With its quaint architecture and cobbled streets, Armação dos Búzios, popularly known as Búzios, combines an old-world village charm with a sophisticated offering of boutiques, restaurants, and spas. Once a simple fishing village, it grew to its status as an upscale and fashionable tourist destination after French actress Brigitte Bardot visited with her Brazilian boyfriend in the early ‘60s. Situated on a jutting peninsula roughly two hours from Rio de Janeiro, Búzios’s west beaches offer clear, calm waters and gorgeous views, while the east side facing the open ocean draws water-sports enthusiasts from far and wide.
A dynamic coastal neighbourhood synonymous with leisure, luxury and nightlife, Copacabana is characterised by million-dollar penthouses, stunning neoclassical buildings and tiny apartments set against a magnificent backdrop of jungle-clad mountains in Rio de Janeiro. From its humble origins as a small fishing village, the "Princess of the Sea" is now a leisure seeker's paradise, bursting with restaurants, nightclubs, bars and hotels, and emits a lively, effervescent energy, perfect for the social traveller. To learn its history, visit Forte de Copacabana, a fort and museum that traces the early days of the Portuguese colony through to the mid-19th century. Art enthusiasts will appreciate a visit to The Eva Klabin Foundation (Casa Museu Eva Klabin), a historical home of famous art and antique collector Eva Klabin that houses over 1000 art pieces from all over the world. A visit to Copacabana is incomplete without the world-famous Copacabana Beach, a 4-kilometre stretch of golden sand dotted with brightly-coloured umbrellas, bars and a popular playground for watersports, football, volleyball, or simply lazing in the sun.
