URBAN BEACH 1

01 – Rio, BRAZIL

No other city can match Rio’s jaw-droppingly dramatic landscape, framed by long golden beaches. Ipanema is where the beautiful people come to pose and party, and the most desirable section where the smart local set hangs out is Posto 9, off Rua Vinicius de Moraes. Try the cheese on sticks (such as halloumi – low-fat and friendlier to bikini-conscious bodies) roasted in a mini brazier and rolled in herbs. Wash it down with a crushed ice acai drink or lethal Caipirinha Maracuja (passion fruit).
If guys are brave enough to ditch the baggy boardshorts (too touristy) and wear a ’sunga’ (Brazilian tight lycra swimshorts) there’s a great stall on the beach at Poste 8 (the gay area). Swimming can be dangerous (Ipanema means something along the lines of ‘dangerous currents’) so it can be difficult to get back to shore if you swim out beyond the breaking waves.
Top tip: if this happens to you on a busy weekend, swim over to other people in same situation and wait for helicopter rescue – the rescue service drops a net into the ocean that scoops people up and deposits them rather ungraciously on shore. For less risky fitness thrills, go for a jog along the pavement of neighbouring Leblon and bump barely-there bikinis with a very honed, toned and tanned array of body-conscious sunseekers. (It gets more family orientated around there, towards Poste 10).
And while Copacabana, which is only a hop and skip up the coast, may have once been worth singing about, today it is too touristy – try and avoid. (There tend to be more unsavoury characters hanging about here waiting for people to go in the sea and then rob their possessions too – this happens less on Ipanema as it’s so wide and full of friendly eagle eyed locals.)
If you really want to make the most of the coast, hire a bicycle and do a beach crawl. Sundays are especially good for this as cars are banned during the day on the Ipanema beach road.