How to visit Rio de Janeiro on a budget

13.11.2023 - 20:37 / lonelyplanet.com / Santa Teresa

If you're planning a trip to Rio, you might need to budget more than you think – prices in Rio de Janeiro are often on par with travel in parts of the USA or Europe.

This South American cultural capital generally isn't a cheap place to visit – or to get to. Whether you scored a lucky airline deal or are slowly overlanding across South America, you'll want to make your pennies count to get the most out of your stay in the Marvelous City. Here are our tips for navigating Rio on a budget.

Rio de Janeiro isn't an easy swing for the budget traveler. The biggest expense is accommodation – hotels, apartments, and even hostels are similar to European prices. 

Getting your accommodation under control makes spending time in Rio de Janeiro on a budget much easier. Try finding a Workaway in the city, volunteering at a hostel in exchange for room and board or renting a room through friends of friends.

Many Brazilians who wouldn't rent their place on Airbnb are happy to let someone stay who has a personal connection (and usually for a much better rate). 

Hotel lovers can look for the rare budget hotels in Rio, mostly located in the city center, minus a few gems like the barebones but clean Farfalla Guest House in Botafogo, or Jo&Joe in the Largo do Boticário, which is a half-hotel, half-hostel.

Some neighborhoods in Rio come with higher price tags, so avoid them if you're looking to save money. The beachfront hamlets of Leblon and Ipanema take the cake price-wise, along with Gávea and Jardim Botânico; these four neighborhoods boast some of the city's most expensive hotels, apartments and restaurants. 

Copacabana, Leme or even Barra de Tijuca (now connected by metro) are all more inexpensive options for beach lovers. If you're not bothered about being near the ocean, choose a hip hamlet like Botafogo, Flamengo, Glória or even Santa Teresa.

They all have more agreeable rents, cheaper restaurants, and, with the exception of Santa Teresa, are all easily accessible by metro.

Eating out in Rio can run from R$25-30 to R$100-150 for every meal, which means eating out should be lower on your list when you're limited for cash. A meal out for two can destroy your weekly budget, and even the supermarket can deliver some shocking price tags. 

Instead, make the best of one of Rio's most beautiful offerings: weekly farmers markets. Nearly every neighborhood has one (or two, or three), selling fresh fruit and veggies, fish, eggs, meat and often cheese, honey or other locally produced goods, for prices much cheaper than you'll find at a supermarket. 

Trade in your restaurant meals for home-cooked food and you'll easily cut your budget in half. As a bonus, some of the markets even double as free entertainment.

The Feira da General Glicério and