Rio de Janeiro highlights

Although no longer Brazil’s capital, Rio de Janeiro is the country’s most iconic and beautiful city, and the host city for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic games. Everything, from its spectacular natural landmarks to its busy, glitzy beaches must be seen to be believed.

The curve of Copacabana

Praia de Copacabana remains the centerpiece of Rio de Janeiro’s beaches and the international tourist trade. Its classic crescent curve, anchored at one end by the imposing presence of Sugar Loaf, has made Copacabana a world-class picture-postcard scene for decades. 

Copacabana beach first gained fame in the 1920s after the opening of the high-class Copacabana Palace Hotel, which became an international watering hole for the world’s most glamorous celebrities. Today, hundreds of thousands of sun and water worshippers pass over its steaming sands every day. On any given summer weekend, up to half-a-million cariocas and tourists will descend on the locale to promenade on Copacabana; while on New Year’s Eve, more than 3 million take to the streets and the sand to see in the new year.

The quintessential Rio neighborhood, Copacabana consists of 109 streets on which more than 350,000 people live, squeezed close together into high-rises by the mountains at their back and the Atlantic in front. For this urban mass, the beach is their escape to an open space.

Intimate Ipanema and Leblon

From the 1950s to the present day, Ipanema has undergone an extraordinary real-estate boom and population explosion, and since the 1960s, a surging army of high-rises have turned the Ipanema skyline into a smaller, lower version of Copacabana. 

In the 1960s, the neighborhood was swept by a highly romanticized wave of liberalism; Rio’s bohemians and intellectuals gathered at Ipanema’s sidewalk cafés and bars to philosophize over the movements of the decade. Despite its brevity, this period defined the modern carioca spirit – irreverent, independent, and decidedly liberal toward matters of the flesh and spirit. 

Palm trees add to the intimate setting here, as does (with a couple of notable exceptions) the lack of beach-front hotels and bars. At sunset, the paved sidewalk is crowded with lovers, strolling along hand in hand.

Ipanema is less boisterous than Copacabana, and it preserves the romance of Rio more than any of the city’s 22 other beaches. Ipanema and Leblon are essentially the same neighborhood; a canal linking the lagoon with the ocean divides the two, giving rise to separate names, but there is a shared identity. They remain Rio’s center of chic and sophistication. 

Views from Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado

Overlooking Rio’s beach and city life is the world-famous statue of Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), standing with his arms outstretched atop Corcovado (Hunchback Mountain).

The recommended method for reaching the summit is the 3.7km (2.3-mile) Corcovado Railroad (www.tremdocorcovado.rio), where the little trains leave every 20 minutes from the station in the Cosme Velho neighborhood, halfway between downtown and Copacabana. The scenic ride climbs through tropical foliage, with views of the mountain and city below. 

On the top of Corcovado, the granite statue, which was given a general face-lift in 2010, is visible day and night from most parts of Rio, as long as there is no mist. Standing 38 meters (125ft) tall, it is the work of a team of artisans headed by French sculptor Paul Landowsky, and was completed in 1931. Since then it has competed with Sugar Loaf for the titles of symbol of Rio and best viewpoint. 

The mighty Sugar Loaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar)

Undoubtedly the most famous landmark on Guanabara Bay is Sugar Loaf, the granite prominence that rises 396 meters (1,300ft) high at the bay’s entrance. Visitors are whisked up in bubble-shaped cable cars manufactured in Switzerland and introduced in June 2009, each of which holds up to 65 passengers and offers 360-degree views. Departures are from the Praia Vermelho station (www.bondinho.com.br).

From Sugar Loaf, paths lead to viewpoints affording visitors extraordinarily beautiful views on all sides, day or night.

The lofty neighbourhood of Santa Teresa

Santa Teresa is a tranquil nest of eccentricities perched atop the mountain spine that presses against the city below. Today, hanging from its hillsides and flanking its winding, cobblestoned streets, the architectural hodgepodge of Santa Teresa’s homes is one of Rio’s most distinctive features. Gabled mansions with wrought-iron fixtures and stained-glass windows stand beside more staid and proper edifices, all perfectly at home on a mountain that provides a spectacular vista of the Baía de Guanabara. Views are as plentiful as flowers in Santa Teresa. 

There are several public stairways that lead from Santa Teresa’s streets to the neighborhoods of Glória and Flamengo, hundreds of meters below; and the grounds of the Museu Chácara do Céu (museuscastromaya) that look out over the city, the aqueduct, and the bay. The museum is one of Santa Teresa’s main attractions, with a collection of works by Brazilian Modernists, including paintings by Brazil’s greatest modern artist, Cândido Portinari. 

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