The colorful city of Rio de Janeiro has been the number 1 most visited city on the globe for many years! Tourists from all over the world have come here to experience the most famous carnival of all!
I bet you have been dreaming to make it to Rio during carnival time too! The multi-colored variety of costumes and pure good time displayed attracts almost everyone!
I have to tell you the truth, everybody has been scaring me with stories about how dangerous Rio is! Well, since I am a Eastern European girl I knew the rules, but here’s a heads up: don’t walk around with lot of money on you, don’t show off your money, your phone and especially not some fancy equipment or drone or camera!! Know at all times where your wallet is, be very aware of the people surrounding you. Oh and if you must go out at night, it’s best to take an Uber and not walk around. Now let’s get to the fun stuff already!

First what you should know is that the best place to book a hotel is right near the beach! The view there is out of this world!! I tried hitting most of rooftops in Copacabana and Ipanema to catch that perfect sunset.

Usually the 3 places to choose from when picking your hotel are Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon. If you’re a youngster focus on the first two. Now it gets even easier: if you want to experience the real Rio with good and bad and have a taste of everything you should pick Copacabana, if you’re a luxury traveler and you like high end restaurants and not too crowded places, go for Ipanema. Easy right?

I have to admit my favorite area was Ipanema. The shopping street with little restaurants here and there reminded me of Miami Beach! I love how the good and the bad, the poverty and the luxury are perfectly blended here!

I won’t bore you with all the amazing places in Rio, but these ones are the ones you cannot miss!
I know you’re expecting me to start with Christ The Redeemer statue, but I won’t. I’ll start with Corcovado! That’s where you get the best view over Rio while also having the statue “in the picture". Yes, of course, everyone wants to climb up to the top of the statue, but I always prefer perspective and since this statue is so famous I think it would be nice to have some instagrammable photos with the statue in them!

Go for walks along the beach in Copacabana and stroll down the little streets, try all the fruits you haven’t tried before (not before washing them of course!).

If you’re into museums, you’ll definitely have to visit Rio’s Museum of Tomorrow! It reminded me a lot of the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia with all that futuristic architecture! I think I’m more drawn to the outside of this construction because it looks so beautiful, modern, so “tomorrowland’.

If you’re a sucker for views from the top, try a walk up SugarLoaf mountain. You’ll get a really nice view over Copacabana beach!

Last, but not least, my favorite place: Parque Lage. It’s hard to put into words the beauty of this place! Walk up the stairs in front of the building that looks like a museum and you’ll find a lovely little terrace inside! Of course the beauty of the park is in all the lovely little hidden spots you’ll have to explore on your own! Warning: this is not your ordinary park, this is a luscious looking, tropical park! This might just be my favorite park in the whole wide world! Yes, better than Central Park!

If you have made it to Rio, leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!