Rio Airport to City Centre: GIG and SDU by BRT, VLT, Taxi

Which Rio airport are you landing at?

Rio has two airports with very different routes into town. Galeão, officially Tom Jobim (GIG), is the international airport on Ilha do Governador, north of the centre. Santos Dumont (SDU) is the downtown airport on the bay, a short tram ride from Centro.

If you land at SDU, skip to the Santos Dumont section below. Everything else here is about getting out of Galeão, where the choice depends on whether you are heading for Centro, the beach districts, or Barra da Tijuca.

How do you get from Galeão to the city by public transport?

There are three public options at GIG, and each suits a different destination.

BRT Transcarioca to the metro. RIOgaleão's BRT page lists the Transcarioca "parador" (stopping) services from the Galeão Tom Jobim 1 and Galeão Tom Jobim 2 stations, running to Madureira and to Terminal Alvorada in Barra da Tijuca. The page gives the fare as R$ 5.00 and the hours as every day from 04:00 to midnight. At Vicente de Carvalho you change to Metro Line 2 towards the city.

Galeão to Terminal Gentileza, then the VLT. The airport's bus page lists a Mobi-Rio service from Galeão to Terminal Gentileza at R$ 15.00, boarding at Terminal 2 departures. Gentileza is the western end of VLT Line 1, which runs through Rodoviária, Candelária, Carioca and Cinelândia to Santos Dumont.

Ordinary city buses. The same page lists line 328 (Bananal to Candelária via RIOgaleão) from Terminals 1 and 2, which ends in Centro. It is the slowest option and the least suited to large luggage.

The metro route needs a word of explanation. RIOgaleão's metro page confirms the integration at Vicente de Carvalho, and MetrôRio's fares page sets a metro-only fare of R$ 7.90 and a metro plus BRT fare of R$ 9.70 on the Jaé card, with a 120-minute window to make the connection. RIOgaleão places its Galeão Tom Jobim 2 BRT station at Terminal 2, exit door D. Pay the BRT and metro separately with different cards and you pay R$ 12.90 instead.

Paying: Jaé card or bank card

Rio's transport now runs on two payment systems, and knowing which one each mode takes saves you a queue.

MetrôRio accepts contactless Visa, Mastercard and Elo credit or debit cards and NFC phones directly at the gates, as well as its own cards. VLT Carioca uses the Jaé card, sold as a digital card in the Jaé app or as a physical card at Terminal Gentileza, stops and stations, and says Bilhete Único Carioca integration continues at no extra cost on connections.

How much does a taxi from Galeão cost?

Rio publishes a metered tariff rather than a fixed airport fare. The city's Carioca Digital taxi page, last updated in January 2026, lists these rates for a conventional taxi.

Tariff I applies Monday to Saturday from 06:00 to 21:00. Tariff II applies Monday to Saturday from 21:00 to 06:00, all day on Sundays and holidays, and on steep hill routes. The city's 1746 service page gives the same figures, explains the formula (flag fall plus distance times the rate), and says the tariff table must be displayed on the left rear window.

Neither the city nor the airport publishes a fixed GIG to Copacabana distance or price on the pages we could open, so read the kilometres from your map app and do the sum below. App-based ride services also operate in Rio, but their prices are set by the app, not by the city.

Which option is best for one person or a group?

This table combines the fares above with the hours and the kind of trip each route suits.

Worked example, one person, daytime. BRT plus metro on a Jaé card costs R$ 9.70. The executive bus and VLT cost R$ 20.00 unless your Jaé connection is integrated. A taxi over a 20 km illustrative distance would be R$ 6.20 + (20 x R$ 3.65) = R$ 79.20, plus R$ 3.65 for one large bag, so R$ 82.85.

Worked example, four people with four large bags. BRT plus metro is 4 x R$ 9.70 = R$ 38.80, but means carrying four cases through a BRT station and a metro change. The Gentileza bus plus VLT is 4 x R$ 20.00 = R$ 80.00. The same illustrative 20 km taxi at Tariff I is R$ 79.20 plus 4 x R$ 3.65 for bags, R$ 93.80 in total, or about R$ 23.45 each, door to door. On a Sunday or after 21:00, Tariff II makes it R$ 6.20 + (20 x R$ 4.38) + R$ 14.60 = R$ 108.40.

The switch point is clear: alone and light, take the BRT and metro. As a group of three or four with luggage, the taxi costs roughly the same as the express bus and VLT and removes two changes.

Late arrivals and safety at night

The published hours set the limit. RIOgaleão lists the BRT at 04:00 to midnight, and says Metro Lines 1, 2 and 4 run Monday to Saturday from 05:00 to midnight and on Sundays and holidays from 07:00 to 23:00. If you clear customs after about 22:30, a connection from BRT to metro is no longer realistic.

Getting from Santos Dumont (SDU)

SDU is the easier airport. VLT Carioca's Line 1 page lists Santos Dumont as a terminus, with 20 stations running through Cinelândia, Carioca, Sete de Setembro, Candelária and Rodoviária to Terminal Intermodal Gentileza. The fare is R$ 5.00, paid with a Jaé card.

For the beach districts from SDU, the VLT to Carioca or Cinelândia puts you on the metro network, where MetrôRio's R$ 7.90 fare and contactless payment apply. With luggage or a group, a metered taxi on the same city tariff is the practical choice, as the distances are much shorter than from Galeão.

Before you leave the terminal

Decide your route by where you are sleeping and what time you land, then set up payment before you reach the gates. If you will use the BRT, download the Jaé app or buy a card first. If you plan to take a taxi, check which tariff should be showing on the meter for the day and hour.

For wider money questions, see our guide to paying in Brazil with Pix, cards and cash, and check Brazil's e-visa and entry rules before you fly. If you are continuing to São Paulo, our São Paulo airport guide covers GRU and Congonhas.