Rio de Janeiro: Travel without fear

Brazilian officials have been hoping to confront crime ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, and have made some significant progress.

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The view from the top of the Vidigal Favela, looking north toward Ipanema and Rio. The favela, like many in Rio, has become much safer for tourists to experience on their own, although the U.S. State Department still advises strongly against entering favelas, or slums, unescorted.

John Briley / For The Washington Post

A girl skips at Mangueira slum in Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro's security forces started a big operation in Mangueira slum to base a peacekeeping unit, near Maracana Stadium. It is the last favela, located near Maracana Stadium, which was introduced to the peace program to ensure the security during the 2014 World Cup.

Ricardo Moraes / Reuters

One of the many whimsical and skillfully painted murals adorning the walls of Santa Teresa, where streetcars still ply the steep streets. The neighborhood spills down from a ridge a few miles north of the main tourist areas of Copacabana and Ipanema. Even a few years ago, drug activity in Santa Teresa’s slums prompted guidebooks to advise against walking anywhere in the neighborhood.

John Briley / For The Washington Post

People crowd the popular market Saara, in downtown Rio de Janeiro. For January to September 2011, homicides were down 8 percent compared with the same period the previous year. Vehicle theft was down almost 11 percent. and robbery followed by homicide was down 30 percent, according to a review by the Rio de Janeiro State Institute of Public Safety.

Vanderlei Almeida / AFP/Getty Images

An aerial view of the Maracana Stadium during its renovation ahead of the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament in Rio de Janeiro. The Maracana, the second-most visited tourist destination in Rio, is to soccer what Yankee Stadium is to baseball, what Lambeau Field is to NFL football or what Madison Square Garden is to basketball.

Felipe Dana / AP

Young men balance on tightropes at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro. Despite warnings about muggings and violence, Rio has been a top tourist spot for decades. The city’s tourist ranks swell by the hundreds of thousands for Carnival in February.

Dado Galdieri / Bloomberg

A girl peeks over the top of her sunglasses at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Dado Galdieri / Bloomberg

A man holds a skateboard at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit during Carnival, but crimes targeting tourists rise every year during the raucous festival.

Dado Galdieri / Bloomberg

A woman attaches flowers to a bicycle at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Dado Galdieri / Bloomberg

Young men wrestle at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Dado Galdieri / Bloomberg

A man walks out of the ocean while holding a child at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Dado Galdieri / Bloomberg

A young woman walks at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Dado Galdieri / Bloomberg

A man holds a drink at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Dado Galdieri / Bloomberg

A woman rests her head in the lap of a man at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Dado Galdieri / Bloomberg

The setting sun is reflected in buildings at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Dado Galdieri / Bloomberg

A man balances on a surfboard at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Dado Galdieri / Bloomberg

Two men talk during sunset at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Dado Galdieri / Bloomberg

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