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→Apartment Rentals (RJ)
'''Sao Paulo''' has three airports. The main one is Guarulhos (GRU) use for most international flights and the most developed. Beware that if you get a flight to Viracopos or Congonhas airport, the connections into the city are much poorer (Viracopos will take quite a while from downtown SP). Sao Paulo is the biggest city in the southern hemisphere. It has a highly developed but very complex transport system. As for Rio, get a card that covers all forms of public transport including the suburban train: it saves money (built in discounts with some multiple journeys), saves hassle and saves time. Taxis/Ubers are inexpensive but may be hard to find in rush hour (in rush hour, the metro, however crowded, is often quicker) and given the large distances crossing the city can eventually end up expensive.
== Apartment Rentals and where to stay ==(RJ) ==If you are planning to stay more than a week then an apartment rental offers advantages over a hotel. These can be booked online or by walking into a rental agency, of which there are many in Copacabana (for instance along the parallel main streets of N.S. Copa and Barata Ribeiro). You can come and go as you please and with whom you please. There is usually no room safe -- hide your stuff under the mattress or lock it in your rucksack. Get on good terms with the security guy on the ground floor: he is God as far as that apartment building is concerned and all its comings and goings. An apartment close to a metro station may be very convenient for a beginner. Although the state of apartments -- or AirBnBs for that matter -- vary immensely, the biggest complaint is the noise of building works in an adjoining apartment. It seems someone is always knocking down or building something! One way of guarding against this is as follows. Travel light, or at most with what you can carry on your back. Check in to a hotel somewhere for your first night or two nights. Then go to a few agencies, ask what they have on offer and go and view the apartments. Most will let you leave your luggage in the agency while they send a lad with the keys to show you the flats. That way youi actually see what you are getting and can choose. A third option is an Aparthotel. This gives you a reasonably swish apartment where a maid comes daily to do the cleaning. There are often part of a complex that includes shops and a gym in the same building. If you do end up staying a hotel you may end up paying not only for a double but for an extra fee for any visitor, and all at their discretion on who comes in with you. Copacabana is the most popular tourist suburb with many apartment rentals and easy transport to other areas. Leme, Ipamema and Botafogo are also popular. Downtown (historical Lapa or central Carioca) are popular with locals or visitors already more familiar with RJ but these areas have no beach. It is best to stay in the south half of the city (Rio Sul) until you know RJ very well or have friends to stay with.(SP) Apartment rentals seem less common in SP. Try to get a hotel reasonably close to Avenida Paulista if you can, the "Times Square" of SP.
== Currency ==
