Brazil, a country that is so unjustly preceded by stereotypes has managed to steal our hearts and make us eager to return. We’ve spent some full days in Rio, partly during the renowned Carnival. And we discovered that Rio is far more than a Carnival, a beach or one of the 7 new wonders of the world.

Our days in Rio started with super early breakfasts and mornings on the Copacabana beach from 7 up to 10 am. The beach is nearly empty during mornings. Then we took an uber ride to visit some of the places we thought were evocative for modern or historical Rio. Late afternoons saw us back on Copacabana, with a beach now filled with locals, laughter and positive vibes.

How to get around: we used Uber all the time. It’s inexpensive and safe. And we payed with card in the app at all times. We also used the metro occasionally. Example prices: Airport RIOgaleão – Galeão Copacabana 60 real, Copacabana-Sugar Loaf mountain cable car station 20 real.

Internet: there are plenty of free wifi spots all over Rio, including the train to Christ the Redeemer or Copacabana. We use airalo (esim) when we travel. We used it here as well.

Money: card payment is available everywhere, even at street vendors or on the beach. We used Revolut. For cash withdrawal, we used Revolut at Bradesco Bank and there was no withdrawal commission. There are plenty of bank offices where the ATMs are inside and there’s also CCTV in operation.

Where to stay: ahh… what can I say? We chose Copacabana . We stayed at the Windsor Palace Copacabana and we loved it. Breakfast was really good and we loved that is started as early as 6am. It’s 50m from the beach and has a small rooftop pool and bar at the 18th floor.

Where to eat: … there’s so many places to choose from. We ate at one of the beach bars, at one of those restaurants specializing in grilling, at small local and non assuming eateries, at food trucks, etc. The food was great. Here are the ones that we really loved:

• Bar Sambódromo (as the name suggests located right next to sector 08 of the Sambadrome- simple, traditional food, very tasty, more of a local bar)
• Carretão Siqueira Campos for Brazilian barbecue
• Pilograma Smart Grill, one of the local buffet style restaurants where you pay per weight.
• Nativo Bar Beach Restaurant for seafood and fish right on the beach.

We ate lunch/dinner for as little as 50 real ( Pilograma Smart Grill close to the Royal Portuguese Reading Room) or as much as 500 (for 2 adults and 1 child, including drinks at Carretão Siqueira Campos).

What to eat:

• Pastel, which is similar to empanadas. We loved the cheese filled one or the one with meat and gorgonzola- yes, very untraditional, but so so good!
• Grilled meat at an all you can eat buffet style churrascaria. Just go, thank us later. You get all sorts of sides and salads and sushi as an open buffet. We were seated at a table and received a circle shaped card with one red side and one green side. Then waiters walk around with all kinds of grilled meat. We simply turned our card to either green if we wanted to eat that meat or red if we didn’t. Prices vary. In Copacabana we went to the Carretão Siqueira Campos and payed 129 real/adult (kids pay half). Drinks and deserts are extra.
• Picanha – yum, who knew you could turn meat into such a culinary delight?
• Fish and seafood – you’re at the beach… if you need any reasons…
• Coxinha – it’s like a cone shaped pastry filled with shredded chicken meat
• Brigadeiros – yummy chocolate balls (haha) slightly crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.
• Feijohada – black beans in a dark gravy. It’s super yummy and goes well with… anything?

What to drink: uhmm… caipirinhas? The lemon one is the traditional, but I like better the strawberry or pineapple versions of the drink.

Exchange rate: 100 real =19 euro

What to do? Keep reading.

Attend a world renowned carnival. Held annually in February, the Rio Carnival is a must see while in the city. We booked our tickets in sector 8, closer to the center of the sambadrome, for the final day. 6 samba schools put on a show starting at 10pm and usually lasting until morning. This is the Champions parade. The last show is performed by the winners of the samba contest and each school performs for 75 min. There’s nothing much going on until the beginning of the first performance, but it’s best to arrive about 1h and a half earlier to secure the seats/place you think are the best. Obviously, this is valid if you didn’t purchase tickets with assigned seats (these are available in some sectors only).

