How we vet providers and check our information

At a glance

How we choose providers

Tours, transfers, photoshoots and day trips are run by local providers. Before we send anyone their first client, we go through five steps with them.

What Brazilian law says

Under the National Tourism Policy law (Law 11.771/2008), tourism service providers must register with the Ministry of Tourism, and the registration is valid for two years from the date of the certificate. The tour guide profession has its own law (Law 8.623/1993), which defines a tour guide as a professional who is duly registered. Registration does not guarantee quality, so we run steps 2 to 5 anyway.

Checks that depend on the service

Some services need more than the general registration. For scenic flights and helicopter transfers we check the operator’s aviation authorisation and the aircraft’s registration before each booking. For boats we check the vessel’s documents and the skipper’s licence. For paragliding and hang gliding we check the instructor’s qualification and insurance, and for private security the provider’s licence from the Federal Police. You can read more on helicopter safety checks.

After every trip

We ask you to rate the provider in a line or two. If there is a complaint, we take it up with the provider and use it in the next match.

What we promise you

• A single tour costs no more than the same provider charges on booking platforms.
• If the service falls through because of the provider or us, we find a replacement, and if there is none, we refund the deposit in full.
• Someone on the team answers the same working day, and a priced proposal arrives within 24 hours.
• We stay in touch for the whole trip: plans change, a car is late, you need advice, you write to us and we sort it out with the provider.
• Cancellation follows our rules: tours, transfers, photoshoots and boats can be cancelled at no cost up to 48 hours before; multi-day tours up to 14 days before; for New Year’s Eve and Carnival the deposit is not refundable after confirmation.

Until the booking is confirmed, we describe the provider without a name, for example: a guide who speaks your language and has lived in Rio for years. How a request moves from first message to confirmed booking is on how we work.

How we check the information on this site

Entry rules, timetables, event dates and opening hours in Brazil change, so we follow a few rules.

1. Every fact has a source. The list sits at the bottom of each page with the publication or check date, and official sources come first: the Brazilian government, the City of Rio, ministries, airports, the operators of the Corcovado train and the Sugarloaf cable car.
2. No source, no number. If we cannot confirm a fact, we leave it out.
3. Every page shows its update date. When a rule or a timetable changes, we update the text and the date.
4. You will not find reviews, ratings, client counts or licences that do not exist on this site, and we do not pass off generated images as photos of real places or people.
5. When sources disagree, we say so or leave the detail out. Tourist police phone numbers, for example, differ between official directories, so on Rio safety tips we give the address and the emergency number 190.

What to tell us in your request

• The service you need: tour, transfer, driver, photoshoot, boat, flight
• Dates and how many people
• The language you want the guide or driver to speak
• Anything the provider must know: children, mobility, diet
• Questions you want us to put to the provider before you confirm

How we help

Tell us what you have in mind and we match it to a provider we have already checked. For a full day in the city, see our private tour in Rio; for a car for the whole stay, a private driver. Found an error or outdated detail? Write to us and we will check it against the source and correct it.