Rio Top 10 - 1. Sugarloaf mountain (Pão de Açúcar)

Since Rio is a very special city - it must be true that the Creator did NOT rest on the 7th day, but he was working on the landscape of Rio - we decided to write our journal of Rio in a special format.

Important Note: the list is NOT ordered by importance but by the order we did these!

The Top 10 of Rio:

1. Sugarloaf mountain (Pão de Açúcar)

We started our 9-day stay in Rio with one if not the most famous sights:

But before going up, we took a walk in the trendy neighborhood of Urca just below Urca and Sugarloaf mountains


where we took a snack at the Urca Bar - recommended to us by our carioca friends and frequented almost exclusively by cariocas. We did not manage to blend in, but we did manage to get some very delicious snacks and some caipirinhas the way the locals (cariocas) have it: with lots of cachaça and lime and not too much ice.

After handing around at a beach just below Sugarloaf mountain, we took the two-stage cable car up:


The first cable car takes you up Urca mountain from where you already have an incredible view on the city - unfortunately it was a little foggy :-(


and the city-beaches around: here Botafogo and Flamingo and the business district at a distance (left to right):


The second cable car zooms you up Sugarloaf mountain rising majestically behind


Unfortunately by the time we got up, the clouds started to close up the sky, but nonetheless, the view was still amazing, and we managed to get a few nice shots:


As the clouds completely gathered around Sugarloaf mountain, we went back to Urca mountain to enjoy the view after sunset, and take some night-time photos of Rio, where the fog and clouds that annoyed us so much before made these photos even more spectacular - and also Christ the Redeemer on top of Corcovado made his appearance from time to time:


All photos from Rio de Janeiro

Rio Top 10 - 2. Downtown Rio and Lapa

2. Downtown Rio and Lapa - (must go also at night)


Since we went to the business district of Rio on a Sunday, it was completely deserted but otherwise very much reminded us to Manhattan NYC, with straight streets lined with skyscrapers (and just like in NYC, some mess down below on the streets):


But let's not forget that it only takes some speakers (well lots of them, and load ones - regardless whether in cars or stage) to transform the same place into a party scene:


Just by the business district, the Catedral Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro is situated. Its Conical form is fairly unusual for a church, 



but nonetheless impressive and with its almost 100 metres internal diameter,  overall height of 75 metres and about 65 meters high windows it is very spacious and inviting (it has a standing-room capacity of 20,000 people).



The cathedral is nicely lit at night, even though the pope might reconsider visiting for the 3rd time when seeing the pink-ish colour:

*sorry for pic quality, but we decided not to take our camera here at night, so pics made with a phone


Walking around the downtown area, the view of the public about police presence and public policy was expressed fairly clearly:

Avoiding to hang around too much in this very "inviting" area, we headed to Lapa, known for its lively cultural life, concentrating many restaurants and bars where Brazilian artists and intellectuals meet. It was, and still is, famous for its many restaurants, bars and clubs where the various forms of Brazilian music can be appreciated.

The icon of Lapa is Arcos da Lapa, an impressive aqueduct constructed in the mid-18th century by colonial authorities: 

However, the best time to go to Lapa is at night, preferably with a local (carioca) - thanks Bruno.
Otherwise while being very careful which street you take, it is still "doable" as a Gringo (foreigner) as well (do not pay attention to wikitravel, they are greatly exaggerating - but still do take care).


*sorry for pic quality, but we decided not to take our camera here at night, so pics made with a phone


The neighbourhood of Lapa really comes alive at night - to an extent we just could not imagine when visiting during daytime - the streets being still full of people partying even at 3AM when we started to head back to Copacabana.

Bruno was kind enough to take us out on a night as the cariocas do to the very fancy and popular (the line at the entrance was a few hundred meters long) Scenarium


We had a great time, feeling welcome regardless of us being gringos (foreigners): my mistake of taking a shirt saying "Salvador" did not go unnoticed though... several people bringing to my attention that my skin colour just (even though I already had quite a tan at the time) did not match Bahia...

