Rio De Janeiro

The best way to get your kids excited about a new destination is to watch related movies or shows. The movie Rio is one of my favorite animated children’s movies. Our kids gravitated to it quickly with its colorful birds and catchy songs. When we visited, they were calling out every scene from the movie.

Home to one of the New Seven World Wonders, the must see on my list is Christ the Redeemer. I suggest planning everything else around visiting the monument. You want to visit on a day with clear skies as it is not visible on a cloudy day. If you can’t look up from the beach and see it, I would suggest going another day. Getting there early is always best. An Uber will drive you all the way to the ticket station and then you have the option to take the shuttle or the trolley to the top.  Cost Adult: $11 USD Child (Under 6) FREE

After visiting Christ the redeemer we went to Parque Lage. This is a public park where the botanical gardens are and it is home to a scenic Italian restaurant. The food and service were great as well. It made me feel like Rome in Rio. After lunch, we walked along the park and also met another family with young children playing. 

Our next favorite spot was Sugarloaf Mountain. This is where the best views of Rio are. The special part about this place is they have a fast lane where elderly, children, and individuals with disabilities can walk through a separate line 1st to board the cable car. Cost: Adult $21USD Child (under 6) FREE

The best areas to stay are in a hotel along the beach, either in Copacabana or Ipanema. These areas are very safe and convenient. We were able to wake up in the morning and go to the beach without a large crowd. There were grocery stores nearby so that we could pick up diapers, water and snacks for the kids. We were also able to walk to a laundromat to drop our clothes off and pick them back up twice.

My most asked question was about safety in Rio… We had no problems at all while we were there. I believe this is in part due to us going during the low season. We were only outside of our hotel during night 1 time. I personally do not recommend visiting the Favela’s as they are known to be where most of the crime is. We tend to treat safety how we would in the states, I would not walk around an area I wasn’t familiar with at night especially with the kids.

I highly recommend going to Bio Park of Rio, this is their zoo and they have an area there where almost every bird mention in the movie is able to fly around. The birds are literally flying over you and around you and the kids truly enjoyed it. I was over the moon when they were calling the birds the characters names and singing the songs.
If you have time I suggest visiting a futbol game if they are playing during your travels. You are only able to purchase tickets at the stadium. Unfortunately, when we purchased our tickets, they told us that we were not allowed to take the baby’s stroller into the stadium so our plan was to head back to the hotel drop the stroller off and make it back in time for the game however, when we arrived it was the half and we were too late for entry. Please allow plenty of time so that you are able to attend the game.