foodsmarts

After a cruise, my husband and I will have 2 1/2 days, Dec. 22, 23, 24th to spend in Rio. Does anyone have a suggestion for a guide and a hotel.

Thanks, Foodsmarts

chiefie

Hotel - Premier copa cabana. excellent hotel which has to keep its rates relatively low because it's 3 blocks from copacabana beach, not directly on the beach.
you don't need a guide. spend your whole free time on the beach!!!
also... take the cable up to sugarloaf, BUT go on a clear day, and time it to be on top at sunset.
you'll fall in love all over again.

Susan7

I don't think you need a guide either, with such little time, here would be the things I would do: visit the Oscar Niemeyer Museum of Contemporary Art in Niteroi. Have lunch in the restaurant there with a stunning view back towards Rio.

Take the cable car (bonde) to Santa Teresa and have carne do sol at one of the bars. Visit the Botanical Gardens, spectacular collection of tropical plants and we saw monkeys and toucans.

I second the reommendation of taking the cable car trip up sugar loaf.

foodsmarts

Thank you Chiefie and Susan. I guess we'll scrap the guide idea. We are a little past, age-wise, the bikini and thong part of our lives and even if the spirit is willing, time and gravity are working against us. A long way of saying, our beach days are pretty well behind us. Your suggestions of the cable car, museum and botanical sound like wonderful things to do.

What do you consider the single most unique experience you can have in Rio and only (pardon the redundancy)
in Rio? 1) Food 2) culture.

Thanks for taking the time to answer. Your replies are very helpful.

Susan7

I'm not sure that there's food you would just get there and not in other Brazilian cities--Minas Gerais and Bahian have distinctive regional food but there are restaurants of that cuisine in other cities.

That said, I had the best chocolate tart of my life in Confeitaria Colombo in the historcal centre. It's an exquisite interior: you can either sit down with table service or there's a cafe with a standing section. The coffee is great, but the selection of cakes is superb.

In terms of culture, there are a range of museums and galleries in Rio that are really worth visiting: Helio Oiticia Centre, Museum of Modern Art, CCBB. There is a free map you can pick up in Rio which lists all of the museums.

At the head of the list I would put the Niteroi museum I mentioned earlier just because it's such an incredible building--it looks like a flying saucer, it's a unique form of curveous modernism. The shows I've seen there have not been that great, but the location is extraordinary. There's a ferry trip and then a short bus trip to get there.