Grande Rio

Grande Rio is generally divided into three main sub-regions:

• Rio de Janeiro (the state capital), which is in turn divided into Central Zone, South Zone, North Zone and West Zone, and concentrates half of the population of the metropolis.

• Baixada Fluminense (Rio Lowlands), the peripheral area that was occupied mainly along the suburban railway lines, located north of the capital and south of the mountain range called Serra do Mar, and formed by the municipalities of Guapimirim, Magé, Duque de Caxias, São João de Meriti, Belford Roxo, Nilópolis, Mesquita, Nova Iguaçu, Queimados, Japeri, Paracambi, Seropédica, and Itaguaí.

• Grande Niterói (Greater Niterói), the area of the metropolitan axis that has expanded across the Guanabara Bay, especially after the construction of the Rio-Niterói Bridge, constituted by the municipalities of Niterói, São Gonçalo, Itaboraí, Tanguá, Rio Bonito, Cachoeiras de Macacu, and Maricá. This sub-region is also known locally as Leste Metropolitano (Metropolitan East).

• 🌍 Rio de Janeiro
• 🌍 Duque de Caxias
• 🌍 Nova Iguaçu
• 🌍 São João de Meriti
• 🌍 Nilópolis
• 🌍 Belford Roxo
• 🌍 Mesquita
• 🌍 Queimados
• 🌍 Japeri
• 🌍 Paracambi
• 🌍 Seropédica
• 🌍 Itaguaí
• 🌍 Magé
• 🌍 Guapimirim
• 🌍 Niterói
• 🌍 São Gonçalo
• 🌍 Itaboraí
• 🌍 Tanguá
• 🌍 Maricá
• 🌍 Rio Bonito
• 🌍 Cachoeiras de Macacu

• 🌍 Paquetá Island (an insular neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro in the Guanabara Bay; the ferries to Paquetá depart from Praça XV, in downtown)
• 🌍 Copacabana (an internationally famous neighborhood in the South Zone of the capital city)
• 🌍 Ipanema (another globally well-known coastal district of the South Zone of Rio, neighboring to Copacabana)
• 🌍 Madureira (a major neighborhood of the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, famous for having some of the Rio's most traditional samba schools)
• 🌍 Bangu (a major neighborhood of the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, notable for its commerce)
• 🌍 Campo Grande (the most populous and important neighborhood of the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro)
• 🌍 Barra da Tijuca (an upper-class, coastal neighborhood of the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro)
• 🌍 Santa Cruz (the westernmost neighborhood of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro)

Grande Rio is an informal way of referring to the Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro (Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro). It is an extremely populous area, with high demographic density, the second most populous metropolitan area in Brazil, and is also among the 20 most populous metro areas in the world.

The area of Greater Rio is in a lowlands region, bathed to the south by the Atlantic Ocean, and surrounded by the stretch of the mountain range called Serra do Mar that begins in the west of Itaguaí, continues through the northwest of Paracambi and Japeri and the north of Nova Iguaçu, Duque de Caxias, Magé, Guapimirim and Cachoeiras de Macacu, and ends between the northeast of Itaboraí and Tanguá and the north of Rio Bonito; along the stretch of Serra do Mar that surrounds the metropolitan agglomeration of Rio, there are some sectors with local names, such as those known as Serra das Araras, Serra do Tinguá and Serra dos Órgãos.

In the middle of these lowlands, between the Guanabara and Sepetiba bays, there are three major coastal massifs: Tijuca - where the 🌍 Tijuca National Park (the most visited park in the country) is located -, Pedra Branca (both in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro) and Gericinó-Mendanha (between Rio de Janeiro and Baixada Fluminense); all of them have large preserved green areas. In addition to these three main massifs, to the north and east of Guanabara Bay, also in the lowlands area, there are other important massifs, such as Suruí, in Magé, Itaúna, in the north of São Gonçalo, Serra da Tiririca, between Niterói and Maricá, Serra de Calaboca, between Niterói, São Gonçalo and Maricá, Serra do Lagarto, between Maricá and Itaboraí, and Serra do Mato Grosso, in the east of Maricá; most of these massifs are large protected areas. The Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro still has 36.27% of its green territory preserved. The total number of green areas conserved in the area of the metropolis of Rio de Janeiro corresponds to more than two thousand square kilometers, of which 16.47% are protected spaces, such as parks, reserves and ecological stations.

Since it is located in a low altitude region, the metropolitan area of Rio has a predominantly tropical climate, with hot summers with large volumes of rain, and dry winters with lower temperatures. The average annual temperature in Greater Rio is between 22 °C and 24 °C.

Since the Central Zone is the metropolitan core and, as such, polarizes the entire metro area of Rio de Janeiro, it is served by a large number of urban lines of buses, vans, trains, subways and ferries to the neighborhoods of the South, North and West zones of the municipality of Rio, as well as to the surrounding municipalities of Guapimirim, Magé, Duque de Caxias, São João de Meriti, Belford Roxo, Nilópolis, Mesquita, Nova Iguaçu, Queimados, Japeri, Paracambi, Seropédica, Itaguaí, Niterói, São Gonçalo, Itaboraí, Tanguá, Maricá, Rio Bonito and Cachoeiras de Macacu. Therefore, the whole Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro works in practice as a single city, with most neighborhoods of all its municipalities being connected to downtown by several means of public transport.

