With another Rio Carnival drawing to a close this week, we decided to shine a spotlight on Brazil’s second-largest city.
Surrounded by white-sand beaches and lush rainforest, and bolstered by a towering statue of Christ, it’s no wonder that the proud people of Rio enjoy making a yearly spectacle of their cidade maravilhosa (marvellous city).
Rio Carnival is considered the biggest party on earth. Millions of revellers take to the streets during the five-day festival, which is marked by masked balls, open-air concerts and all-out neighbourhood parties.
The pinnacle of the carnival is the Samba Parade. Up to 90,000 people attend the Sambodromo, a specially-built venue, to gape at vibrantly-costumed dancers moving to the hypnotic beats of the samba drums.
Rio’s Sambodromo – Photo by Christian Van Der Henst S. under creative commons licence.
While we’re not one to rain on anyone’s parade, in our opinion, you don’t need to attend the carnival for a culture-rich slice of this adrenaline-charged metropolis. Rio’s a fabulous place to visit at any time, so we’ve listed some of its all-year-round highlights.
Copacabana Beach
Barry Manilow described it as ‘the hottest spot north of Havana’ in his 1978 song, and he wasn’t far wrong. This iconic 3-mile stretch of beach is one of the most famous and beautiful in the world – and also one of the most crowded! Volley ball-playing, cocktail-drinking, sun-worshipping: whatever you plan to do on Copacabana, it’s a great way to get a flavour of Brazilian culture. But you might have to elbow your way through first.
Copacabana Beach
Sugarloaf Mountain – cable car ride
It’s hard to believe, but Rio looks even more magnificent from above: its coastline, its architecture, its imposing peaks. So what better way to experience its bird’s-eye-view beauty than by taking a cable car ride to the top of one of its tallest mountains.
Christ the Redeemer
This Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ is 30 metres tall and sits at the summit of Corcovado Mountain, beaming down onto the city. It’s one of Brazil’s most recognised landmarks and thanks to uplighting, glows incandescently at night.
Christ the Redeemer
Sambodromo
As we mentioned earlier, the magnificent Sambodromo plays host to Rio Carnival’s Samba Parade. Designed and built in 1984 by architect Oscar Niemeyer, Sambodromo is centred around a 700-metre-long runway and is undergoing renovations so it can serve the much-anticipated 2016 Olympic Games.
Cathedral Metropolitana
Cathedral Metropolitana’s cone-shaped structure is truly extraordinary. But it’s when you step inside and view its exterior at night that it comes alive. A ceiling crafted from 60 metres of vivid stained-glass could leave you standing in awe for some time, and its blue, purple and red lighting when it’s dark will get you searching for night mode on your camera.