Rio de Janeiro, Properly

Rio rewards timing more than any city I know. The same beach is transcendent at seven in the morning and unbearable at one in the afternoon. The same viewpoint is the best thing you will ever see, or a queue in cloud. Getting this right is most of the work.

What follows assumes four days, which is the minimum that makes the flight worthwhile, and a base in the beach neighbourhoods rather than the centre.

The Beaches, by the Clock

Copacabana belongs to the early morning. Between six and eight it is a genuine civic space: swimmers, walkers, elderly men playing volleyball with astonishing competence, the whole crescent still cool. By midday it is hot and busy and you should be elsewhere.

Ipanema is the late afternoon beach. Head for the stretch between postos nine and ten around four or five, when the light goes gold and the whole city seems to arrive. Stay for sunset at Arpoador, the rock at the eastern end, where people applaud when the sun goes down. It sounds unbearable and it is genuinely lovely.

Rent a chair and umbrella from a beach vendor rather than carrying your own. It costs very little, they will bring you cold drinks all afternoon, and the whole arrangement is a pillar of local etiquette.

The Two Hills

Corcovado, with the statue, and Sugarloaf, the cable car. Both are worth doing and both are ruined by cloud, so watch the forecast and go the moment you get a clear morning rather than saving them for a planned day.

Corcovado is best very early, ideally on the first train of the day, before the coach parties and before the cloud builds. Sugarloaf is better at the other end, an hour or so before sunset, so that you ride up in daylight and come down over a lit city.

Buy timed tickets online for both. The queues at the ticket windows are the single biggest waste of time available to a visitor to Rio.

Santa Teresa and Lapa

Santa Teresa is the hill neighbourhood of cobbled streets, colonial houses and artists' studios, and it is where to spend a slow afternoon. Take the restored bonde tram up if it is running. Eat lunch somewhere with a terrace and a view down over the centre.

Below it, Lapa is where Rio goes out. The arches are the landmark, the samba clubs around them are the reason to come, and Friday and Saturday are when it happens. Go with somebody who knows the city if you can, keep your phone in your pocket, and take a taxi both ways.

Eating

Do the churrascaria once, understand that it is enormous, and go hungry. More interesting is the botequim tradition, the corner bars serving cold beer and small plates, which is where Rio actually eats. Order the bolinho de bacalhau and a very cold chopp.

Sunday feijoada is a genuine institution and effectively occupies an entire afternoon, which is the intended effect. Plan nothing afterwards.

Staying Sensible

Rio has real crime and pretending otherwise helps nobody. The practical version: carry a small amount of cash and one card, leave the watch in the safe, use a cheap phone on the street, take taxis or apps after dark rather than walking, and stay off the beaches at night entirely.

Do this and you will almost certainly have no trouble at all. The city is far less frightening than its reputation and considerably more welcoming than most visitors expect.