Rio de Janeiro (city)/Centro

From World travel guide

Rio's Centro (Downtown) has most of the churches and museums of the city, including the Modern Art Museum, as well as many bars. In fact, Lapa is one of the most thrilling places to be in Rio after dark, with streets full of people, not to mention the bars, all placed in historical buildings (most of them from the early 1800s). In Lapa you can hear typical Brazilian music such as samba, forró, and choro. And it's the place to try typical food and, especially, drinks like the world famous caipirinha.

See

• Metropolitan Cathedral, Avenida República do Chile, 245. Resembles a gigantic conical spaceship made of concrete. Either that or a reject from Brasilia.
• The Lapa Viaduct carries streetcars on their way up to Santa Teresa

Buy

Centro is very well know for the neighborhood known as Saara. Nothing to do with the desert, it has its name after an association of small shop owner's that established there on the early 1900's, most of them from the Middle East and Jews from Eastern Europe. There are also lots of Chinese businesses. Today, it has a wide variety of shops, selling almost anything. From trousers to gum, from licorice to Carnival costumes, you can find virtually everything on the always crowded - yet peaceful - pedestrian-only parallel streets. A very popular tour during weekdays, but be on time. After 6 o'clock the shops close and the once filled streets are now empty.