Another very enjoyable video, Matt. I went to Rio for my 40th in December '22 and had a great time. I did something I hardly ever do and that was hire a tour guide for half a day and it proved to be an excellent decision. He took care of everything (transport, tickets, translation etc.) and the visit to Cristo and Sugarloaf went smoothly and quickly (he knew everyone working at these locations and I am pretty sure we skipped the lines in a few places). Would also strongly recommend to any of your viewers planning to visit Rio to use Uber to get around - it is safe and relatively cheap and is definitely preferable to using public transportation or walking anywhere where there's a chance of wandering off the beaten track.
I’m not sure I could do that cable car. I did Christ the redeemer and didn’t have time for sugarloaf anyway, but after doing the table mountain cable car I’m not sure I could stomach it!
I've been to Brazil once in 2015 in Rio, in fact. I booked a award ticket on my Alaska Airlines miles 20K one-way from USA (Omaha) to Europe (Madrid), and I was able to "force" a free stopover in South America (Rio)! With most of the flights being outsourced to American, of course. So the itinerary ended up being OMA-DFW-GIG-MIA on AA, then MIA-MAD on Iberia, all for the same 20K miles! Unbelievable award hacks like that are not quite as available nowadays as they were in the past unfortunately, but they were fun! Would love for Daddy Matt to do a video on "forced stopovers" someday! 😅
Very good video - didn't know about Pipa Beach. I've been to Brazil 3 times and adored it. Natal was interesting - many beaches, very close to equator and a temperature range of 31-33C during the year. The Brazilians are wonderful and the scenery, spectacular. If someone doesn't know Portuguese, Spanish or Italian can help. I haven't been there for 20 years now...I must return.
Thanks for the shout-out mate (and the memories), glad you had a great time. It was good to see what I should’ve seen from the top of Corcovado - such a bad day I chose weather-wise. I guess at least it was quiet. Sugar Loaf was the definitite highlight for me though - superb! Great video mate and like you, I’d absolutely go back. Loved it and loved the people 👍
Thanks Mark - your videos came out a couple of weeks before I went and were super helpful - didn't have time for the tram this trip .. I knew there was no point competing with yours on the transportation detail!!!
Another great video Matt, I’ve always wondered about Rio and there always seem to be good reward availability with BA but I’ve always been worried about the security/crime
A few people have said in the comments that they feel safer in Brazil than in many US cities. Wander round a favela late at night and you're asking for trouble... But as I say in the video, I didn't feel the place was any worse than many other places you wouldn't think twice about visiting
Hey Matt Harvey here… amazing video, travel info, culture explanation and commentary 👏🏽 absolutely loved it and can’t wait for the next one 🙏🏽💙 love the channel
I find Joao Pessoa very safe, wouldnt think twice about bringing my cameras out and about, it's a bit dull compared to Recife , a lot of pensioners retire to JP for its safety and cheaper prices, My favourite part of Rio is Barra da Tijuica, too many people and hassle in Copacabana and Ipanema these days. If youre coming back highly recommend Salvador, Brasilia, Fortaleza and Recife , Personally I don't go South of Sao Paulo these days.....My main home is Islington North London and I see more criminality there than in Brazil to be honest but yes sensible precautions are a good idea. Brazil gets less internatioal tourists than the Eiffel tower each year but it's one of the reasons I love it and I'm delighted theyre reintroducing visa requirements for certain nationalities,,, Rio in particular has seen a dreadful of influence of Passport bro toxic travellers who are seeking to move on from the Dominican Republic etc.
Hi Matt, Thank you very much for today's video! Your videos on destination are my absolute favourite!! You give an honest traveller opinion, good solid advice, and you can produce a video that does not make you" youtube cringe." Any guy that shows off knitwear one week, and checks out copa cabana beach the next week..." figure of speech" is a hero in my books!
I've been looking forward to seeing what you got up to in Brazil.👍🏻 I've visited the copycat Christ the Redeemer statue in the Dominican Republic but fascinating to see the 'real' one. The views are incredible . I'm impressed you managed to film it so well with all those people there. 🇧🇷
But you missed the most interesting and biggest Brazilian city: São Paulo! It's a gastronomic, cultural and business capital and a huge but well orbanised metropolis!
Thanks for that - I did feel a bit bad about just flying through Sao Paolo rather than lingering.... It really doesn't have a great reputation for being an interesting place to spend time though - certainly compared to Rio!
With a total of more than 19 years living in Brazil, I have never had a single problem with violence or otherwise.....just need to excerise common sense, felt more threatened in certain major city's in the US...
