Rio de Janeiro Shopping Tips by sunlovey

Name of Shop: SALINAS

Salinas is smart. Their store is small, with a chic boutique-type feel and their bikinis are displayed in all their glory against crisp white walls. The quality of the fabric IS great. Everyone was right. And the fit... well, it's hot. I'm converted.

What To Buy: OK, so yes, everyone and their mother (well maybe not their mother!) is telling you, when in Rio, buy bikinis. At the same time they're telling you how much more skimpy/revealing they are. I had my doubts.

UNTIL I entered the Salinas store in Ipanema and fell head over heels in love with the cuts, colors and patterns of these Rio-based gems. And the price- well, you can order some of Salinas' styles from Victoria's Secret for $100-$125 a pop. In Rio, they were $100 REAL. So, about $38? And the selection was fantastic.

What To Pay: roughly $40 per bikini

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Theme: Women's Clothes
Phone: 21-2274-0644
Address: 547/204 Rua Visconde de Pirajá, 011-55

Name of Shop: Draco

There are a handful of cool little boutiques and surf shops along Rua Francisco Otaviano in the Arpoador area of Rio worth checking out. This area is right between Copacabana and Ipanema.

What To Buy: We ended up in Draco where Tim bought a really hip Rio T-shirt (with a cool font as I'm trying to show you in the image here) and I, a little wooden saint necklace.

You can buy surf boards, bathing suits, men's casual clothing, women's boutique-type clothing, flip flops, etc. etc. in this little area.

What To Pay: Prices are totally fair.

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Theme: Men's Clothes
Address: DRACO Rua Francisco Otaviano 55A

Name of Shop: If you run into rain while in Rio...

While in Rio we went to both Rio Sul and the São Conrado Fashion Mall.
My thoughts....

Rio Sul is crowded, lively, several floors of all sorts of shops very similar to a mall in NYC. Shops are a good deal for those of us coming from the U.S. or Europe. There are many many food options here and there is a movie theater. We had lunch at a nice little sandwich/salad place in the middle of the mall called Miss Baton, I recommend it! There are free transfers to Rio Sul from many Copacabana hotels. Otherwise it's like a 5 minute cab ride from Copa. The address is Av. Lauro Müller 116. The Web site is: www.riosul.com.br

We also visited the São Conrado Fashion Mall which features two inside floors and an upper somewhat outside floor of extremely posh/high end shops. For instance, Emporio Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, Kenzo, and Petit Lippe. We were in one store, Chocolate something or another and a pair of men's Earl Jeans were going for around $300+ when converted from reals. This mall isn't for the budget conscious. But it's beautifully laid out and has some nice restaurant choices and a movie theater. We took a cab to this mall too. Address: Estrada da Gávea 899

We didn't make it to Barra Shopping as it's pretty far out from Rio but it's supposed to be quite good too. Located at Barra da Tijuca- Av. das Américas 4666 www.barrashopping.com.br

What To Buy: I found jewelry to be priced well in Rio, you must buy bikinis, flip flops, great samba CDs...

It never occurred to me that all the clothes in the shops would be in preparation for Fall when we went in April (duh!). That was a disappointment for my shopaholic self as I wasn't about to buy sweaters and suede going into our summer here in Florida. Oh well! :-)

What To Pay: Much less than you do in the States or Europe for the most part.

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