Rio de Janeiro - Nightlife

Rio has countless bars and clubs: you could easily spend the whole night dancing and drinking seven days a week.

The best area in Rio to go out is Lapa. Its many bars and clubs offer a selection of musical styles, with an emphasis on samba and choro. North-eastern rhythms such as forró can be found in the Feira de São Cristóvão, or the Casa Rosa in Laranjeiras. Clubs such as the Fosfobox in Copacabana and the Casa da Matriz in Botafogo concentrate on DJs spinning rock, pop, reggae, soul, funk, hip-hop and electro.

Praça Mauá in the Centro district is dotted with bars and late night movement, although some of this is of a slightly seedy nature. With a bit of luck you can catch a rehearsal of the local bloco (carnival troupe), known as Escravos da Mauá, which is active year-round.

Copacabana has a lively bar and club scene, including several gay clubs at the Avenida Atlântica end. During summer, many free concerts take place on stages on the beach. Note that the area around Rua Prado Júnior is a red light district where the majority of bars are of the strip joint variety.

Bars close between 1am and 3am. For late-night partying, head for Lapa.

Sit back in a bar to Aquele abraço (That Hug) by Gilberto Gil, hear Cidade Maravilhosa (Marvellous City) by André Filho at the carnival, and listen to the bossa nova strains of Garota de Ipanema (The Girl from Ipanema) in the Bar Garota de Ipanema, where Tom Jobim and Vinícius de Morais composed the song in 1962.