Hello! I have posted multiple travel blogs already, but now is the time to begin describing the biggest journey of my entire life. You have seen a sneak peek at it with the Tubiacanga post, but this series will be much more happy-go-lucky! I expect it to last probably all the way until the end of January, as I have tons of photos and stories from this trip. It is a month in the state of Rio de Janeiro!

My first post will be about the beaches of the city of Rio. I figured for the beginning of this series, it will be best to get in a truly chill short blog with some great views. Let's dive in!

While there are tons of beaches in Rio de Janeiro, in this case I will focus on the three that I had the time to go to for a whole day. This way I can actually tell you my experience and not just google whatever facts there are - you can always do that one yourself. In general, Rio is a great place to sunbathe in and the water feels great to be in, so ANY beach is fantastic.

Praia Copacabana

Sadly, I don't have a great picture of just the views on the beach - Copacabana was the first one we visited and we were still a little confused with everything in Rio. I also ended up sticking a part of my finger on like half the ones we took.

Praia Copacabana is the famous one that everyone has heard of. It is extremely long, but is also located in both a densely inhabited as well as incredibly touristy neighbourhood. This leads it to be crowded at every part of the long stretch of sand.

Of course, we knew that and expected it, so we did not have high expectations. Overall, we liked Copacabana the least out of the three beaches we went to - the photo is a little deceitful regarding how many people they were, as we were lucky to be able to only catch this amount during the shoot!

Even though I said it is the praia number three out of three.. It was still amazing! The weather, the sand as well as the water just make every beach in Rio worth visiting.

Praia Ipanema

Ever heard The Girl From Ipanema? Well, it was from this Ipanema (the neighbourhood)! The beach of Ipanema is only very slightly less crowded than Copacabana, but it is still full of people. It has some beautiful views wherever you look - although that can be said of nearly everywhere within Rio de Janeiro.

Our time on Ipanema was enjoyable due to the sun, the sand and the water. It is quite similar to Copacabana as it is essentially a prolongation of that beach, just in another neighborhood, but it is still considered its own. We even visited them both within the same weekend!

Praia Vermelha

Praia Vermelha translated to English is called the red beach. It is a tiny stretch of sand which might just be the most underrated place in Rio. It is squished between hills and mountains. As you can see on the photo above - it is right next to the Sugarloaf!

If you thought that the views on previous beaches were good.. Well, Praia Vermelha is set in an absolutely breathtaking scenery, while also being fairly unknown - there are not that many people on the beach, especially if we take into consideration its size.

Here is the other side of the beach - even more lush greenery, hills and great views. As I said.. Wherever you look, you can marvel at the beauty of Rio - one of the most beautiful cities in the world!

All in all, I would recommend trying out all the beaches, but if you only have time for one.. Ignore the big ones like Copacabana and come to Vermelha instead. It is small and cosier - it will obviously still be fairly full at most times, but the views you will experience will make you forget there are any people at all. On top of that, you'll be close to Sugarloaf, so why not do some sunbathing in the morning followed by a good hike in the afternoon? But I'll show some Sugarloaf itself and more great hiking spots in Rio in one of my next posts, so stay tuned!