A Rio De Janeiro Travel Guide

Where to stay:

1. Caesar Park Hotel - One of Rio de Janeiro's most luxurious and expensive hotels, the Caesar Park boasts a fabulous location on the famous stretch of the Ipanema beach. All the hotel’s rooms are spacious and look great after a very recent renovation. They are equipped with bathtubs, a suit rack, and a well-lit workspace. The standard rooms are those from the 5th to 10th floor, looking out over the side street. The superior rooms also face the side but are located from the 11th floor up. The exquisite deluxe rooms provide a full ocean view which is breathtaking.

2. Excelsior Copacabana Hotel - A member of the famous Windsor Hotels chain, the very pleasant Excelsior is situated on a wide corner which offers excellent and unique ocean views. Rooms either have a side view superior) or a full ocean view. All of the hotel rooms are quite nicely furnished, spotless, and well maintained. The best rooms are the deluxe suites of course which take up the entire corner and offer both side and full ocean views. These suites also equipped with spacious bathrooms, a relaxing Jacuzzi tub, a flat screen TV and a comfortable king-size bed. The hotel also offers free local calls, free parking and an excellent breakfast buffet, what more could a visitor want?

3. Casa 6 - A small and clean hostel with quite a few private rooms, with shared or private cozy baths. It is on a very charming street with other hostels and boarding houses, and an easy walk to the beach, making it a perfect solution. The simple rooms get a lot of natural light and are very well maintained by the employees, and the owner has a wealth of information about the surrounding neighborhood. Although it is a quite pleasant spot, it is the location that draws most travelers here.

Where to eat:

1. Confeitaria Colombo - This establishment is the ultimate example of Rio’s sophisticated cafe culture reminiscent of Paris or Vienna. The huge and elegant space opens up to a canopy of stained glass that washes filtered light onto huge mirrors. Their dark, carved frames are of the same ornate style as the opulent wood-and-glass cabinets towering above the counters.

2. Doce Delicia - This colorful and modern restaurant is located in Leblon (with another branch at Rua Anibal de Mendonca 55, which is in Ipanema) and serves dishes like salmon in soy and ginger sauce, design-your-own salads (with ingredients like palm hearts and papaya) and quite tempting desserts like a chocolate mousse cake which is as delicious as it sounds.

3. Espirito Santa - This restaurant was opened recently in 2005, by the famous chef Natacha Fink which uses little-used indigenous ingredients like jambu root and graviola fruit to create a new and rather unique kind of Brazilian cooking. Some of the dishes include a filet of namorado (some sort of white fish), baked in a Brazil-nut crust and served over grilled fresh hearts of palm.

What to do:

1. Corcovado – Here you can spot the very famous Sugarloaf Mountain, the island-pocked Guanabara Bay and the breathtaking beaches outlining the coast like links of white sausages. Even better than this, you can make fun of the inevitable sightseer aping the statue’s outstretched arms for a photo. “Turistas chatos” means “annoying tourists” in Portuguese, should that phrase come to mind when in the near vicinity of that area.

2. Blue Man - This store sells sungas which is the Brazilian version of the famous American Speedo. Its bathing suits tend to be on the more provocative side and the stores’ other offerings make it easier to show it all off. Bill Clinton and Anthony Hopkins made headlines when they bought bikinis there back in 2001, although it was not clear for whom they purchased them.