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Lapa Rio de Janeiro

Lapa Rio de Janeiro

Lapa Rio de Janeiro

Do you want to go out in Rio de Janeiro and are wondering what to do? Almost every day we get these questions on our tours!

In this post we will list the Lapa neighborhood’s main points, what to do by night and by day, how to get there, history, interesting places to see and accommodation options.

What to do in Lapa?

There are plenty of options by day and night.

Lapa, the most bohemian neighborhood of Rio, is a mandatory stop for the ones who want to know the nightlife of the city. What is incredible in this neighborhood? The neighborhood has got a super democratic character and amazing and authentic STREET PARTIES. There are all kinds of people, music, bars… And certainly, you will find something that you like there!

Also, there are important city attractions such as Lapa Arches and Selaron Steps.

What to do in Lapa by night?

Unlike many thoughts, the neighborhood is much busier by night than day. One of the most amazing characteristics of Lapa is that all tribes meet up there, which makes everything even more special. Usually friends meet up on the street and start the night in one of the famous, antique bars to drink cheaper beers and caipirinhas and after pick a party according to its style.

One of Lapa’s most famous bars is Bar da Cahaça, generally in this spot people stand or if they are lucky they will pick a street table. The place offers a huge variety of cachaça (about 2000 labels), a paradise for those who appreciate this traditional Brazilian drink (it’s the one used in the famous caipirinhas).

Address: Mem de Sa Avenue, 110 – Lapa

Another great option is Arco-íris da Lapa, a meeting point for the ones who like cheap beer. No wonder, the bar is always full of people.

Address: Mem de Sá Avenue, 72. Lapa

Those options are mere antique bars with cheap and great options of food and beer. If you are willing to pay more for comfort and cool decor you might want to have a look at Antonio’s Bar, Boteco da Garrafa and Boteco Belmonte. All of them are located on Mem de Sá Avenue, which is one of the main streets of the neighborhood. Those are super famous bars in Rio de Janeiro.

Do you want a craft beer, original and thematic drinks and good snacks? Booze Bar is one of the recommendations

Address: Mem de Sá Avenue, 63. Lapa

Are you looking for a place where snacks are the star of the house? Bar do Adão is the recommendation. The place offers more than 60 options of pasteis (Brazilian empanadas) sweets and salty. And they are delicious. It’s really worth visiting.

Address: Rua Gomes Freire, 602, Lapa

Do you want more music? Which musical style you can’t miss in Rio? That’s it, samba! Sacrilégio is a coffee and bar that offers great quality samba, with a live band, drinks and wonderful snacks, all of this in a super casual environment.

Address: Mem de Sá Avenue, 81. Lapa

Is there Rock and roll in Lapa? Yes, there is.

On Rock Experience first floor there is a bar where clients can try drinks out, hamburgers and snacks. The environment has decorative objects that tell the rock history and blues, the musical genres played there, The space is divided in four floors and the house is a meeting point for rock lovers.

Address: Riachuelo street, 20. Lapa

Rio houses a cultural complex known all over the country, Fundição Progresso. It unifies art schools, artists’ homes and a stage for huge musical shows. Fundição Progresso is located in Lapa and its events have received important names of National and International music, from maracatu (Brazilian musical genre), cinema, theater, design to classical music. The site also keeps a green area dedicated to urban agriculture and sustainability, the flowers corner.

It also takes place and became a tradition in Rio’s carnival, the National competition of Carnival Songs (in have a typical carnival song in Brazil – called marchinhas), that in six years have already received more than six thousand registrations, besides promoting important rehearsals of carnival blocos. Blocos basically are free organized street parties that happen all over Rio during carnival. A few of those parties get more than 2 million people!

Address: Rua dos Arcos, 24. Lapa

Do you want to check more bar options in Lapa? This blog post gives you a list of the best Lapa bars. Have a look!

Around Lapa Arches you will also find a huge variety of kiosks selling caipirinha and other drinks, besides food.

