Rio de Janeiro in January

When to go

January is a warm, wet summer month in the weather normals that the WMO relays from Brazil's national weather service, and the Alerta Rio site run by the city government shows the current rain situation. New Year's Day is a national holiday under Brazilian law, and the city's patron saint, São Sebastião, has a holiday later in the month, so check opening hours around both. Riotur says the street carnival is planned to start in the second half of the month, so check Riotur for the confirmed program.

Trip facts

• The Brazilian Consulate General in New York says that, effective April 10, 2025, Brazil requires visitor visas for citizens of Australia, Canada and the United States, offered as a 100% online e-Visa, and that only those traveling for tourism, business, transit, or sports or artistic activities, for up to 90 days of stay, can apply for an e-Visa (page updated August 26, 2026). (www.gov.br, checked 2026-10-15)
• The airport operator RIOgaleão says its Transcarioca Parador BRT line connects Terminal Alvorada, in Barra da Tijuca, and Madureira Station to RIOgaleão Airport, operating Mondays through Sundays from 4am to 12am, and that BRTs from both stops go through Vicente de Carvalho Station, where there is integration with Metro Line 2. (www.riogaleao.com, checked 2026-10-15)
• The city's transport secretariat (SMTR) says Jaé is the Rio city government's ticketing system, exclusive on municipal transport (BRT, VLT, municipal buses, municipal vans and 'cabritinhos'), and that with Jaé it is also possible to board the MetrôRio. (transportes.prefeitura.rio, checked 2026-10-15)
• The MetrôRio operator's 'Sua Viagem' page says lines 1, 2 and 4 operate Monday to Saturday from 5 a.m. to midnight and on Sundays and holidays from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and its station list includes stops labeled Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Botafogo, Flamengo and Barra da Tijuca. (www.metrorio.com.br, checked 2026-10-15)
• The Rio city government's Alerta Rio system site invites visitors to see the current situation of rain and landslides ('chuva e escorregamento') in the municipality of Rio. (alertario.rio.rj.gov.br, checked 2026-10-15)
• The World Meteorological Organization's World Weather Information Service lists, for Rio de Janeiro, 1961–1990 climate normals from Brazil's Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia, with a mean daily maximum temperature of 29.4 °C (84.9 °F) and a mean daily minimum temperature of 23.3 °C (73.9 °F) in January. (worldweather.wmo.int, checked 2026-10-15)
• The World Meteorological Organization's World Weather Information Service lists, for Rio de Janeiro, a mean total rainfall of 114.1 mm in January and a mean of 12.0 rainfall days (days with at least 0.1 mm), from Brazil's Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia and based on monthly averages for 1961–1990. (worldweather.wmo.int, checked 2026-10-15)
• Brazil's Law 662 of April 6, 1949 lists January 1 among the national holidays. (www.planalto.gov.br, checked 2026-10-15)
• A January 2026 notice from Rio's city government calls São Sebastião the city's patron saint and says municipal primary-care health units would not open on the holiday of January 20. (prefeitura.rio, checked 2026-10-15)
• Riotur, the city's tourism company, says that for 2027 the street carnival is planned to start on January 16. (riotur.prefeitura.rio, checked 2026-10-15)