Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (3-Day Version)

We arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Friday morning after a 9.5-hour red-eye flight from JFK and were ready to take on the day! The airport was very easy to navigate and we were able to get a rideshare pretty quickly.

We stayed at the Mirasol Copacabana Hotel and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful and pretty much everyone spoke at least some English. The room was small but was perfect for what we needed it for -- sleep and shower. The hotel's amenities were fantastic, including a complimentary buffet breakfast every morning, a rooftop pool and gym overlooking the city, beach, and Christ the Redeemer, and luggage storage if you wanted to explore the city or use the pool and wait for your room to be ready for check-in. They do offer early check-in, but our hotel was chock-full of Swifties and there were none available yet when we arrived at noon. The pool was a perfect temperature and they also offered a rooftop bar with various drinks!

On Friday night, we got dressed in our Eras and headed to the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos (famous for hosting the 2016 Rio Olympic Games) for Taylor Swift. The stadium is only about 35 minutes from the hotel so is easily accessible by rideshare or taxi.

We learned that the best way to sightsee around Rio was by booking tours. I booked two tours for our trip, one that was just a half-day tour of the Tijuca National Park and Botanical Garden and one that was an all day tour of Rio. On Saturday, we visited the Tijuca National Park and Botanical Garden. Since Rio is in the southern hemisphere, it's spring (almost summer) in November and the temperature got to about 109.5 this day. Definitely bring lots of water when you're walking around!

We were supposed to visit the waterfall inside the national park but since it was so hot, the park had reached its limit of visitors by noon and we weren't able to. If you're hoping to see the waterfall, definitely get there early (especially on a hot day)!

The Botanical Garden is located on a different side of the park and is absolutely breathtaking! It was so amazing to see the different flowers, plants, trees, and wildlife (including monkeys and tropical birds). Our tour guide Publio, through C2Rio Tours & Travel, was also really amazing and knew his information about the city and garden.

At night, we sat down for a DELICIOUS traditional Brazilian steakhouse meal at Churrascaria Palace. The food is all you can eat which includes a buffet of sides (the cassava au gratin was fantastic) and a variety of meats that waiters would walk around with and carve tableside whatever you wanted. I especially loved the filet mignon -- but who wouldn't?

After dinner we headed to the tattoo place directly next to our hotel that was offering an $80 ($16 US dollars) flash sale. While the tattoo artists barely spoke English, they were all extremely friendly, professional, clean, and inviting at Frater Tattoo Studio. It's the best permanent souvenir to take home with you!

Since our flight wasn't until almost midnight, we decided to take great advantage of the day and book a full-day tour which lasted about nine hours. Our company was City Rio Turismo and our guide Aldo was extremely knowledgeable.

Our first stop was Sugarloaf Mountain. In order to get to the top of Sugarloaf you need to purchase tickets for the cable cars (included with the tour), but the view of the city is 100% worth it. While we had a rainy morning, it was still a spectacular view of Rio.

After Sugarloaf we visited the Catedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro. This Mexican-inspired cathedral has gorgeous stained glass windows and is a very cool architectural stop to visit, even if you're not religious.

Before lunch, we visited the Escadaria Selarón (Selarón Staircase/Lapa Steps) which was created by Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón in 1990, and includes over 2000 tiles collected from over 60 countries around the world. We visited around noon and it was extremely busy. If you're not doing a tour, or you would like a picture with the steps completely empty, I would recommend coming early in the morning.

A great perk of the tour I chose was that lunch was included. We had lunch at a local Brazilian buffet which was absolutely delicious! I definitely recommend including lunch with your tour if you have the option! All we had to pay additional for was any beverage or dessert.

Last but not least was one of the best parts of the tour...getting to see the Christ the Redeemer statue. This iconic monument of Rio monument is one of the wonders of the modern world which stands at about 125 feet -- talk about tall! We rode our van up to the gift shop area where we then took a special van to the very top and then an elevator (or stairs) and then an escalator to the tippy top. The view overlooking the City of Rio was spectacular!

After the tour was over we were dropped back at our hotel and then had dinner at the OK GastroBar which had fabulous food and was right along the Copacabana (yes, I was singing Barry Manilow all weekend) beach! The staff was great, attentive, and knowledgeable. As someone gluten-free, I was worried about eating in a foreign country, but everyone was able to answer questions and knew what was available for me. Brazil was definitely a great place for someone who's gluten-free as dishes are typically served with rice and/or potatoes. The only downside was not eating ANY of the mouthwatering-looking pastries or desserts that were served in bakeries along the street.

We checked out on Sunday night and it was quick and easy!