A famous place sells savories for R$1,00. Yes, R$1,00. And it’s delicious. The address is Lavradio Street, 172.

I bet you are really interested in enjoying carioca night, right? Imagine knowing the best bars of Lapa in only one night, at a really good price together with an international crowd and a safer group? Join our Pub Crawl Lapa!

Only Rio offers you all of this and we garantee the fun!!

pub-crawl-lapa-rio-de-janeiro

All right, we already know that the party happens by night time, but what is there to see in Lapa during the day? We will tell you.

What to do in Lapa during the day?

Lapa is a well known and interesting neighborhood. If you want to know the neighborhood during the day, there are the Lapa Arches and Selaron Steps (famous tourist points), besides the Saint Sebastian Cathedral, that looks like a Mexican pyramid, really interesting and pretty. On the first Saturday of the month, an antique fair happens on Lavradio Street, where handcrafts, antiquing and other cool stuff. A few of the musical groups eventually present on the streets. There are many good options for lunch, in traditional restaurants, usually full.

We selected a few nice restaurants for lunch:

Adega Flor de Coimbra offers typical Portuguese food and a good wine menu. Calm and chic place

Address: Rua Teotônio Regadas, 34, Lapa.

Bar e Restaurante Os Ximenes is specialized in northeast Brazilian food, such as Caldeirada, Moqueca de Peixe and Atoleiro. But the restaurant also offers other dishes.

Address: R. Joaquim Silva, 82, Lapa

Bar do Ernesto is a bar that was founded by two Germans and offers a typical German cuisine, besides imported beers, that fill in the menu, and the live concerts every Wednesday and Friday. It’s worth checking it out

Address: Rua da Lapa, 41. Lapa

bar-do-ernesto-lapa-rio-de-janeiro

As Lapa streets aren’t that busy during the day, one of our tips is to go to the touristy points with a group of people. And we have the perfect solution. Our Downtown and Lapa Free Walking Tour, which besides explaining the tourist points in a fun and interesting way, will go through the neighborhood with a cheered up group.

And if you want to enjoy the full day in the area, it’s worth going to Santa Teresa. To get to the neighborhood, take a tram in Largo da Carioca (8AM to 5PM, from Monday to Saturday, except on holidays, R$20,00) or the bus 007 on Gomes Freire Avenue. Uber or Taxi also are good options, especially if you are with friends or family, as the price is even cheaper than the bus.

The only recommendation is not to take many valuable things and to pay attention on the streets.

qué-hacer-en-río-de-janeiro-cuando-llueve-santa-teresa

Santa Teresa has a Museum called Ruins Park and this place has a spectacular view of Rio de Janeiro

santa-teresa-rio-de-janeiro-parque-das-ruinas

Do you feel like staying in Santa Teresa? Mambembe Hostel is a great option, it has a relaxed atmosphere, prices are reasonable and you will feel so welcome, that it will feel like home. Besides all of this you will get easy access to Downtown Rio and to enjoy a lot of Lapa nightlife.

Mambembe-hostel

How to get to Lapa?

During the day, we prefer to take the metro and get off at Cinelandia Subway Station. From Cinelandia, take the “Evaristo da Veiga” street (Municipal Theater Street) that leads you to the Lapa Arches. Just make sure you take the right street. Pay attention and try to go with a group – there are not that many people on the streets by the day.

In any case, taxi or Uber are always the best options during the night and also to come back, as the subway closes 11PM during the week and midnight on weekends.

Is Lapa Safe?

But when the subject is Lapa, a lot of people wonder about the safety of the place and if it’s worth getting to know it. The neighborhood is a unique place and I believe that there isn’t anything similar to it in Brazil, or maybe even in the world! It’s a must for Rio de Janeiro, in my opinion.

