A Rio day from Santa Teresa's cobbles to a Lapa samba club

The revived yellow bonde trams rattle up the cobbled streets of Santa Teresa from central Rio. Ride from Largo da Carioca to the top. A small café at the terminus serves strong coffee and pão de queijo.

The 250 steps covered in ceramic tiles by Chilean artist Jorge Selarón — over two thousand tiles from sixty countries. Walk up slowly; the reds and blues change as you climb, and the landings have the most personal tiles.

Cobbled lanes lined with mansions painted different colours. Galleries, bookshops, tiny bars spilling onto the street. Walk the length of Rua Almirante Alexandrino; it winds up the hillside without a map.

A restaurant in a garden terrace overlooking Guanabara Bay. Order a picanha (grilled rump steak), feijão tropeiro (beans, farofa, collard greens), a caipirinha to start. Lunch is the value move; dinner prices climb.

The most in-vogue stretch of Ipanema sand. Rent an umbrella and two chairs for about 30 reais; order a caipirinha and a plate of queijo coalho grilled on a skewer from a walking vendor.

A rocky promontory between Ipanema and Copacabana. At sunset Cariocas gather and applaud as the sun drops behind the Dois Irmãos mountains. Twenty minutes, then dinner somewhere nearby.

A three-floor samba club in a 19th-century antique warehouse. Dance floor on the ground, band visible from all three, antiques literally hanging from the ceiling. Arrive after 21:00 — the music and the crowd build together.