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Shopping
Guide to Shopping in Rio
Rio shopping ranges from the elegant boutiques of Ipanema to the
bustling street markets held across the city. Shopping malls are
also highly popular with locals and an easy way to find everything
under one roof, including food and live music.
Note that public holidays and the period around Carnival may result
in shops and markets closing or operating limited opening hours.
Where to Shop
Best Areas
Rio de Janeiro's rich enclave can be found in the Ipanema district
and shops around here cater to the well-heeled people who live, work
and play around here. For elegant fashion items and accessories the
place to go is Rua Visconde de Pirajá in Ipanema. It is here that
jewellers H Stern and Amsterdam Sauer have their glittering
showrooms. Designer clothes and top-quality leather goods can be
obtained from the smaller malls on this street, such as Forum de
Ipanema where designer beachwear can also be found. Another street
housing stylish boutiques is Rua Nossa Senhora de Copacabana.
Markets
At the other end of the scale are the street markets or feiras where
stalls are packed with handicrafts and artwork. The best known is
the Feira Hippie, the Hippy Market, at Praça General Osório in
Ipanema where there are hundreds of stalls crowded with goods from
Rio and beyond. Open Sundays 09h00 to 18h00.
Another extremely popular market is the Feira Nordestino, the
Northeastern Market, where traditional goods from that region can be
haggled over. More than just a market, there's food, drink and live
music, all of it authentically regional in keeping with the theme.
Campo de São Cristóvão, Sun 06h00-15h00.
The Feirarte Copacabana near the beachfront is a popular place with
visitors looking for traditional souvenirs. The artists huddle over
their works, often working on their latest masterpiece as they sell
their other pieces. Plenty of paintings, woodcarvings and jewellery.
On Avenida Atlântica, Ipanema. Open: 19h00-00h00.
Malls
These huge malls offer not only a vast array of shops but useful
services such as post offices, pharmacies, children's entertainment
and food halls. The giant Rio Sul mall, Rio's oldest, can be found
at Av. Lauro Muller 116, Botafogo. Tel: +55 (0)21-2545-7256. Open
Mon-Sat, 10h00-22h00 and Sun 15h00-21h00.
Barra Shopping has over 400 shops as well as cinemas, a bowling
alley, medical centre and mini fairground for the kids. Barra
Shopping, Av. das Américas, Barra da Tijuca. Open Mon-Sat,
10h00-22h00 and Sun 15h00-21h00. For information: Tel: +55
(0)21-3089-1050. Both malls have courtesy buses that pick up from
the major hotels.
What to Buy
Rio is a shopper's heaven and literally everything is up for grabs
on its main streets and malls. However, there are a few things that
you should look out for, that make perfect souvenirs of a visit to
the city.
Gems
Brazil produces some of the most beautiful precious stones on earth
and H Stern and Amsterdam Sauer on Rua Visconde de Pirajá show them
off to best effect. The former offers a guided tour showing their
workshops while the latter has a reconstruction of a mine showing
how the gems are discovered.
Swimwear
You're in Rio and you want to look like a local, not someone's
Victorian cousin. This means a trip to one of the many beachwear
outlets for one of those skimpily cut suits. There's a vast
selection of styles and colours and a whole language to go with.
Forget bikinis, you'll soon be fluent in skinkinis, tankinis and a
few others. Try the famous Bum-Bum label for flattering little
numbers, or Salinas and Blueman for men and women.
Handicrafts
Most of the street markets offer a selection of artwork from across
the country. Best buys are wooden bowls, leather sandals, jewellery
and hand-printed sarongs. Pick up northeastern specialities such as
hand-woven hammocks, lace products and musical instruments from the
Feira do Nordestino.
Foods
It's highly unlikely that you'll be taking home mountains of
exquisite fruit and succulent cuts of meat that Brazil is famous
for, but there are some ingredients that will go a long way to
recreating some of the dishes. Dendê oil, used in Bahian cooking,
can be found at most supermarkets along with the all important and
fiery malagueta chilli sauce. Mixed seasonings for barbecued meats
can be bought in lightweight packets as can guaraná em pó, powdered
guarana from the Amazon region, an invigorating additive that gives
you a buzz.
Music
Music is an integral part of Brazil's culture; there's no escaping
it. And why would you want to? Music stores are everywhere; try
Saraiva, which has stores around the city and a megastore at Rio Sul
mall. There are often great bargains on older recordings.
A traditional musical instrument is an unusual and discerning
souvenir - if you can play it it's an added bonus. Try your hand at
a percussion instrument such as the berimbau, or the small
four-stringed cavaquinho, or something easier like the pandeiro, a
large tambourine often decorated with the Brazilian flag. If luggage
space is a problem, there's always the Carnival whistle. Check out
the street markets or specialist shops such as Maracatu Brasil at
Rua Ipiranga 49, Laranjeiras. Tel: +55 (0)21-2557-4754.
Opening Hours
General stores are open from 09h00-19h00 Mon- Fri and 09h00-13h00
Sat. Supermarkets are open from 08h00-22h00 Mon-Sat. Some open on
Sundays and a few are open 24 hours. Shopping centres generally open
from Mon-Fri 10h00-22h00. The largest shopping centres in Rio
including Barra Shopping and Rio Sul are also open on Sundays from
15h00-21h00.
Tax Refund
A refund of Sales Tax for tourists has recently been under
discussion by the Brazilian government but at present there is no
scheme whereby you can recover tax paid on goods or services while
in the country.
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