Side story: Bruno - a real Rio carioca - is Fabio's brother and Deborah's brother-in-law, whom we met here in Zug, through this blog actually, when they searched google for tips on their next travel to India, and learning we are also in Zug, we went out together. Then the coincidences continued when we said we are going to Brazil and learning that they are not only from Brazil but actually from Rio. So we got a lot of useful insider tips and met Bruno as well.)

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Rio Top 10 - 3. Santa Teresa

From Lapa (see previous post) just a staircase (Escaderia Selaron) away


lies the trendy neighborhood of Santa Teresa, famous for its winding, narrow streets


which are a favourite spot for artists, also street artists:


In contradiction to guidebooks, Santa Teresa felt perfectly safe even for gringos, even though it is situated between several favelas (see behind)


We found Santa Teresa to be a lovely neighbourhood with a lively artistic community and friendly people, nice houses on hillsides with lots of vegetation around


and also great views, especially from Parque das Ruinas, with great scenic spots overlooking:
- Downtown Rio with the Cathedral and Arcos da Lapa aqueduct


- Guanabara Bay with Sugarloaf mountain behind


- and surrounding favelas of course


Side Info: a historic tram used to ride through Santa Teresa, but due to an accident this summer, its operation was halted for investigation and (hopefully) full renovation.


In conclusion, we would recommend visiting this area for anyone who wants to see a little more of Rio than only its beaches and obvious landmarks (Sugarloaf and Corcovado).

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Rio Top 10 - 4. Visit a Favela

No visit to Rio is complete without visiting a favela. Favelas are shanty towns in Brazil, which appeared in Rio on hillsides threatened by landslides.

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Rio de Janeiro

Since rich people did not want to build here, land was cheap enough for migrants to settle. However, the landslides have since been brought down and thus in Rio - unlike anywhere on earth, the poorest have the best views:


Due to complete lack of any form of urban planning and also due to the difficult terrain, favelas are chaotic and almost completely lack streets or roads


...people getting home mostly on narrow gangways and lots of stairs



Just imagine that Rocinha, the favela we visited has between 80-100.000 residents


and it has only ONE SINGLE ROAD!


But one road going in and out of the favela is very practical for "some sort of business" practised to great extent over here, since it means it is very easy to control who goes in and out of the favela.

A look from above aids at better understanding of the scale of this favela

View Larger Map

However, contrary to what we expected, we did NOT find poverty in favelas, most people having electricity, running water and relatively decent living conditions with kids watching Tom and Jerry



All photos from Rio de Janeiro

Rio Top 10 - 5. Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas and Rio Botanical Gardens

When the Creator was working on the landscape of Rio (on the 7th day as I was saying earlier), he said to himself: "wait a minute, I created all the hills and mountains, gave like 50 of the 100 best beaches in the world to this city. But hey, just to be on the safe side: how about topping that with a huge lagoon. Bam! In the middle of the city - where the mountains that I just created could surround it.


So this is how I imagine Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas could have been born.


The Lagoon is a nice area for practicing all kinds of outdoor sports, attracting quite a number of visitors


and locals as well.

The lagoon will host several events for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Situated between the Lagoon and the Corcovado mountain lies the Rio Botanical Gardens,


...one of the most beautiful and best preserved green areas in the city, a nice example of the diversity of south american flora.


Due to its location, the Botanical Gardens offer nice view of Rio's most famous landmark

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Rio Top 10 - 6. Vista chinesa

Less known to tourist and therefore much less crowded than Corcovado or Sugarloaf mountain and frequented rather by Brazilians, the Vista Chinesa


offer marvelous views of the city and one of the very few spots where you can get Corcovado with the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf mountain and Pedra Bonita into one single (may I say amazing) shot:


And apparently we were not the only ones inspired by the view:

All photos from Rio de Janeiro