Worth getting out of bed for
Highlights the best Rio De Janeiro has to offer, from art and culture to fun-packed activities; we've even found the most inspiring place to enjoy the views from.
- Viewpoint
- Take a thrilling cable-car ride up two stages to reach the peak of the granite dome 369m above Rio. The vista is dazzling: the whole of Guanabara Bay, with sweeping views of the city from Botafogo Beach all the way to Copacabana and beyond.
- Something for nothing
- Stroll through Parque Lage, where a 1920s mansion now houses the Escola de Artes Visuais. You can catch an exhibition and enjoy the gardens.
- Shopping
- In the streets in and around Leblon and Ipanema are scores of interesting boutiques, fashion stores and shopping centres, with generous sprinklings of cafés and restaurants. Feira Hippie on Saturday in Praça General Osório is great for gifts and jewellery. In Centro, with its wealth of bookshops and music emporia, bargain-hunters crowd the narrow pedestrian streets around Saara, where anything and everything is for sale. The amazing Urugyana Market is a labyrinth of small stalls selling baile funk, designer knock-offs and much more. Rua do Lavradio, Lapa, is home to antique shops and ultra-modern furniture stores alike.
Diary
- 31 December Reveillon: a spectacular sight, with two million people dressed in white packed onto Copacabana beach. Live music, fireworks and raucous partying ensue. 20 January Dia de São Sebastiao, patron saint of Rio, commemorated with a procession through the city and a huge concert on Copacabana beach (the Rolling Stones played to a crowd of 1.2 million in 2006). February Carnival! Rio hosts the biggest party in the world. Need we say more? Last weekend in July Arte de Portas Abertas, when the local community of artists in Santa Teresa, open their doors to the public. September–October Rio de Janeiro Film Festival, the most prominent in South America, with screenings held all over the city. October Rio Free Jazz Festival, with local and international acts performing in a three-day musical marathon of jazz, bossa nova and samba.
