at a glance

the zona sul (south zone) is where the city's most famous beaches are located, and where, during carnival, some of the most internationally popular street parties take place, and every new year's eve the fireworks light up copacabana - furthermore, the zona sul is ideally located between the center of the city, which is home to the most historical buildings, museums and cultural centers of rio, and the zona oeste, which is home to some wonderful nature reserves.

this, and the amount of touristic and multi-lingual services on offer here, makes zona sul the most popular zone for travellers to base themselves during a stay in rio, hence, the zona sul of rio is home to biggest range of accommodation options.

copacabana is where most of the hotels are located, catering for low-budget to luxury establishments, this is the neighborhood where most short term visitors choose to stay while in rio - ipanema offers an equally wide variety of housing, both in term of hotels and apartments, with prices slightly higher than copacabana's.

while copacabana and ipanema are the most common choices, other neighborhoods in the zona sul can be extremely rewarding - joa is home to fabolous boutique hotels, while flamengo and glória pride themselves of a high-quality and lower priced hotel portfolio.