The City Code · Brazil
Rio de Janeiro
Mountain, forest and ocean inside one city boundary.
Arriving
A hotel car from Galeão, forty minutes. Arrange all transport through the hotel.
Book this first
Sugarloaf at sunset and a table in Leblon or Ipanema on a Friday.
What is worn
Beach simple by day; Rio dresses up properly at night.
Money & manners
Ten per cent is usually added. Carry little and leave the watch in the safe.
The golden hour
Six in the evening from Sugarloaf, with the city lighting beneath you.
The usual mistake
Copacabana by default. Leblon and Ipanema are calmer, and better.
From the collection
The stay, the table, the morning
While you are there
What moves the city
Festival · 13 Feb to 18 Feb
Carnival
Sambadrome parades and hundreds of street blocos. Minimum-stay rules and peak rates; roads close with little notice.
Festival · 29 Dec to 1 Jan
Reveillon
Two million people in white on Copacabana for midnight fireworks. Hotels impose long minimum stays; no cars reach the beachfront on the 31st.
Go deeper
The rest of Rio de Janeiro on Velori
Elsewhere
Other city codes
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