It’s quite easy to determine the date of the Carnival. You only have to look at the Carnival history to gain a perspective of why. The carnival is observed from Friday until the day preceding Ash Wednesday. So you can understand the term Fat Tuesday. The dates obviously change every year depending on the calendar.

Are you planning on going to Rio?

For the Carnival or not, here is a list of our not-to-be missed spots:

• Copacabana and Ipanema beaches
• Distant beaches
• Christ the Redeemer
• Sugarloaf Mountain
• Santa Teresa
• Arcos da Lapa and the Escadaria Selarón
• Tijuca Forest
• Carnaval de Rua
• The samba schools parade
• Roda de Samba