Public city buses in Rio de Janeiro are worth taking for the experience of it, especially for short rides (such as Copacabana-Ipanema-Leblon). The local buses are well-maintained, appealing, and in a way even fun (or scary), as the drivers tend to speed as soon as there is room on the street.
There are more than 400 lines of buses in Rio de Janeiro City — there is a direct bus to go to almost everywhere, although sometimes you need to take two buses to get to your destination (for example, there is no direct route from Sugar Loaf to Corcovado!).
Some buses have air-conditioned (for example, the Rio de Janeiro airport bus), which is great for the hot days from November though March. However, some of the bus drivers keep the air-con at full-blown in the cooler months, which may turn the ride sometimes unpleasant.
There are three drawbacks to taking the Rio de Janeiro public buses, though:
- Robbery/muggings can very occasionally occur during the trip (particularly at night — although as Rio is becoming much safer, that has been decreasing steadily in the last years).
- There is very little routing or timetable (called “horário” in Portuguese) information at bus stops, and no information at all inside the buses! One-way bus fare is R$2.75; US$1.35; €1.20, paid to a cashier operator upon entering the bus. (Air-conditioning buses cost R$3.10; US$1.55; US$1.3.)
- Buses are usually crowded during rush hour (8-10 a.m., 4-8 p.m. on weekdays and end-of-the-afternoon on sunny weekends December through February).
Tip: when taking a city bus in Rio (especially at night), carry on you only what you can afford to lose, or just take a taxi.
For other tips and updated travel information on Rio de Janeiro (and partially Brazil), download the PDF e-book My Rio Travel Guide – The Essential How-To Visitor’s Guide to Rio de Janeiro.