Rio de Janeiro has had its fair share of ups and downs over the last few decades, and that story is worth knowing before you pack your flip flops. The city went through a rough patch in the eighties and nineties, crime rates soared, the famous beach culture took a bit of a battering, and many locals with money moved out to the suburbs or São Paulo. Then came the turnaround years. Rio won the right to host the 2016 Olympics, and for a while there the whole world had its eyes on the place. Billions got poured into infrastructure, new metro lines appeared, the port area got a facelift and a shiny new museum shaped like a spaceship (the Museum of Tomorrow, if you're wondering). Sure, the Olympics came and went, and the city has since had to deal with economic wobbles and political dramas that would fill a soap opera, but the beaches never really stopped being glorious. Zika scares, water quality debates, the odd controversial World Cup back in 2014, none of it managed to dent what makes Rio special. These days the city feels like it's settling into a more honest version of itself. Less trying to impress the world, more about just being Rio.

If you've never been, the first thing that hits you is the geography. Rio isn't just near the beach, it IS the beach. The whole city is strung along a stretch of Atlantic coastline so beautiful it almost feels staged. You have these dramatic green mountains, including the famous Sugarloaf, jutting straight up out of the urban sprawl, and then this long, lazy curve of golden sand running alongside a wide boulevard known as the orla. It's the kind of place where people don't ask if you're going to the beach, they ask which beach you're going to.

Let's start with the big one. Copacabana. Four kilometres of sand framed by that famous black and white wave pattern pavement, the calçadão, which has become one of the most recognisable promenades on the planet. Walking along it at sunrise is something else. You get joggers and cyclists and old men playing footvolley (exactly what it sounds like, football crossed with volleyball, and yes, they're absurdly good at it), while fishermen cast their lines off the rocks and the smell of strong coffee drifts out of the beachfront kiosks. By mid-morning the place is buzzing. Vendors wander past selling everything from grilled cheese on a stick (queijo coalho, get one, thank me later) to caipirinhas served out of a styrofoam cooler. The water here is decent for a swim, though it can get choppy, and the crowd is a brilliant mixed bag, locals, tourists, kids, grandmas, everyone jumbled together. It's crowded, sure, but in a good way. Like a party where everyone's invited.

Then you have Ipanema, just next door and arguably even prettier, with the Two Brothers mountains rising at the far end like a postcard that got tired of being subtle. Ipanema has a slightly more polished feel. The crowd skews younger and trendier, the beach gets divided into informal territories (each posto, or lifeguard tower, has its own crowd, and if you know, you know), and the sunset here is legendary. When the sun starts dipping, people gather at Arpoador, the rocky point between Ipanema and Copacabana, and when it finally drops below the horizon everyone claps and cheers. It sounds a bit cheesy. It isn't. It's genuinely one of those simple moments that stays with you.

If you want something a bit quieter, head to Leblon, which continues the sweep of sand past Ipanema. It's leafier, more residential, and the beach tends to attract families and a slightly older crowd. The water is usually a touch cleaner too. Further afield you've got options like São Conrado, where hang gliders come swooping down from the hillside and landing on the sand (you can actually do a tandem jump yourself if your nerves are up to it), and Barra da Tijuca, a whopping eighteen kilometres of beach out west that feels almost empty compared to the famous zones. Barra's got a more American vibe, wide roads, shopping malls, big apartment blocks, and it's where a lot of the city's wealthier residents live. Surfers love it because the waves are better out there.

And here's the thing about Rio's beaches, they're not just for swimming. They're the city's living room. People work out there, do business there, eat lunch there, take naps there. You'll see groups playing frescobol, which is this brilliant Brazilian invention involving wooden bats and a small rubber ball and absolutely no mercy. You'll see capoeira circles on the sand at weekends, the drums and singing drawing a crowd. Beach culture here isn't a gimmick for tourists, it's the actual rhythm of daily life, and slipping into it is the single best thing you can do as a visitor.