But as any crowded place in a big city – be careful! There are a lot of people, drinks, parties and happiness in Lapa. It’s not hard to imagine that if you are happy and drunk on the street you won’t realize that someone took your mobile from you. Take care with the pickpockets of Lapa and bring just what is necessary.

What should you take with you when going to Lapa? Money for the night and ID! You won’t have pictures of Lapa, but for sure the moments you live there will stay forever in your mind!

During the day you can join our Free Walking tour of Downtown and Lapa, walking by the main points with a group and by night, our Pub Crawl Lapa, that goes to the best bars with safety and fun, after all you will be with someone that knows the neighborhood.

Lapa History

Unlike what many people think, Lapa is a middle-class neighborhood in Brazil. It has a diversity of bars, restaurants, discos and pubs, to all different tastes. And I guarantee, most of the visitors get amazed with the party diversity that happens in this place.

But why is the neighborhood called Lapa? This story starts with religious women who escaped from a general that destroyed a monastery in Iberic Peninsula. Those religious women were protected in a “Lapa” which is a grotto e there they kept an image of Our Lady that they took with them.

A long time ago a young lady found a saint, she kept it as a doll. The mother, annoyed by the situation, decided to set the image on fire, and the young lady promptly shouted that it was Our Lady. The young woman had its arm paralyzed by the fire. In an attempt to reverse the situation mother and daughter started to pray for a miracle and it happened.

All communities recognized the value of the Saint and built a chapel for the image, although the clergy tried to keep an image in the church, from where it always vanished in a mysterious way.

The worship ended up spreading in Portugal and was brought to Brazil by Companhia de Jesus, as the Jesuits were responsible for the location of the “Lapa” by the concession of King Don Sebastian, which originated the  name of the city of Rio de Janeiro. It was built where the neighborhood of Lapa is today.

In Portugal and Brazil, there are a few sanctuaries dedicated to Our Lady of Lapa.

No wonder the neighborhood is today famous for Lapa Arches, which started to be planned in 1600 as a way to supply people with the water of Carioca River. The label force was slave and indigenous. The construction was delayed and was modified by many governments. Only in 1750 the aqueduct was officially opened and the water got to Saint Antony convent in Carioca Square, a marble fountain that contained 16 taps for the population. Later the water path was extended until XV Square, where the old port was. The ships that got to the city needed to fill up.

Arcos-da-lapa

Technologies brought new ways of pipeline water and since 1896 until today, it is the tram way of the line that connects Downtown Rio to Santa Teresa.

Cultural reasons led the neighborhood to create its unique characteristics. All races, of all ages get together here to celebrate the nights of the marvelous city, due the caipirinhas that were easily found in every Lapa bar.

Lapa Hotels

Lapa is a great option for hospitality for the ones who want to enjoy Rio’s nightlife and stay close to Rio downtown. The neighborhood has got supermarkets, pharmacies, bars, restaurants, stores and many cool stuffs to see

Most of the hostels are at the main Avenue, Mem de Sá.

If you want to stay close to the main parties and bars, our recommendation is Da Lapa Design Hotel, a comfortable boutique hostel in the heart of Lapa.

Da-lapa-design-rio-de-janeiro

Another option is Selina Lapa Rio de Janeiro & Coworking

In the next post we are going to talk about a few bars and clubs that we recommend in Lapa located just beside Cecília Meireles Cultural Center. This is an old luxurious hotel that was renovated and got really comfy. It has a good location, close to the subway, to Lapa, but it doesn’t get that much of the noise and parties of the neighborhood. Charming option.Do you want to stay in a sophisticated hotel in Lapa? Your option is Vila Galé, a hotel that is part of the luxurious Portuguese hotel chain. It has got a luxurious style, with Rios vibe. It’s located in an old pink small palace in Riachuelo Street, unmistakable.

vila-gale

Of course there are many more options of accommodation and of all price ranges in Lapa!

Do you like our post? We hope we helped you to present this cheerful neighborhood of Rio. For sure it is worth visiting.

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