Rio de Janeiro Travel Guide: Introduction

Locals call it the “Marvelous City” and once you visit Rio de Janeiro, you’ll understand why. Nestled on the tropical cliffs of the southeastern coast of Brazil, this cosmopolitan ex-capital is the second largest city in Brazil and is well-known for its annual Carnival celebrations, sexy samba music, and hotel-lined beaches such as the gorgeous Copacabana stretch.

The capital of the Portuguese Empire during the 1800s, today, this vivid and extremely dense city never sleeps, with restaurants, discotheques, and bars open at all hours to keep up with the lively nightlife. Day time in Rio is just as varied, with excellent art galleries and museums showcasing contemporary and ancient Brazilian and international art in this city that considers itself the cultural center of the country.

Standing atop the Corcovado hill that overlooks the entire city of Rio is the iconic Christ of Corcovado: an immense concrete statue of Christ whose arms are spread in figurative embrace of this deeply-Catholic country. From here, tourists can see all the natural beauty (Tijuca National Park), the luxury and modernity (first-rate hotels on Ipanema beach), and the gritty reality (the shantytowns or “favelas”) of this thriving metropolis that represents a historically-rich and culturally-diverse society in the process of gaining ground as a leader in a rapidly globalizing world.