a really super safe city. I literally can walk around all hours of the night in most neighborhoods and I am not worried at all in Buenos Aires. I've even living and working in Buenos Aires since 2002 and never had a situation that I couldn't get out of or was nervous.

In Brazil I have had a few incidents even if they didn't get any money or rob me it was very very scary. You can read about one brush with cops that tried to rob me at night and pulled out his gun. You can read the Chapter of my Book below (It's so long it's in 3 parts). If you want to skip the details, basically my friends and I were coming back to a love motel (VIP's) that we booked for the weekend to party.

It was probably 2 AM and a dark road and really you have to be careful at night. A cop pulled me over and was going to rob me but my friend was in a taxi behind and made the taxi honk the horn and I got out of it. But Rio is a city you have to pay attention. I have been on the beach and seen tourists getting robbed but most times it's out of some dispute but you can definitely be in the wrong place at the wrong time there. But I think overall if you're careful and it's during the day you're going to be ok.

I'm not sure how long you're there for. You will probably hit the major sites I imagine but I spent a few nights over in Barra de Tijuca at the Grand Hyatt and it was a nice getaway. The beach was in front and they had a high end shopping mall there the likes I've never seen in all of Brazil. Although prices were CRAZY high but a nice area if you want to get away and very safe over there. In fact, my hotel was full of Argentines on vacation in July.

I would highly recommend this Tour. Lunch is included. I always recommend this one to my friends that are going and every person loved it. It's a perfect day and you will see most of the major sites - https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...oaf_Tickets_Lunch_Included-Rio_de_Janeir.html

I never get nervous there during the day. I speak enough Portuguese to get by. Uber works very good there but if you want a private driver let me know and I'll give you a WhatsApp of a few trusted guys that I use to pick me up at the airport and take me around. They have bigger vehicles.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1703892732065038827

 

[Avocado]

Rio is much more dangerous than BA but you shouldn't have issues. I've been many times. Wonderful city. Naturally very gorgeous.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

a dead body

yeah, and

one brush with cops that tried to rob me

i'm good, i've worked in enough shady cities my life. i'm enjoying the tranquility of BsAs. my friend got pickpocketed (well, smartphone ripped out of her hand while the car window was cracked 3") in a bad neighborhood of Lima Peru, and i think this is all pretty common. although i didn't see any crime in Santiago Chile.

 

[GlasgowJohn]

Rio is fine during the day but you got to be careful at night.

As has been said earlier, only carry on you the stuff you dont mind losing....

To sum it up , i was staying in a 4 star hotel just off the main strip on the Copacabana . I had a lateish flight(9pm) back to Argentina.

As I called my Uber , the hall porter said to me sir dont go out to the car until I am ready for you and he pointed out to me a couple of bag thieves about 40 yards away on the other side from the hotel.