There are cities you visit and cities you live. Rio de Janeiro belongs firmly to the second category — and it makes that perfectly clear from the very first second. The humid heat that wraps around you as you leave the airport, the impossible green of the mountains peeking between buildings, a rhythm that is neither hurried nor lazy. That is Rio. And for a week like this, the right companion makes all the difference.
I travelled with the Prater backpack by Kraxe Wien — but Rio deserves the top billing in this story. The bag comes at the end, as every good companion should: always there when needed, never stealing the spotlight.
Rio de Janeiro brings together the casual, the sophisticated and nature
in an equation no other city in the world can replicate.
Ipanema, Leblon and the lightness of being carioca
Starting at the sea is inevitable. The beaches of Ipanema and Leblon are not just stretches of sand by the water — they are the pulsing heart of the city, the stage for a daily choreography that needs no rehearsal. Sun-bronzed skin, colourful sarongs, frescobol, the juice stand by the lifeguard post. Less is more: a carioca's make-up is the sun.
In Leblon, the surfers arrive early. Grumari calls those who want distance from the crowd — one of Rio's wildest and most beautiful beaches, almost a secret kept in plain sight. At Barraca Point Tropical 150, also in Leblon, the pace is different: an ice-cold beer, the view out to sea and a conversation that drifts effortlessly into the afternoon.
By bike, from Leme to São Conrado
One of the most memorable rides in the city follows the coastline from Leme all the way to São Conrado. Kilometres of smooth cycle path with the ocean on your right and the mountains to your left — a gift the city offers to anyone willing to pedal. In São Conrado, the MUSA Kiosk is a must-stop: one of those places you remember not just for the food, but for the feeling of belonging there, even if only for an hour.
The classics that never get old
Sugarloaf Mountain, Christ the Redeemer, the Botanical Garden, Parque Lage, Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas — they are classics for a simple reason: they are extraordinary. There is nothing clichéd about marvelling at Rio spread out below you from the Sugarloaf cable car, or walking through the Botanical Garden at dawn when light filters through the imperial palms and the silence is still unbroken. Parque Lage, with its palace reflected in the pool and the Tijuca rainforest rising directly behind it, looks like a film set — and it is real.
The Rio you eat and drink
The carioca invites you into the street. Rua Dias Ferreira in Leblon, Rua Arnaldo Quintela in Botafogo and Praça Santos Dumont in Gávea are small gastronomic universes where life simply happens. Braseiro da Gávea, Guimas, Rainha, Sushi Leblon, Chanchada — each with its own personality, all sharing the same typically carioca generosity.
In Catete, The Maze Rio is a delightful surprise: an Indian restaurant with live jazz or samba and, people say, the most beautiful view in the world. I am not about to argue.
The soul of carioca food lives on street corners. Any juice and sandwich bar, in any neighbourhood, at any hour, will serve you the best sandwiches, fresh juices and smoothies you can imagine. Democracy in its most delicious form.
And then there are the markets. The Urca Street Market, on Sundays at Praça Tenente Gil Guilherme, offers crispy pastéis, ice-cold sugarcane juice and a spontaneous samba circle that appears as if by magic. The Glória Market, also on Sundays, is another event you simply cannot skip. Still in Urca, at the end of the afternoon, Bar Urca on the seawall — with Sugarloaf as the backdrop — is one of those scenes memory keeps forever. And in Tijuca, Bar Miudinho is essential for anyone who wants to drink with real local flavour.
A centre that tells the story of a nation
Downtown Rio is not just the historical heart of a city — it is where Brazil took shape. The Paço Imperial and Praça XV, the breathtaking Royal Portuguese Reading Room, the exuberant Confeitaria Colombo, the majestic Municipal Theatre and the Museum of Fine Arts — each place is a chapter. The Golden Church - Igreja da Ordem Terceira de São Francisco da Penitência up on its hill, watches over everything with the serenity of someone who has seen a great deal and has much still to say. Every stone sings.
For shopping, nothing compares to Saara — that labyrinth of shops, colours and voices where getting a little lost is not just allowed but required.
