Which area is the best to stay in? Which one has the best looking goratas, beach girls, termas, etc.. I was thinking about Impanema Inn but don't want to have to take a cab to Copacabana all the time if that's where all the action is? I'm leaving March 29th thru April 3rd. Anyone else gonna be there to show me the ropes on my first trip?

Copacabana is where all the action is. The terma Centaurus is located in Impanema. Read Bwana's guide, it explains just about everything.
CG

Lick,

You'll take a cab everywhere anyways, except during the daytime.

Why stay in Ipanema? Everthing is closed there after 10PM, so it's dark and all the police are in Copacabana to protect Rio's bread and butter, the tourists/mongers.

It's true that Ipanema is quite a bit quieter than Copacabana, but it does not shut down at ten. The businesses do, just as the businesses along NS de Copa do, but there are a number of areas crowded with restaurants and clubs in Ipanema and Leblon that go until 2-3 in the morning. I regularly walk over to Caffe Felice at midnight for my fix of coconut ice cream. And believe me, there are plenty of police wandering Ipanema to protect the wealthy citizens of that neighborhood. In fact, the place is safe enough that I regularly will go out on the beach with my garotas at 2 in the morning, something I would NEVER DO on Praia Copacabana.

In Copa, if you are getting mugged the police just watch until the deed is done, then will come over and take a report which they'll later wipe their ass with. In Ipanema, they intervene because the chances are that the victim might be an influential Brasilian who will raise hell if they don't. I feel way safer wandering around Ipanema than I do around Copa., but that's just my take.

I have a friend from Chicago who's been living in Ipanema the last 2 years and he's now selling his apartment to buy one in Copacabana and move there. The reason? He's been mugged and held-up 4 times already in Ipanema -- once, right in front of his apartment building.

There are 1 or 2 restaurants every single block on the beachfront of Copacabana all throughout Av Atlantica and they are open up to 3+ AM, while there are only two restaurants throughout the length of Av Vieira Souto, from Ipanema up to Leblon; and they are closed early.

I also walk at night in Ipanema to eat, have coffee, or go to a cybercafe but in Rua Visconde Piraja. I would never walk along Ipanema beachfront after sundown, there's just nothing there.

I just stayed at the Visconti on Prudente de Maraes for 4 nights, and loved the area. There is a club on the street at the corner, where the clock/temperature sign is, Rua Maria something or other, that runs from Souto inland and forms the west boundary of the park. All brasilian clientel and it was open very, very late.

I like Ipanema for that very reason - it is quiet, and you can walk around and not look like a monger tourist, and the girl you're with can walk around and not have everyone know she's a puta. I did see a few shady charactors leaning against a building here and there, but except for one guy who came up and asked for money (begger, not a mugger) I saw no touts, no scammers, no shit flingers, etc in Ipanema.

Maria Queiteira... also the name of one of my favorite Brazilian cigars! And personally, I like Ipanema/Leblon better than Copa for the exact same reasons - anyway, after dark you should be in a cab, not wandering around....

For those of you who want "the best of both worlds", stay in the Posto 6 section of Copacabana.

BS

Copacabana for Sex Tourism, Ipanema for partying.