Flights to Rio de Janeiro

You'll fly to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport. There are no direct flights between South Africa and Rio de Janeiro, so you'll have to have a stop somewhere.

Johannesburg to Rio de Janeiro

Fly from Johannesburg with Emirates, Etihad, Air France, Egyptair, Ethiopian Airlines, Qatar Airlines or SAA (codeshare via Sao Paulo).

Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro

Fly with Qatar Airways, Emirates or SAA (codeshare).

A Rio de Janeiro experience - little english & a horrific backpackers

My second trip abroad was a 1 week holiday to Rio de Janeiro, paid for with the money earned from my trip to Kuwait (the only reason I went there). The moment we arrived in Sau Paulo to catch our connecting flight to Rio, we were stumped as many of the locals couldn't speak a word of English. This almost cause us to miss our connecting flight to Rio. We arrived in Rio and the backpacker lodge was horrific - a room with no window and rising damp, which felt like a prison cell. We decided to relocate from Copacabana, which I would say is the same as Muizenberg, to Ipanema beach, the equivalent of Sea Point. None the less, we ensured we didn't sleep at the backpackers and proceeded to the Hotel Ipanema Inn. We met a few locals who could understand English, and they took us to venues like Carioca da Jema with live music, Lapa Quarenta Graus a Pool Hall/cocktail bar and Crystal a night club not too far from our hotel. To our discovery we also found out why Brasil, as the locals spell it, are good at soccer, because at 3pm after school, college or university everyone is on the beach playing soccer.