Any advice for a girl traveling to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil?

This will be the first time I have traveled outside of the US. Any advice of what to expect? What not to do? what places are dangerous? I will be spending some time with a friend there but also sightseeing on my own during the day, is it safe for me to be walking around alone in Rio? I read somewhere that I shouldn't wear jewelry as I might get robbed is this true? Would wearing fashionable, but not too expensive, clothes get me some unwanted attention by thieves, creeps etc. Thanks in advancefor the help!

NEVER wear any jewelry anywhere in Latin America. I lived in Rio for two years and the State Department's warning about crime is right on the mark. Rio has the highest non-violent crime rate in the Western Hemisphere. There are constant muggings, whole buses being robbed, tourists being taken advantage of, etc...Something that happens a lot is that the "ladrones", petty thieves, reach through the window of the taxi you are riding in and steal your purse or package from the seat or your jewelry right from your arm. Small children in groups are the ones to really watch out for on the streets of Rio. They are organized and pick your pockets quickly and you will never catch them. Fashionable clothing is quite common in Rio, most people do not ever wear shorts in public except to the beach, and the touristy areas are generally safe during the day. Your friend that lives there will know the places to avoid.
Good Luck on your trip. Be careful and safe.

DON'T. Way too dangerous.

Read this link first :
http://www.funsunbrazil.com/Security.htm

Then you read:
http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/central-and-south-america/brazil/rio-de-janeiro/overview.html?inline=nyt-geo

Basically becareful , especially night times.
Take taxis'
and you bill have the ball of your life.

What out for your purse!!! lol
Rio is just amazing! You gonna love it, just be careful!

And have fun!

You can find many atractions in Rio. Not only, the beaches. My advice are:

1- Try to get a ticket for Teatro Municipal and enjoy ballet or a concert;

2- Visit the national museum ("Museu Nacional") into "QUINTA DA BOAVISTA" and see the zoo, also;

3 - Visit the Corcovado (the mountain with a statue of Christ);

4 - Go to the "Pão-de-açúcar" mountain by ferry cable;

5 - Visit the Shopping Centers (they are excellent). My sugestions are "BarraShopping" and "New York City" (I don't know really why this name in Rio de Janeiro, but...) ;

6 - Don't forget the T-shirts, jeans tights, tenis, sandals, bikini and sunblock, of course;

7 - Use jewels only to the night in the Municipal Theater, fine restaurants or the interior of shopping centers; and, the most important,

8 - Meet me here...

Dont hang around copacabana too much. You will be instantly identified as a tourist and targeted. I wouldnt recommend going to a lot of places by yourself.

Hopefully you speak some portuguese.

Do not wear jewelry, and do not wear expensive clothes. Go around with plain clothes.

I dont want to discourage you though, the year i spent there was the best time of my life. I will personally be going back for a few months. But, if i had a sister/daugher/wife/girlfriend, who had never been outside the country and that was going to Brazil(Rio of all places) by themselves, I would tell them that they were out of their mind, and that it would be over my dead body.

i grew up in brasil, and i learned to identify tourists. advice... dont act as a tourist, learn portugese, and if u go to the beach, go to ipanema, around post nine, it is pretty safe there. stay around that area.oh, and go to the restaurant itahy, and ask for file com fritas e farofa (filae com frytahs i faaroufaa) its really good food there!

Just be careful in general. Brazil has one of, if not the, highest crime rates in the world. That place is incredibly dangerous should you be in the wrong area at the wrong time.

Beware of "street kids" asking for change. Good luck.

Stay away from the prostitutes