🇳🇱 Amsterdam → 🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro · 1 week

Take the Sugarloaf cable car at dusk — the second stage arrives at the summit just as the city lights flicker on over Guanabara Bay, and the crowd thins significantly compared to midday. Buy tickets online to skip the queue.

Walk up to the Mirante Dona Marta viewpoint (free, accessible by taxi or on foot through Santa Teresa) at dawn for the most dramatic angle of Christ the Redeemer with the city below — and none of the selfie-stick crowds at the statue itself.

Spend a Friday night in Pedra do Sal, the informal birthplace of samba in Rio — it's an open-air square in Gamboa where locals gather from around 19:00, bring beer and street food, and the drumming starts spontaneously. No entrance fee, entirely authentic.

Eat a classic feijoada on a Saturday lunch at Restaurante Aprazível in Santa Teresa — the traditional day for this black bean and pork stew, served with caipirinha and a view over the jungle canopy. Book a table on the terrace a week ahead.