Now, where to stay. Rio has accommodation for pretty much every budget, though what you get for your money varies a lot depending on where you are. In Copacabana and Ipanema you've got everything from grand old hotels right on the seafront to small family-run guesthouses tucked up the side streets. The classic Copacabana Palace is the famous one, all white and glamorous, the kind of place where movie stars have been staying since the 1920s. It's not cheap, not even close, but even if you're not staying there it's worth wandering in for a drink just to soak up the old-school glamour. For something more mid-range, there are loads of decent hotels a street or two back from the beach, where you can still hear the waves from your balcony but you're not paying a fortune for the view. These tend to be simple, clean, friendly places, think tile floors, air conditioning that actually works (check this, it matters), and breakfast spreads with fresh fruit, pão de queijo and strong filter coffee.

If you're on a tighter budget, hostels are everywhere and many of them are genuinely excellent, with rooftop bars and organised barbecues and staff who'll happily spend twenty minutes drawing on a map for you. There are also apartment rentals galore, which can be great value if you're staying a week or more and want a kitchen, though do read reviews carefully and make sure the building feels secure. In Leblon and Barra you'll find more of the apartment-hotel style places, modern towers with pools and gyms, handy if you want something self-contained. And for those wanting to splash out, there are boutique hotels and pousadas scattered around, especially in the hills near Santa Teresa, a bohemian neighbourhood full of cobbled streets and art galleries. Staying up there feels a world away from the beach zones, all colonial mansions and jazz drifting out of bars, though you will need to factor in taxis or a bit of a walk to get to the sand.

Whichever you choose, a few things are worth bearing in mind. Location matters more in Rio than in most cities, staying in a well-known tourist area like Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon or Barra makes life considerably easier and safer. Don't leave valuables lying around on the beach while you swim, common sense stuff really, and maybe leave the flashy watch at home. The vast majority of visits go off without a hitch, but a bit of street smarts goes a long way.

So when should you go? Weather-wise, Rio is warm pretty much year round, it's the tropics after all, but there are definitely better windows than others. The sweet spot for most people is spring and early summer, roughly September through to December. Temperatures sit in the mid to high twenties Celsius, the humidity hasn't yet turned oppressive, and the beaches are lively without being absolutely rammed. This is also when the famous New Year's Eve celebrations happen, when millions dressed in white flock to Copacabana for fireworks over the water. It's one of the great New Year parties on earth, if you can handle the crowds.

December to March is peak summer and peak heat, with temperatures regularly nudging past 30 degrees and some seriously sticky days. This is when Cariocas (that's what Rio locals call themselves) really live on the beach, and the atmosphere is electric. Carnival falls somewhere between February and early March depending on the year, and if you've ever fancied experiencing it, book everything months in advance because the city fills up fast. The downside of summer is the rain, short but heavy downpours that can turn streets into rivers for an hour before vanishing as quickly as they came. They rarely ruin a whole day, but they can interrupt a beach afternoon.

April and May are lovely, warm enough for the beach, noticeably less crowded, and hotel prices tend to drop. June to August is technically winter, and while "winter" in Rio still means daytime temperatures in the low to mid twenties, the water gets cooler, evenings can be properly mild rather than balmy, and you might get the odd cloudy stretch. It's still perfectly pleasant, and if you're more interested in sightseeing, hiking and eating your way around the city than spending eight hours a day horizontal on the sand, it can be a smart time to visit with thinner crowds everywhere.

One last thing. However long you're planning to stay, add a few days. Rio has a way of slowing you down, of convincing you that the appointment you had can wait, that one more hour in the sun won't hurt, that lunch should definitely stretch into the afternoon. You'll arrive with a list of things to see, the Christ statue up on Corcovado, Sugarloaf at sunset, the nightlife in Lapa, and you'll do some of them. But the real Rio, the one you'll fall for, is simpler. It's a caipirinha at a plastic table with sand between your toes. It's the drumbeat of a samba circle starting up somewhere down the beach. It's watching the whole city turn gold in the evening light and thinking, yeah, I get it now.