Brazil is hot and on the rise as an important economic powerhouse and as an exhilarating and good-times vacation destination. And why not? For Brazil is the giant of South America, not only its largest country covering approximately 50 percent of the entire continent—but a nation well-endowed with beautiful people and places. Brazil’s siren call is more than the bikini-clad girl from Ipanema or the razzle-dazzle of its famous Carnaval. Listen again for the raves about miles of spectacular beaches, baroque colonial towns, the awesome Amazon, and everywhere, the beat of the samba.

SAO PAULO
Some call her Brazil’s “Big Apple,” but Sao Paulo is bigger than New York—585 sq. miles and more than 12 million people. In fact, she’s South America’s largest metropolis, as well as the country’s corporate and industrial core. And because business is Sao Paulo’s business, it enjoys the fringe benefits of hosting most of Brazil’s best restaurants, nonstop nightlife, and hotels, such as the chic Fasano with its fabulous restaurant and rooftop spa, or another boutique-style property, the Emiliano. And everyone’s talking about the most recent addition to the “design” hotel scene—Unique, an elegantly modern marvel whose rooftop dining lounge, Skye, is a hot restaurant pick for Brazilian cuisine and grand city views. When Sao Paulo is not about business, it is about culture, for its museums add up to essential visits. Here, vacationers can enjoy a wonderful collection of Brazilian painting and sculpture at the Pinacoteca do Estado, as well as the Art Museum of Sao Paulo, known locally as MASP, whose exhibits of top Brazilian artists keep company with paintings from Rembrandt to Picasso. Visitors coming to MASP on Sunday mornings will find the antiques fair in progress under the museum’s arcades, and Sunday is also market day in Liberdade Plaza, overflowing with native crafts sold under tents in a mostly Japanese neighborhood. Monday to Saturday is the time to drop into the market hall of the Mercado Muncipal, an architectural triumph of skylights and stained glass windows illuminating stalls of fresh fish, ripe cheeses and fruit with strange names.

RIO DE JANEIRO
To just mention Rio’s name is to conjure up a kaleidoscope of picturepostcard images—the vertiginous outcrop of Sugar Loaf Mountain; the immense statue of Christ the Redeemer on the Corcovado (recently named to the New Seven Wonders of the World list); the dazzling strands of beaches; and the costumed extravaganza called Carnaval. Certainly, from sunrise to sunset, the action in Rio is focused on her beaches, forming crescents of white sand from Copacabana to Barra da Tijuca. And everyone loves to stay and play at one of Rio’s seaside hotels, perhaps the elegant Hotel Sofitel on Copacabana Beach, or Phillippe Stark’s Fasano on Ipanema, or the Marina All Suites on Leblon. Here, the choices are indeed many. And when the sun goes down, the cariocas step out for some marvelous food, including the southern Brazilian-style churrascaria, serving up all the meat one can eat at such local favorite haunts as Mariu’s and Porcao. Or, you can combine great food and excellent live music with a night out at Rio Scenarium in the Lapa district. A major part of Rio’s razzle-dazzle is the nightlife, and it doesn’t come more extravagant than at a Las Vegas-style samba revue, such as Plataforma. On the other hand, Rio is the place to step out on a Saturday evening to watch a samba school rehearsal for the annual Mardi Gras event called Carnaval. Take time out during your stay to walk about the Jardim Botanico, a 350-acre park with over 7,000 varieties of tropical plants, and certainly consider a good look around the exceptional Museum of Naive Art with its lovely collection of Brazilian folk paintings, as well as the funky Carmen Miranda Museum. And if you’re in town on a Sunday, head for some shopping bargains and fun at the Hippie Fair. Of course, good beaches are not limited to the bays of Rio and one of the favorite “escapes” from the cidade maravilhosa is Buzios, discovered in the 1960s by a bikini-clad Brigitte Bardot and now a low-key, rather secluded and fashionable haven for Rio socialites. In addition to lovely pousada accommodations and great restaurants, there are indeed some 17 sandy beach coves.

