• Tuesday 02 February 2010

The mountain of Corcoavdo, topped by a 32-metre statue of Christ the Redeemer facing out over Guanabara Bay, has to be the grat enduring image of the Rio de Janeiro. From up here, on a clear day, you can see almost the whole city, from the downtown business district to the internationally famous beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana. It also has one of the best views of Sugar Loaf Mountain, another of the city's great landmarks. Rio is arguably the most stunning harbour city in the world, it has the advantage of being builth on a series of hills, some of which are still covered by virgin forest, and looks out over the most beautiful natural scenery of the granite islands in Guanabara Bay. Corcovado, set within a park that opens at 8 a.m, can be reached either by taxi or by a creaking old tram that winds its way to the summit. You should really make the effort to reach the top early in the morning when the misty clouds, backlit by the rising sun, sometimes fill the bay, with just the tops of the islands peeking above them. It's also well worth visiting at sunset, when the sun sinks into the hills behind Rio and the city lights up. Similarly, the view of both Rio and Corcovado from Sugar Loaf Mountain is worth seeing at both ends of the day, when the city assumes quiet different appearances. If you want to see the actual sunrise you will have to take a taxi to San Cristobel Point, which lies outside the park. Although not as high as Corcovado, it still enjoys a commanding view over the bay. From the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain it is possible to take a very short helicopter ride that flies you up and around the statue of Christ the Redeemer for less than £30. Rio however, is about so much more than sights or even natural beauty. No other city in the world epitomizes the "Life's a Beach" philosophy more than Rio. There is no better place to see this than at Copacabana and Ipanema. Both immortalized in song, these beaches mirror the character of the cariocas, as the citizens of Rio call themselves. As the clubbers who congregate there to wind down after an all-night party give way to the first of the morning's joggers, the nest 24 hours will see everything from holidaymakers to beach boys, from volleyball players to bodybuilders - all set to the backround of bossa nova music and perhaps accompanied by a cocktail. Rio has endured a bad reputation for street crime over the years, but has gone a long way to clean up this problem. As with most major cities, drugs and poverty make certain parts of the city riskier than others, but if you stick to the main areas and dont carry valuables conspicuously, you will probably find Rio far less threatening than many European capitals.