Weekend in... Rio de Janeiro

As the crowds descend on Brazil for this summer’s FIFA World Cup, Jenny Southan suggests must-dos for a short break in co-host city Rio This year’s FIFA World Cup will take place between June 12 and July 13, in 12 host cities across Brazil. Unless you are one of the 600,000 football fans flying in especially for the occasion, it will be best to avoid Rio during this period as hotels will be full and prices inflated. The city’s 73,500-capacity Maracana stadium will be the venue for seven matches, including the final. If you want to pack in a few sights between games, or are in town at another time of year, here are some of the best things to see and do. IPANEMA BEACH Whether you’re a beach bum or not, a weekend in Rio has to include some time on the sand – in the daytime, the beaches are the social epicentre of the city for every Carioca (as natives of Rio are known). You could choose Leblon or Copacabana, but Ipanema, between the two, is widely considered the sexiest. On Sundays, the road running alongside the seafront promenade is closed to traffic, allowing the buxom, the buff and the bronzed to stroll, cycle or roller-blade to their favourite spot. Friends arrange to meet near the postos (lifeguard huts) dotted along the water’s edge. The ocean tends to be too rough for swimming – instead, the fun comes from trying to stay standing up, or just giving in and rolling around in the surf. At one end of the bay is Arpoador Rock, which lures surfers, fishermen and hippies, while at the other are the Dois Irmaos (Two Brothers) mountains. Each posto is known for a different subculture, with country flags, state flags, football flags and rainbow flags marking out territory. Posto 8 tends to attract kids from the favelas (slums), Posto 9 the gay and the beautiful, and Posto 10 the sporty. The people-watching is endlessly entertaining, and it’s never long until a seller offers you a cold Skol beer or some corn-on-the-cob. Keep a few Brazilian reals handy to hire a fold-out chair and an umbrella. No one, but no one, lies on a towel – bring a cotton sarong instead. Make sure you stay for sunset, which is an event in itself, and at dusk, pop across the road to trendy Bar Astor (110 Avenida Vieira Souto) for a margarita. SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN Before the days of “one lump or two”, when 16th-century Portuguese traders were cultivating sugar plantations in Brazil (with the help of local slaves), raw sugar had to be boiled, poured into conical moulds and left to solidify. The sugar “loaves” were then extracted and wrapped in paper for selling. Between 1600 and 1650, sugar accounted for 95 per cent of the country’s exports, so it’s no wonder that Rio’s most distinctive peak was named as such. Visitors have been ascending Sugarloaf Mountain since the early 1900s, when the first cable car was built. Located at the entrance of Guanabara Bay, the 396-metre summit affords stunning views of the Atlantic, the 4.5km stretch of Copacabana beach, the white tower blocks of Downtown, and Christ the Redeemer in the distance. You can even spot planes swooping into Santos Dumont airport, as well as yellow-legged urubu vultures and hummingbirds. An average of 1,360 people an hour are transported via aerial tramway from the sea-level ticket office at Praia Vermelha. It stops first at the 220-metre Morro da Urca hill, home to exotic gardens, before climbing to Sugarloaf itself. Tickets cost R$62/£16.40 (10 per cent extra online at bondinho.com.br). Cable cars run 8.10am-9pm (first tickets 8am, last tickets 7.50pm). CHRIST THE REDEEMER It’s an obvious one, but you really can’t come to Rio without making your way up Corcovado Mountain for a Kodak moment, arms outstretched, with Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer). Standing 38 metres tall, the iconic art deco statue of Jesus was completed in the early 1930s and can be seen from miles around, even at night, when it is illuminated purple. Either drive up the 700-metre-high peak or take the 19th-century Corcovado rack railway, which takes you through the treeline of the Tijuca Forest in about 20 minutes, to the terminus just below the observation deck. From here, it’s an escalator ride to the top, from where you can enjoy the truly God-like views. Note that you can no longer buy tickets for the tram at Cosme Velho station. Instead, book online at corcovado.com.br – they cost R$50/£13.20 including entry to the monument, and run 8am-8pm daily every half-hour. FAVELA TOUR Rio’s favelas get a lot of bad