Rio de Janeiro is one of the world’s exciting
cities with much to do and enjoy.
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| Famous Ipanema Beach - Rio de Janeiro |
In Rio de Janeiro, Ipanema Beach (see photo) is the place to be! The
world-famous beach is legendary as the place for people watching and it has a
large pleasant lagoon to enjoy walks and bike rides (see photo below) with large beautiful
gardens and parks. Many of Rio de Janeiro’s best restaurants, open-air cafes
& bars, and shops abound on the streets of Ipanema Beach.
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| Romantic French Restaurant - Ipanema Beach |
Ipanema
Beach’s main shopping street is Rua
Visconde de Piraja with upscale and bargain shops. We found the prices in
Rio de Janeiro very reasonable for fashions, food, and drinks. Rua Vinicius de
Moraes has some very nice restaurants (see photo) and cafes. See below for more great
things to do in Ipanema Beach.
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| Christ Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) - Rio de Janeiro |
Visiting
the Christ Redeemer (Cristo Redentor)
statue is a wonderful experience! Yes, it is one of the Seven Wonders of
the Modern World... which is cool. It is the breathtaking views of beautiful
Rio del Janeiro from the top that makes this a must-do visit (see photo). Standing tall overlooking
Rio de Janeiro, the Christ Redeemer is considered the world’s tallest statue of
Jesus Christ (130 feet) as well as the largest Art Deco statue. It weights 635
tons and is located at the 2,300-foot peak of Corcovado Mountain – quite
impressive!
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| Sugarloaf Mountain (Pao de Acucar) |
The cable car ride to Sugarloaf Mountain (Pao de Acucar) offers incredible views of Rio de
Janeiro and is a highly recommended excursion (see photo). Travel Tip: Excursions are offered to visit
sites such as the Christ Redeemer, Sugarloaf, and others making it an easier
experience, often with preferred access.
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| Confeitara Colombo bakery - Centro |
If you find
yourself visiting world-class museums, etc. in Rio de Janeiro’s Centro (downtown) area, you should
visit the very beautiful Confeitara
Colombo bakery – lovely experience (see photo). You can also take nice boat trips to
the nearby islands from docks close to Centro.
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| Lapa at Night is fun! |
Lapa at night is fun! This is a group of clubs
and restaurants playing lively Samba music (see photo). A number of them are located along
Av. Mem de Sa by the Lapa Arches. By 9:30PM most of them were packed so if you
want a table you should go earlier. Your name is written on a paper and what
you drink and eat is recorded. When you are ready to leave, you pay and are
given a slip of paper to hand to the doorman to leave. One of Rio de Janeiro’s
most visited sites is the Lapa Steps
(Escadaria Selaron).
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| Jardin Botanico - Rio de Janeiro |
Rio de
Janeiro offers some beautiful parks and
gardens. We enjoyed Jardim Botanico and
Parque Lare located around Lagoa Rodrigo
de Freitas just north of Ipanema Beach. Jardin Botanico is a large botanical garden (see photo) designed in 1808 by
Portugal’s Prince. It has more than 8,000 plant species. For an entrance fee of
about $2, you can wander through this wonderful place enjoying such things as
the avenue of tall palm trees, the Orquidario home to 600 species of orchids, a
small lake with Vitoria Regia water lilies, and much more.
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| Plage Cafe in Parque Lare |
Just up the
way from Jardin Botanico is Parque Lare
backed up to Rio de Janeiro’s tropical Parque
Nacional da Tijuca (Floresta da
Tijuca). We enjoyed wandering around and watching the monkeys here as well
as having a very enjoyable lunch at the atmospheric Plage Café (see photo). Try the
pulled pork sandwich. A nice photo of the Christ Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) can be taken here on a clear day.
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| Bridge - Floresta da Tijuca |
Hikers visiting Rio de Janeiro will enjoy trekking
around the excellent and well-marked trails of the rainforest in Rio de
Janeiro’s Floresta da Tijuca (see photo). The heart of the forest is the Alto da Boa Vista
area.
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| Soccer in Maracana Stadium - Rio de Janeiro |
Brazilians take their Soccer
(football) VERY seriously! We attended a soccer game in Rio de Janeiro’s huge Maracana Stadium. Get this... with drums pounding and flags waving,
60,000 (yes, 60,000) extremely enthusiastic fans cheered for their favorite
team yelling songs while standing for the entire game (see photo). This excitement is a
must-enjoy for soccer fans and should be considered by everyone visiting Rio de
Janeiro to witness this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
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| Bonde Cable Car |
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| Aprazivel Restaurant - Santa Teresa |
For a
unique experience, the cobblestoned streets of Santa Teresa is a bohemian neighborhood reminding us of Rio de
Janeiro’s version of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury area with its funky bars, shops,
and artists. Santa Teresa is best visited on weekends and Friday night. Lovers
of cable cars can board the Bonde Cable
Car (see photo) here and ride both ways for about $5 for an hour round trip. Not a
great ride but does offer some nice views of the city. The restaurant Aprazivel (see photo) up a windy road is very nice.
