It's easy to get out of Rio city, something you'll probably want to do at some stage during your stay.

There are good bus services to all the places mentioned below, while the easiest trips are by ferry just over the bay to the Ilha de Paquetá - a car-free zone popular with locals - or to Niterói, whose Museu de Arte Contemporânea has become an essential sight for visitors to Rio.

After that, the choice is a simple one: either head east along the Costa do Sol to Cabo Frio and Búzios, or west along the Costa Verde to Ilha Grande and Parati; both coasts offer endless good beaches and little holiday towns, developed to varying degrees. Or strike off inland to Petrópolis and Teresópolis, where the mountainous interior provides a welcome, cool relief from the frenetic goings-on back in Rio.

  Google maps

If you planning on renting a car, this is as good a state as any to brave the traffic: the coasts are an easy drive from the city and stopping off at more remote beaches is easy, while your own wheels would let you get to grips with the extraordinary scenery up in the mountains.

Rio de Janeiro
     hotels
Hotels in Buzios
Cruises
Car rental
Road trip

Rio pictures 1
Rio pictures 2
and see also

Pictures of Rio by
Thereza Eugenia

Pictures of Brazil by
Cecilia dos Guimaraes
Bastos
 

Zona Sul
Sports, beach fashion
Arpoador, Ipanema,
Leblon
Jardim Botanico
Lagoa
Lagoa Christmas tree
Leme and Copacabana Beach
Alto da Boa Vista, Parque Nacional da Tijuca
Urca and Pao-de-Acucar
Gavea and Jockey Club

 Buzios

Buzios Town and its beaches
Restaurants
Eating options
Getting there
Getting around
Climate and travel info
Buzios Beaches
  Buzios Beaches 2
Buzios Scuba Diving
  Buzios Golf
 Buzios Stones St and
    night life
Ecotourism
Hotels in Buzios