With no doubt, the top tourist attractions in Rio de Janeiro are two world famous beaches: Copacabana and Ipanema, which every year get crowded with people from the four corners of the world.
In Copacabana beach every year millions of people gather to celebrate the New Year, a major event in Rio de Janeiro, only second to the Carnival. Entrance in free and security in guaranteed. People comes dressed in white and toast the arrival of the new year together with friends and total strangers.
The Carnival is maybe the most famous tourist attraction in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the most traditional event in Brazil. Parades along every streets of the city enliven Rio de Janeiro for four days, to the rhythm of samba. Art, music and entertainment blend together in this enchanting event as anywhere else.
As for buildings in Rio de Janeiro, a most significant one is the Biblioteca Nacional (National Library), set up in 1810 by the King of Portugal. The library includes over 9 millions books and it is rated as the seventh largest library in the world.
Another important building and must see tourist attraction is the Theatro do Rio, founded in 1909 by the architect Francisco Pereira Passos, who got inspiration from the Paris Opera of Garnier. The building looks majestic and the interior are sumptuous. On the top there are a couple of statues of women representing Poetry and Music. In the theatre you may enjoy many well-known opera and ballet performances and listen to classical music.
The Botanical Garden, the Brazilian Academy of Letters, the National History Museum and the National Museum of Fine Arts are among the many other tourist attractions really worth to be visited when in Rio de Janeiro.
Finally, Rio de Janeiro is going to be the host city of two major events in the next years: the 2014 Fifa World Cup, with the final likely to be held at Maracaña Stadium, and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, for which Rio de Janeiro would become the first South American city to host the games.