Rio is one of their biggest playgrounds. Pick a beach -- Copacabana to Ipanema -- and stare at topless women all day. Of course, this is all a prelude to when the fun begins at night. Slip into any of the city’s nightclubs to grind with Brazil’s best over-pounding bass lines and bossa nova. Rio also makes our sin cities list because it has legal brothels with a menu of services. To truly experience Rio, however, visit during its annual Carnaval, a weeklong festival of parades, music and masquerades that brings Rio’s flesh and fantasy culture to a boiling point. Bring plenty of sun and fun protection.
If there is one place in the world offering every single earthly delight any sane person could want, Rio de Janeiro is it. Sprawling beaches, beautiful people, parties 24/7 and people living life at full tilt is what this Brazilian city of seven million is all about. The Marvelous City, as it is often called, is the cultural, financial and fashion center not only of Brazil, but of the whole South American continent as well.