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| Carnaval Samba School Event - Rio de Janeiro |
Rio de
Janeiro is known for having one of the largest and most festive Carnaval in the world with 600 parades
happening all over Rio with elaborate floats, whirling dancers, and pounding
drum groups. The epicenter is the
Sambodromo. We did attend a Samba
School that a hosts parties from September to Carnaval for practice (see photo). During
the thousand-person event we attended, we learned their Samba means very LOUD
although people were enjoying themselves. Bossa
Nova also makes for a nice dinner (think of the famous song “Girl from
Ipanema” - see photo below).
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| Open Air Market (Feira de Arte de Ipanema) |
More about wonderful Ipanema Beach... Don’t miss the Sunday Open Air Market (Feira de Arte de Ipanema) in
Praca General Osorio (see photo) - named hippie
fair for its bohemian but nice fashion and gift bargains. More upscale
restaurants in Ipanema Beach are closer to Leblon Beach while more affordable
(as well as more affordable accommodations) are closer to Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana
Beach. Sunsets are a party scene at the end of Ipanema Beach at the Arpoador.
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| Wayne & Pat Trying Tasty Cheese on Ipanema Beach |
Try the
tasty cheese (Queijo Assado) they roast for you on the beach (see photo). In season, people
watching can’t be beat – get prepared for the small Brazilian bikini in Rio de
Janeiro (see photo below). Sipping a caipirinha drink is
a thing to do in Brazil and can be done in many favors – they are nice.
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| Logoa Rodrigo de Freitas - Ipanema Beach |
Public transportation is good and safe in Rio de Janeiro
– a car rental will make your visit stressful. The subway (metro) runs from Ipanema
Beach to downtown and beyond with many stops. We found the taxis to be professional,
available everywhere, and very reasonable for a large city. The yellow and blue
comum taxis use meters and took us direct routes to our destination so we never
got ripped off. Purchase your taxi from the airport at the booth in the
airport. We also found affordable domestic flights in Brazil.
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| Wayne at Christ Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) |
A note about the
Brazilian people... The people of Brazil exhibit a zest for life with their love for
friends, family, music, food, and laughter. Their willingness to be friends
with you was shown throughout our visit. A friendly smile is almost always
returned in kind and they often go out of their way to help you. We can learn a
lot from Brazilians. Portuguese is spoken in Brazil. You will encounter some
English, especially in hospitality. Due to the similarities of Portuguese with
Spanish and the fact that most the rest of the South American continent speaks
Spanish, we found trying some Spanish worked well in many cases during our Rio
de Janeiro visit.
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| Garota de Ipanema Restaurant - Girl From Ipanema |
Some history... The Portuguese landed here in 1502
and mistook the large bay for a river – hence the name (Rio de Janeiro). By the
17th century Rio de Janeiro was Brazil’s third-most important
settlement. Slaves were brought in to work the sugar plantations and gold
mines. In 1807, escaping the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Portuguese
prince set up his court in Rio de Janeiro to rule Portugal and all its
colonies. Rio experienced a population explosion in the late 19th
century from European immigration and slave moving from declining plantations.
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| Get Ready for Sexy Brazilian Bikinis! |
Rio de
Janeiro’s golden age was from 1920-1950’s with grand hotels being built
becoming a romantic destination for Hollywood and high society. Rio de Janeiro
did decline with issues of violence and slums. Due to huge investment in
infrastructure and security in the build-up to the 2014 World Cup and 2016
Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro is now ready for visitors.
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| Map Ipanema Inn |
We stayed
at the Ipanema Inn and were very glad we did. With its fantastic
location close to the action and steps to Rio de Janeiro’s most famous beach
(Post 9 – Ipanema Beach), friendly and extremely helpful staff, comfortable bed
and room, wonderful restaurant offering great breakfast (included), good Internet
included, free use of beach chairs and umbrella, the Ipanema Inn is deservingly one of Trip Advisor’s top-rated hotels in Rio de Janeiro. Although the
rooms are modest size, the affordable price provides excellent value in this
normally expensive location.
See our other beautiful places we visited in Brazil:
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