Lagoa today

[sydneyboy1]

15 minutes ago, Slvkguy said:

I view SP vs Rio in bigger context of Lagoa vs 202/117.  

There’s no question SP is safer and has better hotels & higher level of services. It’s a world class city & sophisticated.  Crime is 3x higher in Rio and much likelier to have problems there. Rio is a few nice beaches & a couple of saunas w substandard accommodations & everything else. For those reasons, SP (Lagoa) wins by a long shot for me & if Lagoa isn’t happening, then I’d be happy with the online options.  And the nice hotels & great restaurants.

The danger of Rio, shitty hotels and schlepping to Copacabana & Gloria are not relaxing or fun.  I get why people go to Rio at first - but way more to Brazil than that.

You raised some excellent points. When I first went to Rio in 2005 the standard of hotel accommodation was atrocious. In more recent times the Copacabana Palace has been renovated and the Fasano and Emiliano are welcome additions. When you consider the size of the city the pickings are still lean.

I know only too well the question of safety. In 2005 I was mugged at knife point by 3 thugs almost in front of the Copacabana Palace.

I have become very fond of São Paulo over the years and agree that the vastly superior accommodations and restaurants are an incentive not to mention the delights of Lagoa and Fragata. I have been to Brazil 9 times and have always spent more time in São Paulo.

 

 

[SolaceSoul]

9 hours ago, Slvkguy said:

There’s no question SP is safer

“The violence in Sao Paulo is very location-specific.

São Paulo (the capital city, not the state) has 96 districts. 33 of those districts have a homicide rate smaller than the USA (4.8 per 100 thousand inhabitants).

On the other hand, 28 districts have a homicide rate higher than in Nigeria.

Some districts, like Jaçanã, are more violent than Mexico.

Other districts, like Jardim Paulista, are safer than Germany.“

https://expatriateconsultancy.com/is-sao-paulo-safe/

[davet]

On 5/25/2022 at 4:30 AM, SolaceSoul said:

Some districts, like Jaçanã, are more violent than Mexico.

I just looked up Jacana. It's waayyy out. I stayed in Jardims this last trip and did not see a hint of a shred of a danger. Even staggered back to my hotel from a restaurant in Pinheiros one night, probably not smart, but again, nothing looked remotely dangerous. I remember a time when banks in those neighborhoods had an assault rifle-armed guard in front. 

As for more central districts, Se and Republica still look sketchy. 

[davet]

On 5/24/2022 at 7:00 PM, Slvkguy said:

I view SP vs Rio in bigger context of Lagoa vs 202/117.  

There’s no question SP is safer and has better hotels & higher level of services. It’s a world class city & sophisticated.  Crime is 3x higher in Rio and much likelier to have problems there. Rio is a few nice beaches & a couple of saunas w substandard accommodations & everything else. For those reasons, SP (Lagoa) wins by a long shot for me & if Lagoa isn’t happening, then I’d be happy with the online options.  And the nice hotels & great restaurants.

The danger of Rio, shitty hotels and schlepping to Copacabana & Gloria are not relaxing or fun.  I get why people go to Rio at first - but way more to Brazil than that.

That's what I used to think. But on this and the previous trip to Rio, I found it to have remarkably cleaned up. The area around the Copacabana Palace, which one used to be warned about, looked perfectly tame. I didn't hang out at the beach, though, which is where the trouble used to be. Barra is boring but suburban-safe. Sao Conrado is very interesting, despite or because of being right next to the largest favela in Brazil. I'm not big into hotels so I've stayed in 1/2-star places in Gloria, Catete, Lgo de Machado, which seemed quite safe because tourist-targeters don't have anyone to target. I've even stayed in Sta Teresa (an uber or steep 10 minute hike up from 117) and it was fantastic - walking around at night like in a small town, with little bars and restaurants in colonial houses.