Lapa: Yes to Bars, No to Cars

Lapa, Rio’s notoriously raucous downtown party district, is to become a less risky prospect for tipsy weekend partiers.
Rio de Janeiro city council has passed a new rule stating that the district’s principle pedestrian thoroughfares will be closed to motor vehicles between 10pm and 5am; with bars given permission to set up tables and chairs on the pavements of this hectic haunt for nightowls.

Starting this weekend, vehicles will be banned from parking in and around the historic streets of Avenida Mem da Sa and Rua do Lavradio, as well the area around the Arcos da Lapa, or Lapa Arches, where the famous Friday and Saturday night street parties take place.

While this is bound to be good news for drinkers and bar owners alike, it’s also likely to be a kick in the teeth for those who wish to drive to and from the neighbourhood on weekend evenings – although the council has promised extra parking spaces to make up for those that will be effectively taken away by the new ruling.

Lapa has long been (in)famous for its slightly seedy nightlife, but a recent wave of plush new bar openings has seen the area attract a new breed of well-to-do partiers.

Some of the city’s best samba clubs can be found here, and there really is no better place to experience Rio’s nocturnal activities at their most uninhibited.

However, it remains a favourite haunt for thieves and other less salubrious members of Rio society, so try and keep your wits about you on a night out here. As simple as that might sound, after just a couple of the seemingly innocent fruit cocktails on sale at the many street stalls, remembering how to get from A to B can become something of a challenge. At least the traffic-free policy means that being hit by a tearaway driver should be one less thing to worry about.

Photo shows Rua do Lavradio, courtesy of Lucy Bryson