The soul you hear: samba, jazz and theatre
Rio de Janeiro is a profoundly musical city. The music is not on stages — it is in the street, at the market, in the bar, on the staircase. The samba circles at the Urca and Glória markets are gatherings of people around musicians who play from memory and feeling, the pandeiro, cavaquinho and guitar talking to each other like old friends. You sense there that samba is not a performance — it is a way of life.
But Rio is also intimate jazz — like the kind you hear at The Maze in Catete, where the music drifts between tables and the night takes on another layer of depth. It is MPB in the bars of Dias Ferreira, forró improvised on a pavement, a voice that simply begins to sing and nobody finds that strange.
And then there is theatre. Rio has a vibrant, diverse theatre scene that surprises those who have not encountered it yet. From the grand Municipal Theatre — with its marble façade and an interior that rivals the great European theatres — to the more intimate venues scattered across the neighbourhoods, the programme rarely disappoints. Classic texts alongside contemporary drama, dance, opera, experimental performance. The carioca audience turns up, fills the seats and debates afterwards — with the same intensity they bring to analysing a football match.
Sunday at the Maracanã — the sacred ritual
Speaking of football: if there is a classic on Sunday, do not think twice. The Maracanã on a day when Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo or Vasco are playing is one of the most intense experiences any city can offer a visitor. This is not just football — it is liturgy. The stands fill up, the colours take over the streets long before kick-off, and the carioca turns those hours into a collective ritual that blends passion, humour, superstition and a surprising generosity towards outsiders.
The bars around the stadium fill early. Before the match it is fervent analysis, impossible predictions and cold beer sliding between one tactical breakdown and the next. After the final whistle — win or lose — it is pure catharsis. Victory is celebrated with the same noise with which defeat is mourned, and either way it always ends at someone's table, with another round and the match being replayed move by move.
Even for those with no allegiance to any club, watching a game at the Maracanã reveals something essential about Rio: this city does nothing by halves. And Sunday football is perhaps the place where that becomes most evident.
In Rio, music is not something you go to see. You find it —
on a street corner, in a circle, in the Maracanã stands
that sing even when the team is losing.
TRAVEL GEAR
Kraxe Wien Prater — the backpack Rio deserved
After a week like this — beaches, bikes, markets, theatres, samba circles, Maracanã stands, climbs up to Christ, walks through the historic centre — one thing became clear: the choice of backpack matters far more than you think before you leave home.
The Prater by Kraxe Wien was a quiet, perfect companion throughout every single one of those days. Not once did it create a problem. And in a place like Rio, where the day starts at the beach, passes through the city and ends in a bar or a theatre, that is everything.
Waterproof material
Tropical downpours, sea spray, Rio's humidity — nothing gets through. Your belongings stay dry and safe.
Effortless to clean
After a full day on the sand, just give it a shake — and it's as good as new, ready for wherever the afternoon takes you.
Compact but generous
Laptop, camera, change of clothes, a book, towel and Saara souvenirs all fit. A small miracle of organisation.
Dedicated laptop compartment
A well-protected sleeve for your computer — from Parque Lage to the hotel, it travels without a worry.
The real revelation was the material itself. In Rio, the beach is not a destination — it is a departure point. You leave the sand, give the Prater a shake, sling it over your shoulders and head to dinner on Dias Ferreira. No drama, no persistent grit contaminating everything inside. The material does not stain, does not absorb, does not hold smells. It is ready before you are.
Compact enough not to weigh on your shoulders during hours of walking through the historic centre, spacious enough to never force you to choose what to leave behind. The design is understated — it does not shout tourist, it does not draw unnecessary attention. In Rio, that matters too.
Travelling light is an art. Kraxe Wien understands that. The Prater was made for people who want to be present in their journey — not managing the logistics of it.
· · ·
Rio de Janeiro is a city of unpredictable magic. You can arrive with a plan — and you should arrive with a plan —
but the city will bend it, surprise you, take you somewhere you never expected.
With the Kraxe Wien Prater on your back, light and ready for anything,
the only thing left to do is say yes to whatever comes next.
This blog post could have been a book. Rio deserved one.
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