One must keep in mind that Grande Rio is the most integrated metropolitan area in Brazil, due to the size of the urban public transport system in the region, the distance between the peripheral areas of the metropolis and its core, the high level of urban expansion from the nucleus to the metropolitan periphery and the consequent conurbation within this area, among other factors. Therefore, if a visitor is staying in a given municipality in Grande Rio, he/she can easily visit places located in any other municipalities in this metropolitan area, especially if he/she is staying in the Central Zone of the capital, which is relatively close to any points in Grande Rio, and from where lines of urban public transport depart directly to all municipalities of this metropolitan area.

As of 2023, the urban public transport in the metropolis is provided by the municipal bus and van lines of the cities of Greater Rio (including those of the BRT of the city of Rio and those of the BHLS of Niterói); the intercity bus and van lines that connect the municipalities of the metropolis of Rio de Janeiro to each other; trains that connect Central do Brasil station to the stations of Saracuruna (from where two other lines depart to Vila Inhomirim and Guapimirim stations), Belford Roxo, Japeri (from where another train depart to Paracambi station), Santa Cruz, and Deodoro; three metro lines (Uruguai (in Tijuca) x General Osório (in Ipanema), Pavuna x Botafogo, and General Osório (in Ipanema) x Jardim Oceânico (in Barra da Tijuca); ferries that connect Praça XV station to the stations of the center of Niterói (Arariboia station), Charitas, Paquetá, and Ilha do Governador (Cocotá station); in addition to the tramway (known in Brazil as VLT), which operates lines in the central region of the capital. All twenty municipalities of Baixada Fluminense and Leste Metropolitano, as well as the neighborhoods of the South, North and West zones of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, are directly linked to the Central Zone of Rio by urban lines of bus, van, train, subway or ferry. However, the urban bus and van lines that connect peripheral areas of Greater Rio to the municipalities located in the surroundings of the metropolis - the perimetropolitan area - (that is, Mangaratiba, Piraí, Mendes, Engenheiro Paulo de Frontin, Miguel Pereira, Petrópolis, Teresópolis, Nova Friburgo, Silva Jardim, Araruama, and Saquarema), as well as more distant municipalities, such as Barra do Piraí, Vassouras, Casimiro de Abreu, and Macaé, in general, are scarcer and more expensive (considering the distances traveled) than those that circulate within the metropolitan area.

As Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil during the colonial, imperial, and republican periods - until 1960 -, and Niterói was the state capital until 1975, when this status was transferred to Rio, these two cities have many historical landmarks, especially - but not only - concerning public administration. However, several of these historical sites can also be found all over Baixada Fluminense and Leste Metropolitano, in part due to the proximity and the historically strong relationships that these two regions have had with the center of Rio de Janeiro.

As for places of environmental interest, they are spread throughout the Grande Rio area, from the metropolitan core (such as Floresta da Tijuca, located close to downtown Rio) to distant metropolitan outskirts (in municipalities like Itaguaí, Paracambi, Nova Iguaçu, Duque de Caxias, Magé, Guapimirim, Cachoeiras de Macacu, Rio Bonito, and Maricá).

See the municipalities articles for specific places

Throughout Grande Rio, there are numerous restaurants that vary greatly in types of food, ambience, and prices. However, the variety of food that a visitor will find all over the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro is essentially the same as that found in the city of Rio de Janeiro, with very few peculiarities in some specific regions.

See the municipalities articles for specific places

There are hotels at different prices in the 21 municipalities of Grande Rio. However, if you intend to visit all regions of the Rio metro area, it is recommended that you choose a hotel in the Central Zone of the capital or, at least, somewhere close to it - such as the Rio's South Zone and the Grande Tijuca region -, since this would make mobility easier in terms of distances and availability of urban public transport to the different places in the Grande Rio region.

Although Greater Rio is not even among the most dangerous urban centers of Brazil, the favelas in this region have had historically a peculiarity.

Since the early 1970s, a low-intensity armed conflict for the control of the favelas involving heavily armed drug trafficking organizations and illegal paramilitary groups, as well as government forces, has taken place in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro. Almost every shanty town in Rio de Janeiro city, Baixada Fluminense and Leste Metropolitano is controlled by one of the several rival criminal groups that act in Greater Rio, which are permanently in territorial dispute (what means that anyone who enters the favela and is not a resident of it might be considered a potential enemy by the criminals who control that area and, in this case, be shot dead). Therefore, violent armed clashes between them happen in these slums oftentimes and usually start suddenly. Also, when government forces (police, army, etc.) enter these areas, gunfights generally occur. So, do not enter any shanty town of Rio metropolitan area. Moreover, redouble your attention if you are passing through a place near a favela, especially if you see a group of policemen close to a favela's entrance, as in situations like this a shootout can start at any time - be much more alert if you see armored vehicles or helicopters around the slum.

In addition, avoid using GPS, as it can accidentally lead you into a favela. Instead, try to learn the geography of the part of the metropolis you intend to visit before you go there.

The area with the highest concentration of favelas in Greater Rio encompasses the municipalities of Rio de Janeiro (the state capital), Duque de Caxias, São João de Meriti, Belford Roxo (in Baixada Fluminense), Niterói, and São Gonçalo (in Leste Metropolitano).

As for street robberies and other crimes typical of large urban centers, Greater Rio is not very different from most other metropolises in the world, and does not match the scary reputation that movies and the media in general sell to the rest of the world - Rio is a large metropolitan agglomeration, so tourists must take the same precautions on its streets as they would on the streets of other areas of this type.

• Baixadas Litorâneas

• Serrana Region

• Médio Paraíba

• Costa Verde