Rio de Janeiro

Portuguese sailors entered Guanabara Bay in January 1502 and, taking it for the mouth of a river, named it the January River, Rio de Janeiro. The bay was already home to Tupi-speaking peoples, and for the first decades it was contested between the Portuguese and a French colony that had settled on an island in the bay. In 1565 the Portuguese founded the city of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro at the foot of the Sugarloaf, on the site now called Urca, and within a few years moved it to the hill of Castelo in what is now the city centre.

For two centuries Rio was a colonial port. It shipped sugar, later gold from Minas Gerais and then coffee, and it was also one of the largest ports of arrival for enslaved Africans in the Americas. The Valongo Wharf, in the old port area, is where hundreds of thousands were landed in the early 19th century, and it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2017 for that reason. That history is also visible in the city's music, religion and food.

In 1763 Rio became the capital of the Portuguese colony of Brazil. In 1808, when Napoleon's army approached Lisbon, the royal court sailed to Rio, and the city suddenly became the capital of an empire. Brazil declared independence in 1822 under Pedro I, and Rio remained the national capital through the empire, the republic declared in 1889 and the first decades of the 20th century.

The Zona Sul beach neighbourhoods are a late development. Tunnels through the hills, first to Botafogo and then to Copacabana in 1892, opened the coast to building. The Copacabana Palace hotel opened in 1923, the Christ statue on Corcovado was inaugurated in 1931, and by mid-century Ipanema and Leblon were fashionable. In 1960 the federal capital moved to Brasília, and Rio became a state capital with an economy built on oil, tourism, television and services.

In 2012 UNESCO inscribed the Carioca landscapes between the mountain and the sea as a World Heritage site, recognising the way the city fits into its setting. Rio hosted the Summer Olympics in 2016. Today it is a city of about six million, with a large metropolitan area, deep inequality and a strong local identity: people from Rio call themselves cariocas.

The best way to understand Rio's layout is to look at it as a shoreline. Guanabara Bay opens to the Atlantic between two granite peaks, the Sugarloaf on the Urca side and a smaller headland across the water. From there the coast runs south and then west: Botafogo and Flamengo face the bay, then Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon face the open ocean, then São Conrado and Barra da Tijuca continue west. Behind them the hills of the Tijuca massif rise to Corcovado, the peak with the Christ statue, which is 710 metres high.

Copacabana is the long curve of beach that most visitors picture. It has the widest range of hotels, a metro line, a flat promenade with a black-and-white wave pattern in the paving, and a mixed crowd: tourists, retirees, families and workers. Ipanema is next door, separated by the little rock of Arpoador. It is calmer, wealthier and better for restaurants, and its evening ritual is to gather on Arpoador for the sunset.

Urca, tucked under the Sugarloaf, feels like a village. It has low houses, a small waterfront and Bar Urca, where people sit on the sea wall with a beer. Cosme Velho is a leafy station street at the foot of Corcovado, where the cog train departs. Inland of the bay, the centre (Centro) holds the historic buildings, museums and the cathedral, empty on Sundays and busy on weekdays.

Lapa and Santa Teresa are inland and uphill. Lapa is the old nightlife district, known for its white aqueduct, the Arcos da Lapa, and its live-music halls. Santa Teresa climbs the hill behind it, with narrow streets, old villas and the little tram. The Selarón steps, a staircase covered in tiles by the artist Jorge Selarón, connect the two.

Barra da Tijuca is a different Rio: wide roads, malls, gated apartments and the Olympic park, twenty or more kilometres from Copacabana. Most short visits never need it. The important point for a visitor is that distances are less about kilometres than about tunnels, one-way avenues and traffic: a five-kilometre ride can take 15 minutes at 10:00 and 45 minutes at 18:00.

Two things define a Rio day: the views from the top and the beach in the middle. The two big viewpoints are Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado and the Sugarloaf. Both are at their best in the morning, before clouds gather around the peaks, and both have queues by mid-morning. A sensible plan is to go up at opening, spend an hour or two on top, come back down for lunch, and give the middle of the day to the beach or a shaded café.

Clouds are the main gamble. Rio's peaks can be clear at 07:30 and covered by 10:00, and a bright day on the beach can mean a white-out at the top. Both operators publish live cameras on their websites, and the simplest habit is to look at them before you leave your hotel. If the peak is covered, swap the day: do the beach, the fort or Lapa, and go up the next morning.

Beaches in Rio are public and free, and they are organised by lifeguard posts (postos). Copacabana runs from Posto 1 at the Leme end to Posto 6 at the Fort; Ipanema has posts 7 to 9. Locals use the posts as meeting points. Chairs and umbrellas are rented from kiosks by the day; vendors walk the sand selling coconut water, grilled cheese, snacks and sunglasses. The sea can be rough and cool, with strong currents: swim near the lifeguards and obey the flags.

Sunset at Arpoador is a Rio ritual. People climb the rock an hour before the sun goes down, grab a spot and, on a clear evening, some applaud as it drops behind the hills. Go early for a place, keep valuables to a minimum, and take a ride home afterwards rather than walking the dark beach.

For something greener, the Tijuca Forest, a large secondary rainforest inside the city, has walking trails, lookouts and waterfalls. It is best with a guide or a clear route, in the morning, and outside the wettest months. The Botanical Garden and Parque Lage, at the foot of Corcovado, are easier options for a half-day with a café.

Rio's food is Brazilian food shaped by the beach and the bar. The national dish is feijoada, a stew of black beans with pork cuts, served with rice, sautéed greens, farofa (toasted manioc flour) and orange slices. It is a long, heavy lunch, traditionally on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and restaurants that specialise in it usually offer half portions. Casa da Feijoada in Ipanema is a straightforward place to try it.

The everyday meal is the prato feito, or PF: a plate of rice, beans, a piece of meat or fish and a side, at a fixed price. It is what workers eat, it is cheap, and it is the safest bet for a good lunch. Por-quilo restaurants, where you fill a plate and pay by weight, are another good-value option.

Snacks are a big part of the culture. Pão de queijo, warm cheese bread made with tapioca flour, is served everywhere. Bolinho de bacalhau, fried salt-cod fritters, is the classic bar snack. Pastel, a thin fried pastry, is sold at street markets with cane juice. On the beach, vendors sell grilled cheese on a stick, and kiosks on the promenade sell coconut water in the shell.

Fruit juice bars are a Rio institution. A counter will offer dozens of fruits, some you may not know: cupuaçu, caju, graviola, maracujá. Açaí, blended into a thick frozen bowl with banana and granola, is a popular breakfast or snack, and it is sweeter than the version many visitors know.

For drinks, the caipirinha is a mix of cachaça (sugarcane spirit), lime and sugar, and it is strong. The everyday beer is a very cold draft lager called chope, poured at a botequim, the corner bar that is the centre of local social life. A 10% service charge is usually added to restaurant bills, and it is normal to pay it. Ask prices at beach kiosks first; a bill can grow quickly.

Carnival is the year's biggest event, held in the four days before Ash Wednesday, in February or early March. There are two versions. The official parades take place in the Sambadrome, a concrete avenue built in 1984, where the top samba schools each march for about an hour with floats, drums and thousands of dancers. The street version, the blocos, are neighbourhood parades that take over roads all over the city for weeks before and after.

Samba as a music comes from the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio, with roots in the early 20th century and in the neighbourhoods near the port. It is played in schools, in rodas (informal circles around a table) and in clubs. Lapa is the best-known venue area, with live bands most evenings, and a few halls have been running for decades. A samba night is a good Rio experience, but go in a group, book ahead if you can, and take a car door to door.

Other music is part of the mix: bossa nova, born in the 1950s in the apartments of Ipanema and Copacabana; funk carioca from the favelas; forró from the northeast, played at fairs such as the São Cristóvão one. Football is the other public religion. The Maracanã stadium, rebuilt for the 2014 World Cup, hosts matches of the big Rio clubs, Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco and Botafogo. Attending a match is a strong local experience, but do it with a guide or a group and follow security advice.

New Year's Eve, Réveillon, is the other great gathering. Millions of people, dressed in white, go to Copacabana beach for a concert and fireworks, and it is also the night people leave offerings to Iemanjá, the sea goddess, in the Afro-Brazilian tradition. Hotels sell out and prices rise steeply. Book the bed early and plan how you will get home.

Both Carnival and Réveillon mean crowded streets, closed roads and higher prices. If your dates fall in these weeks, book flights and beds months ahead, and keep your plan simple: fewer sights, more waiting around, a car ordered ahead.

Most first-time visits split into a beach half and a viewpoint half, and the moves between them are short. The metro is fast and clean between Copacabana, Ipanema, Botafogo and the centre, and closes overnight. Ride-hailing apps, chiefly Uber and 99, are the default for everything else: the fare is shown up front, the car and plate are in the app, and it works well at night. Buses go everywhere but are hard for a newcomer to read and are a phone-snatching risk.

Rio has real crime, and most of it aimed at visitors is opportunistic theft. Phone snatching, often from someone on a bicycle or moped, or grab-and-run at a bus stop or on the beach, is the main problem. The simple habits work: carry only the cash and card you need, keep the phone in a front pocket or a zipped bag, leave the passport and any second phone at the hotel, and do not hold your phone out at the kerb.

After dark, use a ride-hailing car door to door, especially in Lapa, Santa Teresa, Cosme Velho and along the beach. Avoid empty streets, empty beaches and hill paths at night. If you are robbed, do not resist: hand over the phone and walk away. Report it at the tourist police station in Leblon or a local station for an insurance copy.

Favelas, the hillside communities, are home to roughly a fifth of the city's people. They are not tourist attractions in themselves, and some are controlled by armed groups. Visit only with a reputable, ideally resident-led operator, and follow their rules about where to go and what to photograph.

Health is mostly about sun, water and mosquitoes. UV is strong all year, the sea has rip currents, and dengue circulates in the wet season, so use repellent at dawn and dusk. Ask a travel clinic whether you should be vaccinated against yellow fever for the state of Rio before you fly. Carry travel insurance, and check that it covers a private hospital.