Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The most touristy neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro is Copacabana. However, as a tourist you should not avoid staying in Copacabana only because the area has the highest concentration of tourists in Rio.
There are two main reasons for staying in a hotel, hostel, B&B, or in a self-catering apartment in Copacabana:
Reason number 1
Entrance to residential apartment building on a quiet street of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro.
Copacabana is above all a residential area. There are more than 150,000 inhabitants in Copacabana. This neighborhood alone represents roughly 2.5% of the city’s population. In Rio de Janeiro — the second most populous city in Brazil — lives 6.3 million people.
On a typical day, the number of Cariocas (natives of Rio de Janeiro) is way higher than the number of tourists. When walking on the streets of Copacabana you come across more locals than tourists (except during Carnival and around New Year’s day when Rio is invaded by tourists from Brazil and all over the world [probably the same will happen during the 2016 Olympics]).
Yes, Copacabana is touristy in a sense that most hotels and short-term vacation rentals are in Copacabana. But on the other hand, the neighborhood is very vibrant with locals from all walks of life, from Copacabana as well as from other areas of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.
Reason number 2
A Carioca (native of Rio de Janeiro) having a drink at a typical juice bar in Copacabana.
Copacabana is a residential, but also commercial area. “Copa” (popular abbreviation for Copacabana) offers a wide variety of services to the local population as well as to tourists.
As a visitor, you will definitely need some sort of services such as bank, ATM, exchange bureau, travel agency, souvenirs and beach gear shops, drugstore, grocery store, post office, laundromat, places for lunch and dinner (and possibly breakfast).
Copacabana has plenty of those, and slightly cheaper than, for example, Ipanema and Leblon, the other two neighborhoods popular among tourists.
The bottom line is there are many good reasons to stay in Copacabana as well as many good reasons to stay in Ipanema, Leblon, Leme, Santa Teresa, Flamengo, or in other areas in Rio. In none of these areas tourists outnumber locals.
If you want to avoid tourists, though, get a copy of My Rio Travel Guide, the most updated travel book to Rio de Janeiro. It covers all you need as a tourist, but also presents off the beaten path ways to experience Rio as locals do.
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