SALVADOR DE BAHIA
With a history dating to the early-1500s, Salvador was once the center of a lucrative sugar trade. The legacy of that wealth is a concentration of extravagant mansions, baroque churches and grand public buildings in the old city, called the Pelourinho, a UNESCO World Heritage site. In the past 20 years, major restoration efforts have been undertaken to dazzling effect. The waterfront, too, is undergoing a rebirth and is filled with a lively mix of first-class shops and restaurants. Lower and upper Salvador are connected by mass-transit elevators and the sights to see include the Museum of Sacred Art and the Afro-Brazilian Museum next to the Catedral Basilica. The elegant Pousada Convento do Carmo offers luxury in a former convent in the old city, while down by the sea, the new favorite is the deluxe Pestana Bahia. Dining on local cuisine, attending a folklore show, shopping in the giant Mercado Modelo and cruising to nearby islands are among the many special ingredients of a delicious visit to the place where Brazil was born.

MANAUS
More than 1,000 miles up the Amazon, Manaus is most famous for its magnificent opera house, the Teatro Amazonas, an extravagant 19th century testament to the legacy of the rubber-boom days. But of course it is the call of the wild that draws most international visitors, who come to take day trips from the city to explore the main waterways and tributaries of the Amazon basin, to take jungle walks in the rainforest and to stay at one of the many rustic but comfortable lodges. Actually, premier luxury accommodations in this corner of Amazonia are available at the colonial-style Tropical Manaus, a resort destination in itself right on the shores of the Rio Negro. The newest addition to this rainforest complex is the Tropical Manaus Business hotel. From the Amazon EcoPark Lodge, fairly close to Manaus, to the Juma Lodge and the Uakari Lodge, there are many excellent places to enjoy the full rainforest experience. Another option is to take a small boat expedition cruise for three or six days.

It Would Be a Shame to Miss...
Go north from Rio, overland or by air to Belo Horizonte and explore Brazil’s “Cities of Gold.” When the Portuguese colonizers arrived in Brazil, they didn’t all tarry along the country’s beaches, but headed inland south of Bahia where they found what they were looking for—gold, and in the 18th century, prospectors in the present state of Minas Gerais accounted for the export of 70 percent of the world’s gold production. Some of the golden wealth remained right here, to be placed over the ornate interiors of the baroque churches in the little cobblestone street-lined towns of Congonhas do Campo, Sao Joao del Rei, Tiradentes, Ouro Preto (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and Mariana. Their treasures add up to a great colonial heritage circuit, with lovely pousadas along the way. Brazil’s Amazon Basin extends far south and west to the wondrous vacation wilderness called the Pantanal, not a forested jungle but a low-lying flood plain covering an 89,000-sq.-mile area that is the largest nature reserve in South America. The region’s diversity of wildlife is remarkable: giant river otters, capybaras, anteaters, marsh deer, tapirs and some 650 bird species, including jabiru storks and roseate spoonbills. Birds and animals are easier to see here than closer to the Amazon River mainstream, with the best season for nature safaris from April through October. From Sao Paulo, fly to Cuiaba to visit the northern area, where the Araras Eco Lodge is a top choice to stay. Fly to Campo Grande to explore southern Pantanal, where Refugio Ecological Caiman is the most deluxe place to be.

Celebrations for All Seasons
Jan.: Be in Salvador de Bahia on the second Thursday for Lavagem do Bonfi m, one of the most colorful Bahian festivals.
Feb. 13-16: Circle those dates for Carnaval in Rio or Salvador or Recife in 2010.
Apr. (late) through May: Amazonas Opera Festival in Manaus.
Aug.: Go to lovely and historic Paraty anytime, but perhaps plan for the third weekend of the month for the Festival de Pinga, honoring Brazil’s well-known drink cachaca, made from sugar cane.
Oct.: Blumenau in southern Brazil celebrates its German heritage during Octoberfest.
Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve in Rio is the time for Reveillon on Copacabana Beach.