Rio de Janeiro is the most visited city in the southern hemisphere, owing at least partially to the 2,000,000 people that pour into its streets, hotels, clubs and restaurants each year for Rio's legendary Carnival celebration, but any time is a good time to visit Rio, and revelers flock to this exhilarating city to enjoy its stunning vistas, perfect weather, sizzling nightlife, and fabled white sand urban beaches with alluring names like Copacabana, and Ipanema, that evoke samba music, and a uniquly Brazilian sensuality. ... more

Rio de Janeiro is the most visited city in the southern hemisphere, owing at least partially to the 2,000,000 people that pour into its streets, hotels, clubs and restaurants each year for Rio's legendary Carnival celebration, but any time is a good time to visit Rio, and revelers flock to this exhilarating city to enjoy its stunning vistas, perfect weather, sizzling nightlife, and fabled white sand urban beaches with alluring names like Copacabana, and Ipanema, that evoke samba music, and a uniquly Brazilian sensuality.

Other famous landmarks here include the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer ('Cristo Redentor') perched at the top of Corcavado Mountain, and Rios's most recognizable natural monument, Sugarloaf mountain (Pão de Açúcar) with its network of cable cars straddling the ocean and the Baia de Guanabara.

Rio has been selected to host, both the final match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the 2016 Summer Olympics, the first South American country to ever be so honored, so in a city already passionate about sports, especially futball, one could assume that the parties have already started and will continue through 2016, unless that is Brazil wins the World Cup. In that case, all predicitions are off.

Rio de Janeiro is without question a city that people just love to visit, and the reasons for this are as inexhaustible as things to do in this electrifying city, With four and five star accommodations lining Rio's beachfront strips, and stylish boutiques available in its historic Harbor District, Rio make a perfect centaral hub for connections to and from just about all of Brazil's spectacular destinations. Our featured Rio itineraries, can help show you how to link the "Marvelous City," as it is know in Brazil, with the rest of this remarkable country. Samba anyone?  (close)

Situated on the east bank of the Rio de la Plata which separates Uruguay from Argentina, Montevideo is the hub of commerce, education and tourism in the small, but dynamic country of Uruguay. ... more

Situated on the east bank of the Rio de la Plata which separates Uruguay from Argentina, Montevideo is the hub of commerce, education and tourism in the small, but dynamic country of Uruguay. The streets are lined with European style coffee houses, and the city is famous for its outdoor markets and mouth watering barbeque. The Ciudad Vieja area, where most of Montevideo's travelers gather to enjoy the city's oldest architecture, museums, art galleries, nightclubs, and the café's and restaurants and shops of the Mercado del Puerto.

There are also colorful neighborhoods, flea markets, the central Plaza Independencia, and the scenic Ramblaa, a waterside roadway for biking, fishing, drinking mate, and enjoying 13.6 miles of great views along Montevideo's lovely waterfront.

Accommodations in Montevideo include lavish international chains as well as local boutiques, and our flexible itineraries and help you link any of Uruguay's most exciting destinations as well as its neighbors in Argentina, Brazil and the rest of Latin America.  (close)