press for being dangerous hotbeds of drugs and violence. In many instances this remains the case, but the government’s continuing process of “pacification” to drive out criminals means many of them are now much safer, and open to groups of visitors. “Slum tourism” can be seen as patronising, but if you are interested in seeing a different side of Rio and want to help the local economy, it can be a valuable and enlightening experience. Marcelo Armstrong has been taking people into the shanty towns for years, and has set up a website, favelatour.com.br, where you can book visits. About one in five Cariocas live in favelas, of which there are estimated to be almost 1,000 in the city, and about 40 now have a permanent police presence. The communities may be poor, but thanks to being built high up on the hillsides, they have million-dollar views. Marcelo will escort you first by jeep and then on foot through the Vila Canoas and Rocinha favelas, taking in local homes and shops, dozens of narrow streets crisscrossed with reels of electricity cables, and a community school where you can buy handmade bowls and bags made of ring-pulls. You can take photos, but no close-ups of people without permission. If you are feeling adventurous, visit the Maze jazz bar and hostel (jazzrio.com/en) in Tavares Bastos slum, run by eccentric ex-BBC correspondent Bob Nadkarni. Make sure you go with a local, though. SELARON STEPS A work of street art that evolved over a period of more than 20 years, the Escadaria Selaron – a stunning flight of 215 mosaic-tiled steps that leads from Ladeira de Santa Teresa all the way down to Rua Joaquim Silva in Lapa – is now one of Rio’s most famous landmarks. It was in 1990 that Chilean artist Jorge Selaron began renovating the dilapidated staircase outside his house, decorating it with ceramic fragments in Brazil’s yellow, blue and green. Over time he became obsessed with the project, transforming the walls into a patchwork of brilliant red, and cementing tiles donated by visitors from across the world. He hand-painted hundreds more, combining his recurring character of a pregnant African woman with messages and memorandums. A larger one near the bottom reads: “Living in a favela is an art. Nobody robs, nobody hears, nothing is lost, those who are wise obey those who give orders.” Sadly, at the beginning of last year, Selaron was found dead on the steps in an apparent case of death by self-immolation, although there were rumours at the time that it was murder. Despite this terrible end, his “tribute to the Brazilian people” remains a glorious example of hope, passion and celebration. SANTA TERESA AND LAPA NIGHTLIFE Begin your evening out in the charming hilltop district of Santa Teresa. A series of bohemian cobbled streets with the odd luxury hotel – try Relais and Chateaux’s property (santa-teresa-hotel.com), which has a poolside Veuve Clicquot bar – it’s also home to characterful drinking spots, such as the white-tiled Bar do Mineiro (bardomineiro.net). Until a fatal crash in 2011, yellow trams used to trundle around the neighbourhood, but renovations to the line and a new fleet of cars will hopefully see it begin operations again this year. Grab a bite to eat at quirky Espirito Santa (264 Rua Almirante Alexandrino; tel +55 21 25 07 4840; espiritosanta.com.br), which specialises in authentic Amazonian cuisine. There’s an outdoor deck at the back where you can tuck into moqueca fish stew, fillet of pacu (a cousin to the piranha), palm hearts, sautéed plantain, and shrimp marinated in cachaça (Brazilian sugar cane brandy). From here, you could meander your way down the Selaron Steps to Lapa, although if you’re alone at night you may be better off asking the owner to call you a taxi. At the weekend, this district is heaving. Set against a backdrop of ornate, crumbling colonial buildings, there’s dancing, drumming and punters spilling out of the bars on to the pavement. Head for Carioca da Gema (79 Avenue Mem de Sa, barcariocadagema.com.br), which lays on riotous samba bands and serves dangerously strong caipirinhas made from cachaça, lime, sugar and ice. When you arrive, accept the form they give you and pay at the end – this is your receipt for the night. Alternatively, there’s the Rio Scenarium (20 Rua do Lavradio; tel +55 21 3147 9000; rioscenarium.com.br). This is more touristy – you can eat dinner accompanied by live music – but it is worth checking out for the sheer madness of all of its rooms: it’s more a three-floor museum of kitsch than anything else. rcvb.com.br, visitbrasil.com