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Rio de Janeiro

Cidade Maravilhosa

On the southern coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro is the city of Rio de Janeiro, land of the tiny bikini and even tinier speedo and one of most scenic and well loved cities world wide.

Locals are known as "Cariocas" and pronounce Rio as "Heeo Je Han-ear-ho", wear Havaianas (flip flops/thongs) all the time, let the days slip by on the beaches and party the nights away.

Highlights
• Christ the Redeemer
• Sugar Loaf mountain
• The beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema
• The Mardi Grais Carnival in February
• Maracana Stadium - the largest soccer/football stadium in the world
• Lapa's amazing night-life
• New Year's Eve at Copacabana beach
• The favela tour

Best time of year to visit
Any - though most popular and crowded is December to February - when prices double.

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By Lindsaytheexplorer
June 15th 2009

Sao Paulo #2 - Gay Pride South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro

Sao Paulo - Gay Pride

Before I’d left Sao Paulo the people at the hostel had persuaded me to come back to Sao Paulo for Gay Pride. A 3 million people party down Paulista Avenue just 2 blocks from the hostel, the biggest Gay Pride event in the world. How could I pass up the chance to party Brazilian style? It was the closest thing to the Rio carnival I was going to get, if a little camper (if that’s possible). The best thing about the hostel in Sao Paulo has to be the staff. They’re very welcoming, friendly and inclusive. One of the receptionists was [View Full Entry]

By SineadandPhilippeRTW
June 14th 2009

Sugar Loaf & Maracana South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Botafogo

Cable Car
It´s not that high...

What day is it? "Is it Sunday today?" A definite good sign when you are trying to wind down is when you forget what day it is. After spending the rest of Friday hiding out from the rain we decided that we had enough of doing nothing and determined that we would get going on the touristy things. First up after a relatively painless accommodation change was tackling the Sugar Loaf. I was sure that Philippe would be sitting this one out what with his dislike of heights and all, but to my surprise and great pride, he bought his ticket [View Full Entry]

By Lindsaytheexplorer
June 13th 2009

Rio de Janeiro - Favela tour South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro

Ipanema beach

Feeling a little braver I booked a favela tour for my second day in Rio. These tours take you for a guided walk and talk through the Rocinha favela, the largest favelas in Rio but probably the most developed too. Rocinha, like most of the other favelas, is set on a hillside. It overlooks the beach and apartments one bay down from Ipanema. The residents in the favelas don’t own the land they have built on even if they own the house. Nowadays the houses are built of brick and mortar even if some of the roofs are still corrugated iron. [View Full Entry]

By SineadandPhilippeRTW
June 12th 2009

Rio! South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Santa Teresa

Santa Teresa

We made it! The eleven hour flight turned into 13hours because we were late taking off and then had a hiccup in Brazil. I say hiccup but it was more like a collective gulp when the plane pulled up sharply during landing and then the captain said he couldnt land because there was stormy weather around the airport. So he did the sensible thing and circled for a while. Needless to say we were glad to step off the plane - only to be greeted by the swine flu patrol - masks and all. Queue second big gulp of the trip. [View Full Entry]

By joekewl789
June 12th 2009

Brazil in Chaos South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Ipanema

Brazil is a country that thrives in chaos. Cariocas, who are reputedly lazy, especially thrive in a lackadaisical and casually blissful lifestyle, or at least like to portray that image. Bargaining for deals is the norm and plans are rarely made in advance. If Buenos Aires is Paris, Rio de Janiero is the floor of the New York Stock Exchange…if the brokers wore Havianas and drank Skol. Brazilians have learned to thrive in this environment, however, and negotiate its idiosyncrasies to their advantage. Beggars wait until change is given before hounding people for money, striving to creat [View Full Entry]

By Lindsaytheexplorer
June 12th 2009

Rio de Janeiro - city tour South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro

Christ Redeemer

I don’t think I’ve ever given a city an introduction quite like this before but Rio isn’t just another city. I agonized whether to go or not since I’d vowed to myself I’d never go. If I was nervous going to Sao Paulo I was scared witless going to Rio. Travellers had been very animated talking about Rio to me and they always said one of two things; either ‘it’s the most amazing place you’ll go’ or ‘I was mugged’. Like the rest of Brazil, Rio brought out tales of first-hand experiences rather than third or fourth hand acc [View Full Entry]

By WeeJill
June 10th 2009

Rio de Janeiro South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Copacabana

Rocinha Favela

hello all and sorry for the delay in my blog, it's been a hectic few days travelling and the internet facilities aren't as good as Asia was years ago. I love Rio!!! it's amazing - it has the beach, city, mountains and sushi! I was pretty nervous about arriving in Rio on my own but was very lucky to meet a lovely girl on the plane who was travelling on business and gave me a lift to my hostel in her company chauffeur driven car! I had been really apprehensive as i had read the taxi companis were a real rip [View Full Entry]

By CG
June 4th 2009

Brazil - Rio de Janeiro & Buzios South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro

Handgliding

On Thursday 4 June 2009 I met Ian at Heathrow and we got our BA flight to Rio de Janeiro. It was 9.30pm local time when we landed and by the time we took a taxi to Orla Hotel, we just wanted to go to bed. After a good sleep, we had a nice breakfast at the hotel and then went to the rooftop to check out the view over the Copacobana. It was only 10.30am but already the temperature was close to 30 degrees and there wasn´t a cloud in the sky. After taking a stroll along Copacobana beach, we [View Full Entry]

By Steph B
June 4th 2009

Back in Rio... South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Ipanema

Hi all, So we are back in Rio this evening. Today I went with a new traveller we met around Buzios´ many beaches on a bike. It. Was. Hilly. Such a good workout though! Need to work off all this gorgeous Brazilian food i am eating. We got lunch for 10 Reals, which is about 3.20 pounds. Bargain. Generally things are cheapish here, but we are in Rio which is much more expensive that other places we will go. So we biked around the main beaches for about 5 hours. In the summer (on season) Buzios will be heaving with tourists [View Full Entry]

By CricketREL
June 3rd 2009

Rio de Janeiro: A Cidade Maravilhosa! South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Barra da Tijuca

Ipanama Strand
The distinctive mosaic sidewalks distinguish one beachfront neighborhood from another - this is Ipanema

A Cidade Maravilhosa! (That means "The Marvelous City" in Portuguese). Even though it's been kind of gray and rainy during my visit to Rio de Janeiro, I think the city merits its nickname. I've had a blast walking all around Rio for the last few days with my own personal guide (Rodolpho) and learning my way around its numerous neighborhoods. It's a beautiful city, with verdant hills rising dramatically above the sea that break up the landscape and gorgeous beaches below that line the edge of the city. Rio lies around the Baia de Guanabara (a bay near the southern end [View Full Entry]

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