Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro is an excellent vacation destination for adventurous and fun loving people from all over the world; it is also the prefect destination for those vacationers who are looking to dance to the samba. Brazil is known for its samba music and one of the major reasons that tourists from all over the globe flock to Rio de Janeiro is to enjoy the rhythm of various samba schools, which are characterised by powerful African-influenced drum beats and steps. Samba is the music of the Rio de Janeiro carnival and if you are staying in a Copacabana holiday apartment should not fail to catch a samba performance.Copacabana Palace Hotel - The Copacabana Palace Hotel, is one of the most prestigious and luxurious landmarks in Copacabana and has helped to build the samba hotspot reputation in the region. The place has been hosting some of the most exciting and fascinating samba parties for years; some of the most exciting carnival balls, featuring the best samba tunes, are hosted in the Copacabana Palace Hotel during the evening, attracting both tourists and locals looking to party. Bunker 94 - Another good place to visit to enjoy Samba music is Bunker ...

Take a famous song, add a long stretch of powdery white sand, endless rolling blue surf and sprinkle with taut, tanned bodies and you have one of the most desirable travel destinations on the planet. Beautiful Ipanema beach is the stuff of legends. It entered the rest-of-the-world’s imagination with the haunting ballad ‘The Girl From Ipanema’, written by Antonio Carlos Jobim, one of the pioneers of the bossa nova sound. Jobim used to hang out on Ipanema’s sidewalk cafes and bars along with other artists, intellectuals and liberals, forging Ipanema’s reputation as ‘leftist’ (albeit affluent) enclave until many of them were forced into exile in the coup d’ etat of 1964. Like all of the world’s great beaches, Ipanema has its own unique culture. The beach is subdivided into sections called postos (or ‘posts’) which give in turn have their own character, making Ipanema feel a times more like a series of community microcosms. Posto 9 is the most famous; a fascinating mixture of the young, tanned and beautiful and leather-skinned hippies. You’ll find volley ball and soccer players at Posto 10 whilst Posto 8 is distinctly more working class. The gay section is located in front of ...

Rio de Janeiro was where I rounded up my seven month trip, and perhaps that is why I still have a sense of having unfinished business with the place: I didn’t feel like it was really time to leave. Or, maybe it was one of these reasons:1- When booking our ticket we thought Great! August! Summer!, forgetting that Rio is in the Southern Hemisphere. Yes, we didn’t really think about that whole tricky hemisphere thing. I mean, you’d just assume Brazil would be warm, wouldn’t you? Well, it’s not. We had two days of sun during which we sat on the beach sipping coconuts and praying we’d get tans (we didn’t) so that we wouldn’t have the embarrassment of returning home after our epic journey with the same pasty skin we left with (we did). Also most of the major sights in Rio i.e. going up Sugarloaf Mountain, seeing Christ the Redeemer, paragliding onto Copacabana Beach... require sunlight and clear skies to do them justice. So we didn’t do them. Hence, we slipped into living a life of luxury...2- I didn’t get a full Brazilian Wax.So, instead of being cultural, we thought “When in Brazil...” and went to a nearby ...

"Are you sure this is Rio?" No sign of Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado, Sugarloaf Mountain nowhere to be seen, a definite lack of spectacular vistas. This was Rodoviaria Novo Rio, the main bus terminal, and our guide book's description had summed it up perfectly. Seedy. This was one of Rio's faces not displayed in the glossy magazines. Our faces, on the other hand, must have shown disappointment; tired and confused after our long, cramped bus journey.We'd arrived at the start of Rio's 13th annual Gay Pride Parade. Not intentionally, but this was how it had worked out. As our taxi slowly made its way through the crowded streets of Copacabana we stared, speechless, at the throngs descending onto the beach along promenades awash with colour. Funk Carioca (dance music originating in Rio), techno, house, electro and pop music boomed from gigantic speakers loaded onto 'trios electricos'. Feeling rather conservatively dressed we joined the million or so people, the flamboyant paraders who'd 'come out' for this mammoth event. It was a case of 'anything goes' - the sculpted, tanned bodies of Rio's beautiful people scantily clad in resplendent costumes. Costumes which screamed 'Gay and Proud' for the world to see. ...