Rio de Janeiro Travel Guide: Rio de Janeiro Transportation

Getting to Rio de Janeiro

The second biggest transportation center in all of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro can be reached by plane, car, or bus.

National and international flights take off from the always busy Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport (more commonly known as Galeão International Airport) that is located about 20km away from the main city center. If you’re flying in domestically, you might also be coming through Santos Dumont Airport which serves São Paulo as well as a few other domestic airport.

From the U.S., non-stop flights to Rio depart from Washington D.C., Houston, Miami, and Atlanta airports. Tickets to Rio that feature a stop-over in Sao Paolo usually depart from New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other cities in the U.S. From Europe, flights to Rio depart twice daily from Paris and Lisbon, once daily from Madrid and Barcelona, and three times a week from London.

Those traveling by bus will arrive at the bustling Rodoviária Novo Rio long-distance bus terminal situated in the North Zone’s Santo Cristo neighborhood. From there, you can take a taxi or coach bus to get to the South Zone – the main tourist area – in about fifteen minutes; local buses take a bit longer. Air-conditioned coach Frescão buses are privately-owned and therefore a bit more expensive than local bus fares.

Getting around Rio de Janeiro

With nearly 440 municipal bus lines serving Rio de Janeiro, buses are the main source of transportation for more than four million passengers who frequently use this inexpensive form of transport to commute on a daily basis. However, due to heavy traffic now reaching new heights in this very populated city, the city is trying to push forward a train and subway transportation policy to reduce severe traffic congestion. This is despite a number of expressways serving commuters.

Two subway (metro) lines under the Metro Rio systems serve this tropical city, which stretches out 42 km (26 mi), and features 32 stations, as well as several commuter rail lines. The system, which closes after midnight (it stays open 24/7 during carnival) is extremely useful for reaching areas from Copacabana to Downtown Rio. Considered the only safe form of transport in the city, subway cars are comfortable and clean; with bilingual signage in Portuguese and English, it is also easy to navigate for locals and tourists alike. Line 1 (orange) has service to Copacabana, the Saara district, and much of downtown, while Line 2 (green) makes stops at the city’s zoo, Maracanã stadium, and Rio State University. Estácio station is where the two lines intersect. The standard fare for a metro ticket is US $0.65, however multi-tickets and integrated metro/bus tickets are available.

Future plans for Metro Rio include a third subway line from Niterói and São Gonçalo and subterranean tunnel beneath Guanabara Bay to complement the ferry service currently in place there.