Rio de Janeiro: the city between the mountains and the sea

It’s 5:48 a.m. on Ipanema beach and the sun is starting to come up over the Cagarras islands offshore. The first joggers are out. A vendor is setting up his small kiosk for the day. The waves are about a metre and a half — small by Rio standards — and a few of the morning surfers are paddling out. The two granite peaks of the Dois Irmãos (‘Two Brothers’) at the western end of the beach are catching the first orange light. By 9 a.m., the beach will be a continuous arrangement of beach chairs and umbrellas. Right now, it is mostly mine.

Why I keep coming back

Rio’s geography is the city’s first and lasting impression. The granite-domed peaks of the Atlantic Forest range come almost to the sea. The Atlantic Forest itself, much of it preserved in the Tijuca National Park, is the largest urban forest in the world (32 km²). The beaches of the Zona Sul — Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana — line the southern edge for 10 km. The city is layered between mountain, beach, and lagoon in a way that does not exist anywhere else on earth.

The city is also one of the most musically rich in the Americas. Samba, bossa nova, and the contemporary Brazilian funk-and-baile of the favelas all live here.

Where to base yourself

Ipanema or Leblon for the central beach-neighbourhood experience. Walkable, food-rich, beach access.

Santa Teresa for the historic hillside artists’ neighbourhood; cobblestoned, viewy, slower.

Botafogo for a residential mid-budget option with great food and bay views.

Avoid Copacabana for stays of more than two nights — the beach is iconic but the neighbourhood is denser, less walkable, and the food is largely tourist-tier.

What to actually do

Walk Ipanema and Leblon beaches. The 4-km stretch of the famous beach. Sunset at Arpoador, the small rocky promontory between Ipanema and Copacabana, is the city’s daily ritual.

Hike to Christ the Redeemer. The 700-m peak with the 30-m Cristo Redentor statue is the city’s icon. The recommended route is the train from Cosme Velho (book online ahead); the hike from Parque Lage is the harder local alternative.

Take the cable car up Sugarloaf (Pão de Açúcar). Two-stage cable-car ride up the granite peak. Best at sunset.

Walk in Tijuca National Park. The huge urban Atlantic Forest. The Pico da Tijuca hike (a 3-hour round trip from Alto da Boa Vista) is the classic; the smaller trails near the Vista Chinesa lookout are accessible.

Hear samba. Pedra do Sal on Monday nights for the historic samba-roda in the harbour district. Rio Scenarium in the Lapa neighbourhood for a more tourist-oriented samba show. The smaller bars in Vila Isabel for the more local scene.

Visit a favela ethically. Rocinha and Vidigal are the famous ones. Resident-led tours (not the touristy ‘safari’ versions) are the right approach. Favela Inn at Cantagalo is an example of community-run lodging.

Walk Lapa and the Escadaria Selarón. The mosaic-tiled steps by the late Chilean artist Jorge Selarón connecting Lapa and Santa Teresa.

Where to eat

Brazilian food in Rio is dominated by the churrascaria (rotating-spit barbecue), the boteco (neighbourhood bar with bar food), and a contemporary Brazilian high-end scene that has been emerging in the past decade.

Lasai — Modern Brazilian, tasting menu; two Michelin stars. Aprazível (Santa Teresa) — Garden setting; modern Brazilian; the view. Olympe — Refined Franco-Brazilian, the senior Brazilian fine-dining brand (Claude Troisgros). Aconchego Carioca (Tijuca) — Reliable boteco; the bolinho de feijoada (black-bean croquette). Aprazível Bar do Mineiro (Santa Teresa) — The Friday feijoada lunch is a Rio institution. Garota de Ipanema (Ipanema) — The bar where ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ was written. Touristy; do go once. Churrasco at Fogo de Chão or Porcão — The all-you-can-eat churrascaria experience; better as an occasional visit than as a destination. Açaí at any neighbourhood juice bar — The Amazonian berry frozen and served in bowls with banana and granola is a Rio breakfast.

When to come

April through June is the most pleasant period; warm without being brutal, less rain than the summer.

September and October are similarly comfortable.

December through March is the high Brazilian summer; hot, humid, the city at maximum.

Carnival (variable date, mostly in February) is the famous five-day pre-Lenten celebration; book a year ahead, expect quadruple prices.

Practical notes

• Visa: Most Western passports get 90 days visa-free.
• Money: Brazilian real. Card universally; cash for smaller things, beach kiosks, and tips.
• Transport: The Metro is excellent and well-signed. Ubers are very inexpensive and the recommended way to move at night.
• Safety: Rio has real urban crime issues. Don’t carry phones or jewellery visible on the street; don’t walk on the beach late at night; don’t walk into a favela without a guide. The standard precautions apply at heightened sensitivity. The tourist-zone neighbourhoods (Ipanema, Leblon, Copacabana, Botafogo) are reasonably safe in daylight hours.
• Language: Portuguese, not Spanish. The language is closer to Spanish than to most other languages but the two are distinct; Brazilians will appreciate even basic Portuguese.
• Sunscreen: The UV index in Rio is consistently among the highest in the world. Apply more than you think.

A final thought

Rio is the rare city that is at once visually overwhelming and culturally welcoming. The beach culture is real and accessible. The music is in the bars seven nights a week. The mountains are at the back of the city, walkable in a morning, with forests and waterfalls almost within sight of the high-rises.

The city’s challenges — the inequality, the violence, the favela-vs-Zona-Sul divide — are visible and not easily addressed in a week’s visit. Engage them respectfully if you choose. The community-led tours, the music venues in the historically Black neighbourhoods, the boteco bars run by working-class Cariocas, are the places where the visit means more than the postcard.

Five nights minimum. Walk Ipanema in the morning. Hike a peak. See a sunset at Arpoador. Hear samba once. Drink a caipirinha slowly. Eat a feijoada. The Cariocas — the Rio residents — are some of the warmest people I have travelled among, and the city, for all its difficulty, is a remarkable place to spend a week.