Gill:It is hard if not impossible to find a reliable tour company during Carnival . The cruise ship fees might look expensive but all those transportation companies are thoroughly interviewed and inspected by the cruise industry. I would recommend to use those because during Carnival things are crazy in Rio. Most time the cheap becomes expensive especially when it concerns safety. The taxi cabs are widely available ( small VW cars missing the front passenger seat..) but they drive like crazy and you'll never know how much they'll be charging you at the end of the trip.They tend to overcharge and if you call the police they always side with the taxis. I lived there for 3 years and I heard horror stories about the local taxis so beware!! I hope you enjoy Rio especially the entrance to the bay at arrival. One of the most beautiful bays in the world.

I booked a specific hotel and flights months in advance so didn't want to take any risks and booked my tickets well in advance. I don't know if you'll get cheaper tickets there, I didn't see any evidence of this, most people I spoke to had booked in advance, especially if you want a good view. Ticket prices vary massively from night to night and based on where you are in the sambadrome, at the start of the runway cheaper, getting more expensive as you go down and most expensive where the judges are at the end, as, apparently this is where dancers show off the most, this is based on the main weekend when judging takes place with the Carnival / competition over 4-5 nights. However, I went to the Champions Parade the following weekend when all the best floats and winners parade, and you see every winning float. whereas the weekend before you may chose a night without the best floats. The atmosphere is incredible, the floats beyond anything I could have imagined, a real once in a lifetime experience that I'll never forget.The tickets were cheaper that weekend but the experience, in my opinion, the same as Carnival weekend but with better floats. I used Bookers International, got ground level tickets halfway down the runway.....amazing! I had no concerns about safety, got a taxi down there for peanuts and nothing inside is expensive. The only expensive part is the ticket. You have to do it. If you need to know anything else, shout.

Hola! Iremos también en 2020 y sacamos los tickets mediante la web Bookers International, ya que está mejor calificada. Para disipar dudas (no nos quedaba claro si era sitio oficial o no) llamamos por teléfono y nos aclararon bien todo. Básicamente la organización de carnavales deriva la venta de los tickets a varias agencias, asignando determinada cantidad de cupos a cada una. Es por ello que al comprar, hablan de 'reserva' y no de determinada butaca, ya que el número de la ubicación será determinado una vez que las agencias cuenten concretamente con las ubicaciones. Esto no quiere decir que la venta sea tentativa, sino que simplemente no saben cuál será la numeración precisa de la ubicación: sólo se asegura el friso, grada, palco o sector en general. El precio dependerá mucho de sí se reserva con traslados o no, y además, de las fechas en las que se reserven los tickets. Nosotras reservamos en Junio, pero cuanto más se acercan las fechas, más valor tienen las entradas. Las entradas se retiran en un punto específico . Hay opciones de envío pero en nuestro caso no daban los tiempos, ya que llegamos desde Argentina el 21/2. En nuestro mail de confirmación nos dejaron una serie de teléfonos y el correspondiente a España es +34 9114 36841. Cualquier cosa en la que pueda serte de ayuda desde mi experiencia, no dudes en escribirme. Saludos!

I did everything on my own. Stayed at Vilamar a 3 star hotel that was comfortable, good breakfast and friendly staff. It is close to subway to get to Sambadrome. Use Uber cheap and good service.