taxis are a convenient way to travel around a city, specially if one is not too familiar with the area - the taxis in rio are bright yellow and only these licensed taxis should be used for safety reasons.

taxis also have the name and number of their cooperative on the side and can either be hailed on the street or pre-booked in advance - taking a taxi is the safest and fastest way to travel around rio at night, and the fleet of available cars is quite extensive, therefore, visitors are not likely to struggle to find an available taxi unless it is raining, when hailing a taxi becomes more difficult. 

most taxi drivers in rio will only speak portuguese, or have only a very basic level of english - before getting into a taxi is best to be prepared, a good tip for travelers is to not only write down the address of the desired destination, but also to double check that the driver knows where it is.