Welcome!

The main goal of this site is to give tourists and visitors an inside scoop about cool places to go and things to see in Rio de Janeiro, aside the mainstream places and ordinary stuff. So don´t expect to see any information about Sugar Loaf, Corcovado and so on…for those typical tourist spots, I´m sure there are hundreds of sites out there about it.

In my view, people between the age of 25 and 45 are gonna enjoy these tips better. Or anyone looking for great party/cultural programs.

As everyone knows, Brazil, and specially Rio, had it's prices gone up the roof for just about everything. So, another objective in this portal is to let you know about great inexpensive options, and tons of local tips.

I´ve organized the suggestions into categories, focused on the king of event you might be looking for:

- Samba Events and Parties

- Unusual Parties

- Nightlife and Nightclubs

- Hangout Street Spots and Points – Free

- Daytime Activities

- Bars and Drinks

- Food

- Late Snacks

I´ve also created a Party/Events this All-Week Schedule to help you decide which places to go at each day of your visit in Rio! Hope this becomes very useful on your decisions.

It should be good for almost any week of the year. Most of them are inexpensive. I tried to organize it according to the best day of each event. Some of the hours I suggest by each event overlap or are too close to one another. In these cases, it´s an “either/or” situation, so you must choose according to what you´re looking for. When this doesn´t happen, it means that you can go to the events one after the other, if you re in good shape!

If I had just a week to spend in Rio, this is how I would do it:

Monday:

- Pedra do Sal – Free Street Samba Party (19h)

- Samba do Trabalhador – Samba Party (18h)

- Stalos – Late Snacks and Food (2h)

Tuesday:

- Saara / Uruguaiana – Popular Shopping (14h)

- Ovelha Negra – Champaign Bar (18h)

- Cervantes – Late Snacks and Drinks (23h)

- Empório – Free Rock Bar (1h)

Wednesday:

- Gargalo – Dinner and Drinks (20h)

- Democráticos – Nightlife – Forró - Dancing (23h)

- Casa da Cachaça – After Party Drinks and Hangout (4h)

Thursday:

- Baixo Gávea – Free Hangout Spot (21h)

- Belmont Leblon – Bar and Free Hangout Spot (23h)

- Empório – Free Rock Bar (0h)

Friday:

- Aprazível – Early Dinner (18h)

- Samba Luzia – Samba Party (21h)

- Circo Voador (23h) – There´s always a cool party goin´ on, but check it out first.

- Zozô - Nightclub (23h)

Saturday:

- Feira do Lavradio – Free Street Antique´s Fair, first Saturday of each month – it´s a must! (14h)

- Cardosão – Feijoada and Food (15h)

- Samba do Ouvidor – Free Street Samba Party (18h) – Check if it´s going to happen at date you´re in town, first.

- Rio Scenarium - Nightclub (22h)

- Unusual Parties (22h) – Check which of them are happening in the dates you´re in town.

- Pizzaria Guanabara – After After Party Drinks (5h)

Sunday

- Bar do Mineiro - Food (14h)

- Mureta da Urca – Free Hangout Spot (16h)

- Pavão Azul – Bar and Free Hangout Spot (16h)

- Casa Rosa – Feijoada and Samba Party (19h)

- Salvação – Bar and Samba Party  (18h)

- Empório - Free Rock Bar (0h or 2h, if you went to Casa Rosa before)

Who ever completes 80% of this schedule, send me a message! I´ll try to complement you personally! And you can consider yourself an expert on Rio´s social, bohemian, party customs. Have fun!


In case you’re looking for some extra literature about Rio, here are a few suggestions:
- Lonely Planet Rio de Janeiro (Travel Guide) (Regis St Louis)

- Lonely Planet Accessible Rio Kindle Edition (Lonely Planet)

- Rio de Janeiro: Extreme City Kindle Edition (Luiz Eduardo Soares)

- The Rio de Janeiro Reader: History, Culture, Politics (Daryle Williams)

- Hard Times in the Marvelous City: From Dictatorship to Democracy in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro (Bryan McCann)

- Rio de Janeiro Travel Guide - 100 Must-Do: Outdoor Adventures, TOP 5 Beaches in Rio (Copacabana), Historical and Cultural Sights, Eat Drink, Cool Cafes, ... tourist places, Unusual Hostels, Souvenirs! (Kevin Hampton)

- Drugs and Democracy in Rio de Janeiro: Trafficking, Social Networks, and Public Security (Enrique Desmond Arias)

- My Rio de Janeiro: A Cookbook Hardcover (Leticia Moreinos Schwartz)

- Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro Reprint Edition (Janice Perlman)

- Living with Insecurity in a Brazilian Favela: Urban Violence and Daily Life Hardcover (R. Ben Penglase )

Cardosão – Laranjeiras – Feijoada – Daytime Activity

There´s a typical Brazilian dish called Feijoada. It´s originated in the slave period together with African customs. Consists of black beans with some kinds of pork and red meat. It also has some special Brazilian sausages mixed in (calabresa and paio), which I find them the best, and would advise you only to eat these sausages if you have any restrictions on trying exotic food.

Anyway, this became such a typical dish for the Brazilians culture that many party events offers this dish. And where there is feijoada, there´s samba! It´s common for Brazilian to go out to eat feijoada and make a special event for it.

This is one of the coolest feijoada experiences in Rio, in my point of view. The name of the “restaurant” is Cardosão a simple depot/grocery store (don´t know exactly how to translate the right denomination), but very nice and exclusive. It´s located in a hidden part of Laranjeiras, a traditional neighborhood in Rio. And not so many Cariocas know about it. Great way to start your day. Very good feijoada (and other stuff too), cold beer, drinks and all at very reasonable price. It happens on every Saturday and if your lucky, there´ll be a small samba group playing at the place. Even if you´re not into food programs and wanna drink during the day, this is a good choice. Nice looking people and inside a residential part of the neighborhood. Just don´t expect excellent service, as on Saturdays the place is packed and they don´t have as many waiters for the demand. Be patient and if you want to eat calmly, get here early – about 12h.

If you´re interested in feijoada, there´s another blog called Best Feijoadas in Rio de Janeiro, where some of the best feijoadas are listed in type of ranking order:

http://melhoresfeijoadasdoriodejaneiro.blogspot.com.br/

Technical Info:
Type: Food, Drinks, Daytime Activity.
Price: Below Average / Reasonable.
Frequency: Every week, on Saturdays.
Hour: 11h till 19h.
Good Time to Arrive: 12h (if you want to eat) or at any time for drinks and snacks.
Kind of People Expected: Middle class, and locals and about 1% foreign.
Address: Rua Cardoso Júnior, 312 – Laranjeiras.

How to get there:
- Taxi: Ask the driver to leave you at the address.
- Walking: If you´re in Laranjeiras, Flamendo or Largo do Machado, you could go by foot too without any problems, but there will be a hill, about 15 minutes upwards.

Map:

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Photos: