26 Best things to see & do in Rio de Janeiro

The world’s biggest party – a stadium parade with fabulous floats, music and sequinned samba dancers, and dozens of street parties and balls.

This iconic, art deco beauty, the symbol of South America, watches out over Rio from high on Corcovado Mountain. The panoramic views from the statue’s feet are dazzling.

Rock climb and/or abseil Rio’s most famous landmark, with spectacular bays, beaches and mountains as a backdrop.

Rio’s most famous mountain crouches like a sphinx over a perfect half-moon bay. Stunning views of the Redeemer, Copacabana Beach and central Rio. Unmissable.

One of the world’s best helicopter flights, over Rio’s spectacular scenery and including a face-to-face encounter with Christ the Redeemer.

Get a deeper understanding of Rio life with an insider tour of its famous favelas, Rio’s famous slums.

Rio’s lush urban rainforest climbs over the mountains that surround the Christ statue and Atlantic beaches, affording some of the world’s most beautiful urban views. Excellent for hiking, biking and wildlife-spotting.

Life’s a beach – and that’s never truer than in Rio – but not all beaches are equal. Here are our recommendations…

This world-famous 4km crescent is the epicentre of Rio’s beach scene and the perfect place for beach sports and people-watching. It;’s not great for swimming – water quality is especially poor when the tide comes in.

Samba is the sound and rhythm of Rio, and Lapa is its heartland neighbourhood. Dance the night away in one of the buzzing samba clubs.

Hang-gliding heaven from atop a giant rock monolith, and out over rainforest, bays and beaches. One of the world’s greatest hang-glides.

Once the Emperor’s private retreat, these gardens brim with rare plants and are a haven for birds and butterflies

Rio’s prettiest, chicest ocean beach, is watched over by the impressive Dois Irmaos mountain that sits behind. The water is cleaner, and the crowd more exclusive the further south you go, where Ipanema Beach merges into the more upscale Leblon Beach.

Oscar Niemeyer’s home city and Brazil’s former capital preserves some wonderful colonial and modernist buildings hidden in acres of undistinguished concrete apartment blocks.

The heart of African Brazil – where nearly a million enslaved Africans arrived in Brazil and where Rio samba was born.

Breathy and breathtaking rainforest hike to the highest peak in Rio de Janeiro’s urban mountain range, stopping at Tijuca National Park’s waterfalls on the way.

Beautiful and little-visited 2-hour coastal walk in southern Rio, through wildlife-filled rainforest to pristine Grumari Beach.

This half-day hike through a wildlife- and waterfall-filled rainforest ends with a scary summit scramble. It rewards, though, with the best views in Rio. Guided rock climbs are also on offer.

A wonderful rainforest and beach walk that winds around Morro da Urca hill next to Sugar Loaf mountain, offering myriad beautiful mountain and ocean views.

Brazilian star-modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer’s most famous Rio building sits sentinel over Guanabara Bay like a giant concrete flying saucer. Inside, the ‘MAC’ houses the main collection of Brazilian artist Joao Sattamin, plus works by other Brazilian artists like Aluisio Carvao, Dionisio Del Santo and Lygia Clark.

Pelé da Praia has been teaching locals and tourists Brazilian football tricks on Ipanema beach for more than a decade. One-to-one tuition and group classes available. Contact him at peledapraia1@hotmail.com.

Glittering with mirrors, and with gorgeous art deco galleries illuminated by a vast ceiling skylight, this traditional Portuguese coffee house in the city centre is the perfect coffee spot, and a must for lovers of architecture.

Even if you’re not religious, this landmark cathedral is worth a stop to admire the building alone. A towering brutalist cone, its dark, cavernous interior is lit with long strips of iridescent modernist stained glass.

Experience the passion of a match in the city that considers itself the world capital of football.

An Instagram favourite, these colourful mosaic steps were created by Chilean immigrant Jorge Selaron. Visit the bottom end in Lapa (off Rua Joaquim Silva) – the upper reaches in Santa Teresa lie close to a favela and are unsafe.

This neo-Gothic Verdigris-covered fantasy palace, built during the days of the Empire of Brazil, is Rio’s former customs house. It’s now a small naval museum that you can visit. Tours depart from the nearby Navy Cultural Centre.