We bought our carnival tickets online from https://www.riocarnaval.org and received vouchers that we printed at home. This vouchers are to be exchanged with tickets while in Rio during the carnival days. For this, we went to the Hotel Atlântico Copacabana. The staff is super friendly and well organized. Just follow their guidance. To get your tickets you need to bring the vouchers, id card (passport, driver’s license will also do) and the card used for the purchase. Along with the tickets, we received carnival T-shirts and subway cards for return ride.

We went early at the sambadrome and we used the subway and got off at Praca Onze station (on lines L1 or L4). The sambadrome is to the right of the subway exit.

There are plenty of street vendors selling snacks and drinks. We just bought 2 bottles of water, which we took inside. They do check bags upon entry. We went through an initial gate to get inside the sambadrome area. Here, there are several kiosks with drinks and food. Prices are higher, obviously.

To enter our sector, we went through a second gate, where we scanned our ticket again.

The show was supposed to start at 10pm, but there was a delay. It starts from sectors 1 and 2 with the 6th place. The samba dancers advanced towards the other sectors so roughly we had to wait for 30 min or so to be able to see them dancing in front of us. Once the first school has finished, there’s a break of about 15-20 minutes such that the road is cleared for the next samba school. It’s fun and a positive atmosphere, but it’s actually more linked to how the spectators feel rather than the actual show. There were very few local people around us. Some tourists were simply quietly watching the show, others were dancing to the music.

Sugarloaf Mountain (Pao de Acucar). To reach the top we went to the cable car starting station next to Vermelha beach (google maps location here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/usiKgxmvk4pDtzga7?g_st=ic.). Most of the people were queuing for guided tours and there was literally no one buying tickets. There are ticket machines as well and we could’ve bought the tickets online as well. Luckily we went on a Tuesday morning and didn’t queue at all. The cable car works everyday from 8:00am to 8:00pm, with the last boarding at 6:30pm. Extra 1h opening time on Fridays and Saturdays. We payed 185 R$ adult, 92 R$ child (3-12 yo). The views from the cable car are great, as well as the views from the intermediary station (Morro da Urca) and the top station (Sugar loaf). A lot of observation platforms for a 360 degree view. There are short hiking trails at both stations, as well as a small museum (immediately to the left of the station that took us on top of Sugar loaf mountain). Several souvenirs shops and cafes as well. We stopped to have a drink at https://www.embaixadacarioca.com/ with views of Sugarloaf Mountain. It’s one of the most expensive activities in Rio but definitely worth the money. If you spend more days in Rio, pick a clear day to visit and you’ll be able to see as far as Copacabana beach , Christ the Redeemer or the entire Guanabara bay. The small playful monkeys and the lizards were Eric’s favourites (find them at Morro da Urca station).

Tip: before boarding the cable car, at Vermelha beach station, the staff will offer to take your photo with the Sugar loaf mountain in the background. Upon exit, you can choose to pay for them. Initial price was 75 real for 3 photos. What we did: we said we wanted just 2 of them (they cost 50 real) and the staff offered the third one for extra 5 real. So in the end we payed 55 real for all photos.

Metropolitan Cathedral of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro has surged among my three favorite along with St. John’s co-cathedral in Valletta and the lutheran Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki. It’s a huge grey pyramid structure boasting bright colored stained glass on the inside. It’s free of charge . We went on a Sunday morning during service, which I feel only added to the magic of this place.

Royal Portuguese Reading Room about 15 min walking from the cathedral , open every working day from 10 am to 5 pm. Entry is free of charge for this fairytale building. t’s right in the center of Rio so easy to just stop for a moment to admire the bookshelves spanning over three stories that gather the largest collection of Portuguese books outside Portugal.

Arcos da Lapa or Aqueduto da Carioca it’s behind the cathedral, a large white structure that was built during the 18th century to bring water from the Carioca river to the city. It’s not particularly impressive, but stands out as a typical example of colonial architecture. It’s obviously free of charge.

Escadaria Selarón is located very close to the aqueduct, around 10 min walking in the opposite direction of the cathedral. The colorful staircase is still a work in progress, but one of the main tourist spots in Rio. It’s free of charge, but expect large crowds.

Mirante Dona Marta: one of the many viewpoints of the area.

