Taking a walk of the historical and colonial Rio de Janeiro Downtown is perfectly feasible — you can do a walking tour by yourself as long as you have a detailed map with a suggested route (you can find such a map of Rio Downtown in My Rio Travel Guide, THE guidebook to Rio de Janeiro).
Beware that you may end up at an unsafe area if you explore Downtown (Centro) randomly on foot without a suggested route.
Rio Downtown (business district) is where most Cariocas (natives of Rio de Janeiro) work. On weekdays at day time (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.), Rio de Janeiro Downtown offers a great opportunity for the visitor to blend in with locals. The area bustles with office workers the whole day, and that’s when you should go.
Avoid taking a walking tour in Downtown on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays when the offices are closed, and the area becomes rather deserted (a safety rule of thumb in Rio de Janeiro is to stay away from isolated and deserted neighborhoods, streets, and sidewalks).
Although Rio Downtown is the business offices area, it also offers plenty of historical colonial buildings to be seen either from the outside, or from the inside (usually on a guided English tour). Among the many interesting buildings to be seen or visited are:
→ Teatro Municipal (Municipal Theater)
→ Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (Brazilian Bank Cultural Center)
→ Camara Municipal do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro City Parliament)
→ Igreja da Candelaria (Candelaria Church)
→ Biblioteca Nacional (National Library)
Rio de Janeiro Downtown is a worth-visiting district, but needs to be visited the right away, at the right time, with the right and updated information in your hands.
Click below to get your copy of My Rio Travel Guide to visit not only the Downtown area but also other interesting spots and attractions in Rio de Janeiro.
