Ipanema beach
Where the Brazilian beach girl lives

If you spend your vacation in Rio, it’s for sure that you’ll go to Ipanema beach, one of the famous beaches in Brazil, for its ”tall and tan and young and lovely garotas”.

You’ve probably listened to Bossa Nova’s ”Girl from Ipanema”. Well they were not wrong, not at all, most girls here resemble the girl that charmed the writer. Exoticly beautiful, she will walk, or jogg, or ride a bike or simply lay her beautiful body on a colourfull kanga, ignoring you completely.

Ipanema, itself has its incredible charms, grace to its culture and history standing ahead of time. The little Paris of Brazil, Ipanema is so much loved for its art galleries, avant-garde theatres, art movie theatres and bookshops with caffe flavour.

Ipanema beach has kept its Bossa Nova romanticism that makes life more interesting as there are so many things to see and visit ... for instance if you like precious stones visit H Stern in Ipanema and have a 30 minutes free tour of the museum.

You can visit the museum at your own pace, listening to the story of this wonderful place. You’ll get to see workers refining diamonds and emerald rings. These are highly paid workers due to their artisan techniques learned from childhoon in the family.

At the end of this interesting tour you’ll receive a nice memory, a box with different precious and semi-precious stones. Their value is more a sentimental issue, as their price is rather low due to the impurities or type of cut, but they’ll still make you feel a pricese!

Beside being old and famous, Ipanema is also one of the richest areas in Rio. Ipanema, nearby Leblon and the region surrounding Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas are part of Rio's wealthiest class.

Still you will find reasonable accomodation, if you wish to book your vacation in Ipanema.

Affordable, clean and well located, Mar Ipanema is a 3 stars hotel where you can book an appartment for only 70 USD per night per person. But if you wish to grasp the best place at all costs, then Cesar Park Hotel is the place to go.

From Cesar Park Hotel, fashionable boutiques along Rua Garcia D'Ávila make shopping a witty endeavor. Other chic area near the beach is Praça Nossa Senhora da Paz, lined with wonderful restaurants and bars.

The beach is awesome, by far the best in Rio. This is the place for all beach sports, from foot volley to body boarding and surfing, here you have it all.

Especially the area close to Ipanema beach, called Areopador beach is famous for its surfers, surf schools and most of all for the waves. They are between 1m and 3m (3 ft.-10 ft.). So if you are a surf lover, make sure you go surfing on Areopador.

At Spirit, on Galeria River, Rua Francisco Otaviano 67, loja 4, Ipanema (tel. 021/2267-9943), you can rent all types of boards: short boards, fun boards, and long boards for R$20 to R$30 (US$6.60-US$10) a day.

If you wish to take a Cariocan culinary tour of Ipanema, here are some restaurants that you shouldn’t miss: