Adolpho Ducke Botanical Garden

This vast forest reserve, covering more than 39 square miles (100 sq km) to the east of Manaus, provides visitors with the chance of discovering what lies beneath the dense Amazon rainforest canopy. The park building complex hosts plant nurseries and an exhibition of the woods of Amazonas, as well as a library and restaurant. A network of trails has been set out in the forest and local youths have been trained and employed as guides.

Angra dos Reis

This peninsula and group of 365 islands (one for each day of the year!) is a holiday playground that boasts 2,000 beautiful beaches and a natural wonderland of mountains, forests, waterfalls, lakes and secret coves. Visitors can take trips by schooner, yacht or motor launch to explore the delights of the area, particularly the main island, Ilha Grande. Fishing and diving are the favoured activities for tourists, and on land there are hundreds of walking trails giving access to some of the less frequented beaches like Canto, Abraaozinho, Morcego and Grande das Palmas. The beaches of Aventureiro and Lopes Mendes are also popular with surfers.

Transport: It can be easily reached from Rio by road in just over two hours, or accessed by bus with daily departures every hour from the Novo Rio Bus Station.

Botanical Gardens

Paget is a delightful park that makes a perfect starting place to study the island's flora - a fragrant haven of exotic subtropical plants, flowers, and trees. Some of the highlights of this 36-acre paradise include the palm garden with native palmetto trees, the subtropical fruit garden, the garden for the blind featuring scented plants, a ficus collection, and a flowering hibiscus garden. In addition, there are greenhouses with orchids, bromeliads, a miniature forest, an aviary, and a variety of flowering houseplants. The white house on the grounds of the Botanical Gardens is Camden, the official residence of Bermuda’s Premier. The house is open for tours, except when official functions are scheduled.

Buzios

Once the preserve of pirates and slave traders, the peninsula of Buzios, 105 miles (169km) north east of Rio, is today the haunt of the rich and famous of the world who flock to the city (once a fishing village) to enjoy the 20 or so beaches in the vicinity. The peninsula was popularised by legendary movie star Brigitte Bardot in the 1960s, and her statue still graces the main street of Buzios, the Rua des Pedras. The peninsula is a sophisticated beach resort with a very active night life and fine restaurants. The west coast beaches offer calm, clear waters while the east coast ones, facing the open sea, are a little wilder and draw the surfers and water sports enthusiasts. Among the most popular beaches are Azeda Beach, Joao Fernandinho Beach with several bars and known for its seafood, Ferradura Beach, and Geriba beach, popular for surfing.

Transport: Buzios can be reached by road from Rio via the Rio-Niteroi toll bridge, or by bus from the Novo Rio Bus Station

Copacabana

This famous Rio beach neighbourhood was just a small fishing village until a new highway opened it up around the 1900s. The Copacabana Palace Hotel opened its doors in 1923 and from then on the area began to mushroom with Neoclassical and Art Nouveau skyscrapers, penthouses and apartments. Visitors still flock to be seen at the glamorous Palace Hotel, even if it is just to have tea or a meal at the famed Cipriani restaurant. The beach itself has white sand and calm water, is festooned with beach kiosks and is popular for beach sports like soccer and volleyball, as well as sunbathing. Copacabana beach is particularly popular at New Year. More than two million people from around the world, dressed in white according to tradition, celebrate each year.

Corcovado

The distinctive statue of Christ the Redeemer, arms spread to welcome the world, is one of the world’s best-known monuments. It sits atop Rio de Janeiro’s Corcovado mountain, 2,330ft (710m) above the beaches below, and is reached on a miniature train that runs from the Cosme Vehlo District through Atlantic rainforest to the statue’s foot. The train ride offers stunning views of Rio, and the view from the summit is breathtaking. Spread below the statue is the Tijuca Forest, filled with attractions to enchant visitors in the cool of the rainforest among natural pools and waterfalls. For instance there is the Mayrink chapel featuring murals painted by Candido Portinari, one of Brazil’s best known modern artists, and the Museu do Acude, which houses colonial furniture and a collection of East India Company china.

Telephone: (21) 2558 1329; Opening time: Daily 8am to 6pm; Admission: R$20 includes the train to the top

Iguaçu Falls

The Rio Iguaçu arises in the coastal mountains of Paraná and Santa Catarina and snakes west for 370 miles (600km) before it widens majestically and sweeps around a magnificent jungle stage, plunging and crashing in tiered falls at the border with Argentina and Paraguay. The Foz do Iguaçu (Iguaçu Falls) are over two miles (three km) wide and 262ft (80m) high and their beauty is unsurpassed. Their name, fittingly, comes from the Guarani Indian word meaning 'great waters'. The deep flowing waters of the river tumble down 275 falls (almost twice the height of Niagara Falls) the most famous of which is Devils Throat which, on the border with Argentina, drops 230ft (70m). As well as taking in the stunning views, visitors can enjoy kayaking and other watersports in the river. The best time of year to visit is August to November, when there is least risk of flood waters hindering the approach to the catwalks. The falls are surrounded by the Iguaçu National Park, a huge sub-tropical rainforest covering 135,000 acres that is home to thousands of different species of flora and birds including parrots and hummingbirds.

Transport: The easiest way to get to the falls is by air from Rio. Alternatively you can take a bus via Curitiba

Ipanema

Immortalised in a popular song, 'The girl from Ipanema', this part of Rio offers not only its legendary beach, but numerous excellent hotels, bustling nightlife, sophisticated shopping opportunities and quality restaurants, all within walking distance of each other. Ipanema (the name, inconguously, means 'bad water') is famous for setting fashion trends, particularly in the line of skimpy swimwear, and fashion fundis should look out for the famous bikini boutiques like Salinas, Blue Man and Bum-Bum. Also do not miss exploring the Rua Garcia D’Avila to shop for designer fashion, jewellery and furniture. Visit the Amsterdam Sauer Museum of Gems here for a workshop tour. There are numerous other streets in Ipanema to explore as well, including the attractive commercial street Visconde de Piraja that is lined with speciality shops, bars, restaurants and some of Rio’s best boutiques. Visit the hippie fair at General Osorio Square on Sundays for wooden sculptures, handcrafts, exotic musical instruments and artworks.

Lake Janauari Ecological Park

This park, an hour by boat from Manaus on the Rio Negro, provides a taste of the Amazon experience with its 9,000 acres of dry land forests, lowlands and flooded forest (known as igapos). Day package trips are available from Manaus including lunch in a typical regional restaurant and a visit to the area’s other main attraction, The Meeting of the Waters. Day trippers are also taken on a canoe trip on the lakes and streams. Lake Janauari Park has abundant examples of the famous Amazon Victoria-Nympheaceae water lily that spreads its round leaves, measuring up to seven feet (two metres) in diameter, on still shallow waters. The flowers, which start out white and turn mauve then dark red, only last three days.

Lake Janauari Ecological Park

This park, an hour by boat from Manaus on the Rio Negro, provides a taste of the Amazon experience with its 9,000 acres of dry land forests, lowlands and flooded forest (known as igapos). Day package trips are available from Manaus including lunch in a typical regional restaurant and a visit to the area’s other main attraction, The Meeting of the Waters. Day trippers are also taken on a canoe trip on the lakes and streams. Lake Janauari Park has abundant examples of the famous Amazon Victoria-Nympheaceae water lily that spreads its round leaves, measuring up to seven feet (two metres) in diameter, on still shallow waters. The flowers, which start out white and turn mauve then dark red, only last three days

Mercado Municipal

This imposing neo-Gothic style hall, dating from 1933, is the venue for a huge market which sells local fruit, vegetables, cheese and other produce. The hall is noted for its gigantic stained-glass windows that depict scenes from the coffee plantations and other agricultural pursuits. The building is north of Praca da Se.

Address: Rua da Cantareira 306

Museu de Arte

A large concrete building supported on delicate pillars in the Avenida Paulista houses an important collection of Western art. This museum features the work of the great European artists from the last 500 years, and hosts visiting exhibitions. It is open every day and entry is free on Thursdays. The complex includes a reasonably priced restaurant.

Sugar Loaf

The summit of Rio’s unique 887ft high (270m) belvedere, named Sugar Loaf because of its resemblance to the loaves of sugar used by the Portuguese colonists, can be reached by a two-stage cable car ride. The first stage takes visitors up 550ft (168m) to the Morro da Urca, where there is a restaurant, amphitheatre, heliport and spectacular view of the Yacht Club and Botafogo Bay. The second stage takes one the rest of the way to the summit for a panoramic view of the city, and the whole of Copacabana beach.

Address: Av. Pasteur 520; Telephone: (21) 2546 8400; Opening time: Daily 8am to 10pm; Admission: R$18

The Meeting of the Waters

Where the dark waters of the Rio Negro join the lighter muddy waters of the Rio Solimoes a natural phenomenon is caused: the separate shades of water run side by side for a length of more than four miles (six km) without mixing. The separation is apparently caused by the difference in temperature, density and flow rate of the waters from each river: Rio Negro travels at about a mile (two km) per hour with a temperature of 72ºF (22ºC) while Rio Solimoes flows at between two and four miles (four and six km) per hour with a temperature of 82ºF (28ºC). This phenomenon has become a major tourist attraction in Brazil, best accessed by taking an hour’s journey by boat from the floating docks in Manaus.