“The Marvellous City” of Brazil, or Rio de Janeiro as we all know it, is a beautiful place with lots of culture, mountain scenery and the most wonderful beaches. There is a great deal of history in the centre of the town and the beaches are found in the ‘Zona Sul’ and you can’t visit Rio without visiting the Copacobana.

The currency in Rio de Janeiro is the Brazilian Real, approximately 2 of which is almost $1 / €0.74 / £0.50 on writing this.

Who Comes To Rio de Janeiro?
There’s one fantastic landscape and even better colonial history in Rio so a mixture of holidaymakers wanting to find a mix of cosmopolitan culture with glamorous beach relaxation comes here. The beaches would be busy with locals regardless of whether tourists came here or not as life here centres around ‘beach-life’ but people from all over gather here whether straight, gay, married or single aged 20 to late 30′s.

When does the Season Begin in Rio de Janeiro?
Lots of people travel over to Rio de Janeiro in February to see the annual festival (it’s on February 2-5, 2008) which is full of colour, atmosphere and all-out partying. You might want to be at Rio’s Pride festival, the same as the U K’s gay pride, which is held every year in July.

If it really is the weather you’re interested in you won’t be disappointed when I tell you December to March is the summer season when temperatures range between 23 and 35degrees, with winter being a bit cooler at around 20degrees and the rainy season between November and March.

Airport Information
Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport is just 21kms / 13m away from the city itself and you will find car rental from Avis, Hertz and Localiza here.

Taxi’s are readily available, and you can grab a taxi for around £3 per person.

Rio de Janeiro Nightlife
If you need a guide on the places to be, try the Rio for Partiers book but the chances are that when you get to Rio, you will easily find a whole lot of Bars, Theatres, Clubs and more pasted up and down the architectured streets in the Lapa District.

Dress here is stylish, funky and fashionable – as are the clubs – and you can ample samba, international pop music. The ‘Nuth Lounge’ I’ve heard is pretty hip, as is ‘Baronetti’ but at busy summer periods you can expect to queue for a while.

Local Drinks
A local beer should cost around $2 / €1.50 / £1 and the local drink ‘Caipirinha’ around $4.50 / €3.35 / £2.25. There have been terrible reports of people being fleeced when opening tabs so avoid doing that and pay for drinks at the time of purchase.

If you’re partial to energy drinks you could try Guaranine which contains guarana instead of your usual caffeine.

Local Cuisine
‘Satyricon’ is a seafood restaurant on Rua Barao de Torre where you can get lots of choices (shellfish, lobster, meat) and an evening meal will cost you up to $66 / €49 / £33 plus drinks and service although you will find some cheaper eateries in the Lapa District.

Boy/Girl Ratio
It’s difficult to find the exact male to female ratio in Rio de Janeiro, simply (I guess) due to the amount of changes the country goes through and the sheer amount of tourists the city attracts. However, the general consensus would be that there are slightly more males than females when reading reports from the area.

This said, it’s sensible for everyone to stick to the main busy streets when walking around, and staying with your mates. Don’t cause trouble and don’t carry unreasonable amounts of valuables with you.

Rio de Janeiro Beaches
Rio de Janeiro is half beaches, half mountains. Two of the best beaches should really be mentioned – Copacabana (beautiful beach, busy in Brazilian winter, avoid the salesmen) and Ipanema (a trend setting beach of beautiful people, relaxed).