Rio de Janeiro: The Monocle Travel Guide Series

With its glorious coastline, dramatic mountains, and urban rainforest, Rio de Janeiro is a city that immediately hits you between the eyes with its natural beauty. But there’s plenty to discover here that isn’t instantly self-evident. From lively neighborhood bars and intricate beach culture, to sculptural public gardens and concrete modernist buildings, there is a lot more to Rio than bronzed bodies on Ipanema Beach.

Monocle’s guide to Rio de Janeiro will help you traverse the city’s hotspots for food and drink, retail, design and architecture, and culture. The Monocle team also recommends a few ways to stay fit in this image-obsessed city and suggests five neighborhoods that deserve to be explored on foot. The so-called Marvellous City has never ceased to capture hearts—now it’s your turn to fall for its charms.

Monocle reports from around the globe in print, on radio, and online. As its editors and correspondents dart from city to city, they get to know the best places to rest their heads, stretch their limbs, and kick back with a contact in a hard-to-find cocktail bar. That information is now available in Monocle’s Travel Guide Series: a line-up of titles that speaks to you in an informed but informal way about everything from architecture to art, late-night bars to early-morning markets. These are books that go beyond the traditional tourist beats to make sure you get the best out of a city—no matter how short your stay. Designed to be compact and collectable, they are also discerning; Monocle’s team won’t list a hundred places to eat but they will tell you where’s best for everything from some tasty fast food to something truly celebratory. Cities are fun. Let’s explore.