Sugar Loaf Mountain is fun, another highly rated tourist spot. The cable car to get up there is regular and reliable.

It's cheesy, but take a trip to the "Garota da Ipanema," a corner bar/restaurant where the song "The Girl from Ipanema" was (apparently) written. Locals crowd this place to sample their signature dish, Picanha, sliced beef on a sizzling skillet with fries, rice, and a couple of other local accompaniments. It's fun and tasty, especially washed down with a few glasses of chopp (draft beer).

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Driving yourself is dangerous. Not only do they drive like maniacs, but you can easily end up in a bad neighborhood.

The buses are cheap and plentiful—just take care at night. Never travel alone, especially for women. People walk everywhere!

Decor is "upmarket beachcomber." Marius has two restaurants next door to each other, one is meat-based and the other fish-based.

If you get to know Brazilian churrasco (barbecue), Marius really isn't anything special, despite the hype. It's a nice setting and the food is average, but there's a wide selection.

Their house specialty is the picanha, sliced steak delivered on a sizzling plate for you to cook at your table. It comes with fries, vegetable rice, farofa, and salsa. One order is more than enough between two or even three people. An extensive menu is available, although only one or two of the desserts are usually available. It's cheap and cheerful, with street entertainment just outside. Even if you only go once, it's where they penned the song "The Girl from Ipanema," so it's worth a visit.

Our favorite branch, though, is in the Forte de Copacabana. It has the same menu as the lower cafe, in a super location at one end of Copacabana Beach. You can sit outside and watch the entire length of the beach. You have to pay to go into the fort—just tell them you're going to the Cafe Colombo. It's only 2 reals to get in for an extremely pleasant place to have lunch. There are great salads and sandwiches.

Seats are numbered from the center outwards, so you will find yourself sitting in seat nos. 9 and 11 next to each other, which is weird if you're not used to it. Brazilian audiences tend to be enthusiastic, and not averse to calling out requests, even at a classical concert!

Have your travel agent purchase tickets for you before arriving, and be patient with local "eccentricities."

Take the train from Cosme Velho station. It's a rickety thing, but you travel up through the forest, which is entertaining in itself. Friends who've gone up by car have mainly ended up with vomiting children in the back because of the twisting road.

There are elevators and escalators from the train to the statue itself, so there aren't endless stairs, unless you feel like the penance!

I recommend going either early morning (10 to 11am) or after 3:30pm, when crowds are lighter. There is a decent cafe and souvenir stalls up at the top, and no rip-offs, which is nice! The best photo is from the far end of the top deck, facing the statue. You just have to push your way through to get there!

Be warned that on some holidays, like Christmas and especially New Year's Eve, this place is crazy.

The nice people at H. Stern will send a car for you, show you how gems are found and made into jewellery, sit you down with refreshments, and let you try on anything you like from their store. Obviously they want you to buy it, but there's no hard sell. My kids are teenagers, and I thought they might be bored, but they found it quite entertaining and liked the free small scoop of fruit-based ice cream they were given. Even my tomboy-ish daughter unwound enough to look at some of the more modern pieces they had on offer, and another friend who swears she hates anything like this place came out converted!

The people are delightful and the gems wonderful, and it's entirely possible to get a very good bargain compared to prices outside Brazil.