Christ the Redeemer. The famous and imposing statue is easily accessible by train. The train station is at Rua Cosme Velho, 513 Cosme Velho – Rio de Janeiro – RJ. It’s super crowded. We were told to avoid early mornings as the train gets crowded. We went at 11:30 am and it was still crazy crowded. We bought the tickets from the kiosks. There are also ticket machines, where you can pay by card, but they only sell adult tickets. We waited 1h to board the train. While we waited we had our photo taken, which we purchased later from the top station when we got back. One large photo and 2 small ones were 80 real, but we bargained and got them for 50. The train ride lasts about 20 min and makes two stops. Once you get on top, you can either take the stairs up to the statue or the lift. If you thought it was crowded on the way up, you cannot imagine what was going on at the statue. People are lying flat on the floor to take photos or spreading their arms like Christ, all these while tens of people walk around and search for the best photo point. The views are great though. Rio has a magnificent landscape and shore line.

Tip: do not hire a taxi to take you to the top. They don’t go all the way up and you would still need to board the train at an intermediary station. The ticket price at this station is comparable to that at the bottom station. Alternatively, you could hike all the way up.

Ticket prices: Adult High Season: R$ 122,50, Children (from 5 to 11 years old): R$ 67,00. Monday to Friday (except holidays), from 8am to 5pm, with departures every twenty minutes. From Saturday, Sunday, holidays and holiday’s amendments, from 8am to 6pm, with departures every twenty minutes.

Tijuca National Park – there was a severe dengue outbreak in Brazil, including Rio, when we visited and we decided not to go. It’s a human rebuild forrest after much deforestation. Several tours are available on getyourguide. The statue of Christ the Redeemer is in Tijuca National Park so you kind of see part of it while on the train to the top of Corcovado.

Maracanã stadium operates tours depending on the game schedule. 75 real/adult and half price for kids aged 6 to 10. They only operate on certain days and hours. Book here: https://en.tourmaracana.com.br/estadio

Museu do Amanhã/ Museum of Tomorrow is a science museum in central Rio. There are several rooms that focus on different topics, such as Cosmos, Earth, Antropochene, etc. We visited on a Sunday, around midday and bought the tickets on site. We started with the immersive presentation of Cosmos in the dome shaped theater on 2nd floor. Several displays and multimedia cubes follow and culminate with thoughts on climate change and future. The displays are somewhat interactive, but I would say they are more informative and not particularly interesting for young children, apart from a few exhibitions (the one on ecosystems from Brazil). The museum is open from 10 am to 6pm, closed on Monday. Tickets: 30 real/adult, half price for youngsters 6 to 21 years old. More info on opening hours and tickets here: https://museudoamanha.org.br/en.

Visit an aquarium only if you get bored of the beach or if it’s too hot. AquaRio is the largest aquarium in South America. The building is not just home to the aquarium, but also to a wax museum. In fact, we bought combined tickets (on site, also possible online) for 175 real/person. The aquarium unfortunately it’s not that big as we expected it to be. The coolest thing inside was the coral exhibition where we saw some amazing corals. It also has the now very usual water tunnel, a feature common to almost any aquarium we visited (and we’ve seen a loooot). We spent about 1h inside, including a stop to eat popcorn while watching a documentary on sharks (which was completely in Portuguese). Our combo tickets also included the wax museum, which was very small. We basically walked through it in 15 minutes. Eric’s favourite was obviously Yoda from Star Wars and Messi. The same building houses a new exhibition, the Sea of Mirrors (45 real/person), which includes 9 different rooms. We loved the digital room that reminded me of TeamLab Planets in Tokyo. You can have your photos taken on several spots in the museum. We payed for one 40 real. Overall, I would say the Sea of Mirrors was worth it. I would pass on the aquarium and the wax museum (we’ve been to better and larger ones).

Spend a relaxing afternoon on one of Rio’s beaches. It’s not just Copacabana or Ipanema. Rio is famous for its beaches. Copacabana is not a beach. Copacabana is a vibe, Copacabana is laughter and noise, Copacabana is music and dance, Copacabana is sipping caipirinhas and gazing into the sunset, Copacabana is a picnic with friends, Copacabana is beach volley and football…Copacabana is a feeling. There are numerous beach bars along the walkway, but also vendors walking by on the beach selling anything from biscuits to caipirinhas. They would even cook your meat on the beach on a small mobile grill. Kiosks on the second row sell snacks and drinks at very affordable prices (6 real for a beer or coke, 3 real for water). Buy them from the beach vendors at 15 real (beer) or 20 real (caipirinhas).