The city's name is exciting in itself but throw in the world famous sights of Sugar Loaf Mountain, Christ the Redeemer and Copacabana beach and it is impossible not to be excited about visiting Rio de Janeiro! Not for the first time in the last 7 months, expectation was high....and yet again we wouldn't be left disappointed.

Rio is set to host the 2014 World Cup and the Olympic games just 2 years later. Maybe this has contributed to our very different experience of the city to the dirty and dangerous reputation we read about prior to our visit. Vigilance and caution was advised essentially anywhere in a city where muggings, armed robberies and gang violence is commonplace! Yes, like any large city in the world, it is important to be careful and use common sense, but not unlike other places we have visited where concerns for safety are prevalent, we saw absolutely no sign of this so called 'dangerous' reputation. Instead, we found a relaxed city of glamour and excitement, quite literally oozing cool!

Perhaps the 'changed' Rio de Janeiro and impending large sporting events have also contributed to the costs. Rio is the most expensive city we have visited across South America and the cost of hostels & hotels even rivals the expensive Singapore and Sydney dwellings earlier in our trip.

A volcanic landscape of strange shaped lumps of rock, green jungle and rocky islands jutting from the glistening blue ocean, surrounds the city providing a dramatic setting. The conical shaped 400m high granite rock of Sugar Loaf mountain is visible the whole length of Copacabana beach and inland the sheer slopes of the 700m Mt Corcovado dominates the mountain range.

Towering 700m over the city on the summit of Corcovado hill is the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue. In order to reach this viewpoint a tediously slow (1hr) but efficient bus service transported us from Copacabana to the tram station at Cosme Velho. From here a red tram completed the steep journey through dense jungle to the top of the mountain in about 20 mins. Facing downtown the impressive monument stands with open palms blessing and watching over the city. Equivalent to the height of a 13 story building, it is the biggest art deco monument in the world.

Taking 10 years to complete, Christ the Redeemer was finished in 1931 to mark the centenary of Brazil's independence from Portugal. The collaborative build with effort from different sculptors responsible for the head, face and hands was funded mainly from donations of the city parishioners.

On this occasion the weather had finally let us down, with low cloud only allowing momentary glimpses of the statue and views of the city. When the cloud did lift, the views below across the Lagoon to the beaches of Ipanema and Leblon & the further Sugar Loaf mountain were sensational. Looking over the city, my eyes were naturally drawn to the perfectly circular shaped 'Maracana' football stadium. However, much to Sally's disappointment, visiting the 85,000 seater open air stadium was not possible as it is currently closed for renovation in preparation for the World Cup.

Although not so lucky with the weather on Mt Corcovado, the blue skies had returned on our visit to Sugar Loaf mountain. The summit is only reachable by cable car via the midway hill, 'Morro da Urca'. On learning we could walk up to the halfway point, we obviously took on the 30 min trek through the jungle. However, we still haven't learned anything from the other countless similar excursions into humid jungle and forgot to take a towel leaving ourselves in desperate search of a breeze, before taking the cable car the remaining 3 minutes to the top! The viewpoint was worth the toil and fluid loss with staggering 360 degrees of the ocean, islands, Copacabana beach, the city below and Christ the Redeemer perched on top of the overlooking mountains.

The world famous beaches of Rio are as clean, seaweed and litter free as any we have seen. Perfect fine golden sand leads to a clean and refreshing ocean that even throws up a few waves to keep the swimmers entertained. The crescent shaped Copacabana beach stretches 6km to the fort that separates it from the more upmarket Ipanema area. Scrupulous research had suggested that a location between these two beaches would be the ideal and we found an apartment that fitted the billing perfectly!

Both Ipanema and Copacabana beaches are very similar with no shortage of joggers and fantastic full on matches of beach volleyball or keepy upies. It isn't difficult to see where the Brazilian 'samba' football emanates from in a country that is dominated by both beaches and the perfect climate for enjoying them all year round. Football is engrained from a young age and such is the high level of skill on show, occasionally even my eyes were diverted away from the other plentiful beach sights!

Brazil not only has a reputation for football but also for perfectly shaped, bronzed, speedo or tiny bikini wearing locals. This is happily very true but it has to be said that the beach goers regardless of age, shape and size all have the same ethos where 'less is more'! Ideal as this may sound, it is not always pleasing on the eye as some locals do appear to be wearing the same bikini they did when they were 30 years younger and/or maybe 6 sizes smaller!

Upon arrival in Rio, it became obvious what Brazilians favourite pastime was, when the majority of Rio's 10 million population descended on the beach for Easter weekend. Interestingly beer o'clock is immediately after the sunshade is up and the virtual nudity is revealed. Time it appears is irrelevant and can be as early as 9.30am!

The promenade and road that stretches the length of the coastline is equally clean and tidy and again full of scantily clad people on bikes, roller blades or skateboards. When the adjacent road is closed on Sundays or public holidays it is even more abundant in active life. The frequent exercise stations are not graffiti ridden or lying in ruin as you may expect in the UK, but instead constantly in use by overly athletic speedo wearing locals performing dips, pull ups and any other manor of muscular based pose.

The large lagoon of Rodrigo de Freitas which lies just seven blocks behind Ipanema beach is another sporting paradise. Where the blue lagoon itself will presumably be the likely home of the majority of water sports in 2016, the surrounding paths currently provide another perfect venue for running and cycling. Sandwiched between the lagoon and beach are the tidy tree lined streets and trendy shops and bars of Ipanema. Even in this more upmarket shopping area you will however, still see glamorously dressed women clutching Gucci handbags walking alongside men in Speedos, on any weekday afternoon!

This trip has reminded me that I'm not a big city person and although Rio is just that, with it's beach resort feel and virtually endless coastline it doesn't act like a big city. Admittedly we didn't venture too far downtown, frankly due to a total lack of inclination to drag ourselves around more city sights (we can save those for 2014!) as at this stage of our trip, the lure of the beach under perfect blue skies was just too strong!

Brazil had already thrown up the unbelievable Iguacu falls as a late contender for highlight of the trip following this with a claim for the accolade our favourite city. In contrast to it's overseeing statue, Rio de Janeiro wins this prize....'hands down'!

After such an amazing 7 months traveling around the world, we couldn't have chosen a better place to end our adventure!.....so now with a little sadness mixed with excitement the day has arrived when we will pack our backpacks for the final time and fly home!