Drinking

Beer is often cheaper than water in Rio de Janeiro. Residential streets are stacked with botecos or botequins, simple bars where workers relax around plastic tables. A series of kiosks along the beach also offer a variety of caipirinhas, Brazil’s national drink made of cachaça, a sugar-based alcohol, and lime.
The pedestrian-only Rua do Ouvidor is the spot for a casual drink and bite. For those looking for something more active, the downtown Lapa neighborhood is a fine place to both start and end the night. The Centro Cultural Carioca (Rua do Teatro, 37 ) on the revitalised Praça Tiradentes is a simple-but-classy bar and dance hall for the most classic of Brazilian samba and forró music. For greasy eats and beer, the Pizzaria Guanabara (Av. Mem de Sá, 17) offers the best outdoor views for people watching and is a landmark of the neighborhood. The site Lá na Lapa is user-friendly and up-to-date with shows in the area, and you’ll never not find a good time if you simply stroll the streets around the neighborhood’s trademark white arches. A five-minute taxi from Lapa is the city’s best new bet, the Casarão Amena Resedá (Rua Bento Lisboa, 4). The scattered tables in the spacious dance hall allow guests to chat and enjoy some of the city’s most contemporary menus while there’s also space to dance along with the owners impeccably-chosen performers.

Further into the downtown near the under-reconstruction Maracanã soccer stadium, the Praça da Bandeira is an up-and-coming gastronomical centre of the city where only the dedicated hounds have found the city’s best beer. The Aconchega Carioca (Rua Barão de Iguatemi, 388) has a wide selection of national brands and imports, not to mention a creative menu of appetisers that deviates from the oft-monolithic Brazilian diet of beef and beans.

But if you like the hearty basics, take the local favourite in the favela Chapeu-Mangueira. The Bar do David (Ladeira Ary Barroso, 66, a steep climb from behind the Leme beach and past a new policing unit) serves the beans, beer and toasted manioc flour that most Brazilians call lunch.

Further into the downtown near the under-reconstruction Maracanã soccer stadium, the Praça da Bandeira is an up-and-coming gastronomical centre of the city where only the dedicated hounds have found the city’s best beer.

Shopping

Rio prices are hardly enticing and the quality of apparel varies from hem-less to average, but for those looking for Brazilian items like soccer jerseys and capoeira martial arts pants, a good downtown market called Saara serves up the hits (and a fair few misses too). The metro stop Central, Uruguaiana and Presidente Vargas will drop you off at various points off it. Similar wares to those of Saara are found at the market below the large favela Rocinha. The “Hippie Fair” on Sundays in Ipanema is as packed as it is overpriced, shop at your own risk though you will indeed find charming handicrafts. The bohemian neighborhood of Santa Teresa has a series of good craft and clothing stores too.

Sleeping

Hotels in Rio are hardly cheap, but residents have made ample use of Airbnb to offer the city’s best prices. Hostels in Copacabana, Botafogo and Catete are fine options that allow easy access to the beaches (check out Hostel República, El Misti Hostel, and Vila Carioca Hostel. Neighbourhoods like Flamengo and Glória are increasingly popular for being along the metro and offering nice walking paths along the bay. Laranjeiras is the ideal neighborhood for those looking for a residential and cozy feel. Ipanema is the classic for those who want to be at the heart of the beach doing some hot people-watching.