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Originally posted by: oojason
ricarleite - a few more questions for you if you don't mind...
how good is the public transport in Rio and Sao Paulo - safe, cheap, reliable etc
same for taxis too
OK, that's our major problem. It's not good at all, it's confusing, very, very complicated, and you'd probably get lost in it. I don't know about Rio as I've taken few public transportations while working there, but it might be the same. In Sao Paulo there are some subway stations (costs about 50 "dollar" cents a trip), they are surprisingly very clean and safe, but they are too few. If you know where you are going, then I would recomend them.
Buses, well... simply horrible. They used to be worse, they're a LOT cleaner now, but unless you are VERY familiar with the city, I wouldn't recomend it to you. During rush hours it's almost impossible to catch one, and sometimes you must do the entire trip standing up. In Sao Paulo we use an eletronic card system, you pay 50 cents when you get into a bus, and for the next 2 hours you can catch any other bus for free (this is not available in Rio). Again, do NOT step into a bus unless you KNOW what you're doing, you might get lost and you wont enjoy the trip at all. The safety issue, well, unless you catch a bus going to a tough neighborhood at 1 am (which is a death sentence by itself), you'll be fine. On Rio it's a little bit more dangerous, I suppose, as EVERY neighborhood is a bad one, but the odds are you'll survive.
Taxis are ok, for a 30 minute trip you'd pay something like... 15 dollars, maybe more. If you get to Rio de Janeiro, at the airpot, do NOT follow anyone who asks you if you need a taxi, those guys will overcharge you. Instead, look for a line of people waiting for a taxi. Ask someone from the airport and they'll direct you to it.
Traffic is absolutly terrible in Sao Paulo during rush hours, and since the city is huge, you might take more than an hour to get somewhere. It's a little bit better in Rio, as it has fewer cars and it's a smaller city.
If you are planing about coming to Brazil any time soon, just drop me a message or an email (it's my username on this forum, at hotmail dot com), and I'll see what I can do to help you. Again, I'd only recomend it if you are the adventurous/independett kinda traveller, if you're like that, you'll have lots of fun!
