Open air fairs are a must in an outdoor minded city as Rio. If you are looking for good-quality arts and crafts you must check the outdoor markets, which are colourful places to visit. We recommend the following:

Tribune C of the Brazilian Jockey Club Racetrack. Open most weekends from 2 pm to 10 pm. This Fair features over 150 fashion, art and decoration stalls. The fair also has live music and dance shows. It attracts young crowds through the clothing, sunglasses and jewelry stalls. It also has places to get your fortune read or receive a henna tattoo. If shopping males you hungry, there are plenty of food stalls (mostly selling fried sausages and beer).

Saracuras Fountain in Ipanema. Sundays from 9 am to 5 pm. Here you find handicrafts and artwork.

lon Rua do Lavradio, Centro. First Saturdays of every month from 10 am to 6 pm. This market offers an incredible opportunity for treasure hunting.

Typical products, food and music from northern Brazil. Campo de Sao Cristovao. Open on Sundays all day long. Take the bus 472 from the Centre or 474 from Copacabana.

Rua Visconde de Pirajá 490, Ipanema, has branches throughout the city, and outlets in most of the upmarket hotels. It sells elegant silver, pearl and gemstone designs.

Rua Garcia D´Ávila, Ipanema. Like H Stern it has branches throughout Rio and the hotels. It also sells fine jewellery.

The city of music is also a paradise for music lovers, especially those who favour samba and bossa nova. Being the cradle of Brazilian cinema and TV it is also a great place to buy classics of Brazilian cinema, documentaries and much more. Brazilian stars MTV Unplugged are usually very good. The seat of the Brazilian Literature Academy, Rio also has a thriving literary life, and you will find plenty of bookstores to hide on a rainy afternoon. These are some of the best places to buy books, music and films:

Leblon´s finest bookstore. It has a small yet decent selection of foreign-language books and magazines. It also has a charming café. There is also a new branch in Copacabana which opened just recently.

This music shop lies inside the Paço Imperial. It is a great spot to to browse for CDs, records and used books.

This music store is the pace to look for old records or classic samba CDs. The staff is also friendly. It is located in a small shopping centre, just past Leonardo da Vinci bookshop (see below).

This is a lovely book and record shop. It specialises in Indie rock, Brazilian Popular Music (MPB), samba and funk.

This is a rather new music shop with a fine selection of Bossa, choro and samba CDs and LPs. It also offers coffee-table books, sheet music and biographies of Brazilian composers.

This bookstore is hidden inside a tiny shopping centre and treasures a small selection of English-language titles. In Da Conde there are also CDs and DVDs. Its café and lounge is located on the 2nd floor and sometimes it hosts literary events.

A true LP-collector´s paradise, this music shop has tons of old records covering the almost uncoverable the full spectrum of Brazilian music, from classic samba, Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) to funk.

Letras E Expressões is located in Ipanema. It has a selection of foreign-language books (from architecture to fiction and travel books) as well as a variety of English-language magazines.

The most beautiful bookstore downtown is Livraria da Travessa. Hidden in the alley Travessa de Ouvidor, it has a very knowledgeable sales staff and a bistro. There is another Livraria da Travessa on Av Rio Branco 44 which also has a nice café.

This branch of Livraria da Travessa has a small selection of foreign-language books and periodicals. On its second floor it also has a good music collection readily available on the headphone stations.

A charming bookstore-music shop that breathes bossa nova and samba

A great music store located in Copacabana. This shop boasts an encyclopaedic collection of original music. It is one of Brazil´s largest music stores and has shelves of samba, hip-hop, electronica, imports, classical and much more. There are also live concerts daily.

This bookstore has probable the best foreign-language book collections. It also boast a wide range of art and photography books.

The best place to shop for music in Lapa. Plano B offer old jazz records and new electronic mixes before stepping but also a tattoo room.

A charming European looking bookstore it is a classic choice for Ipanema´s intellectuals.

A large mall located in Barra da Tijuca, BarraShopping is minutes away from Zona Sul. These mall harbours a huge amount of shops and a large movie theatre, the New York City Center. The food court in the mall is also worth a try.

Rio Sul is located close to Botafogo Beach, beside the tunnel leading into Copacabana. It is Rio´s most traditional shopping. Here you can find almost anything you´re looking for. This shopping centre even offers a bus that takes you to the Cardeal Arcoverde Metro (subway) Station for free.

A small Shopping centre and nice place to hide from the heat or the rain.

Sao Conrado Fashion Mall is an elegant shopping centre that offers many interesting fashion shops.

This local craft/Brazilian art store lies in the heart of Ipanema. Brazil & Cia offers selected products are from the largest crafts and popular art centres in the country. It outstands for its typical popular art artefacts that reflect important the local culture.

Named just like Rio´s most famous song, this shop is, of course, in Ipanema and it specialises, of course, in beach gear. The best place to dress for the beach!

A unique place in Laranjeiras for those who love out of the ordinary deco. And they can do international shipping if necessary.

Sub & Sub is the perfect place to buy gear for outdoor adventure: climbing and mountaineering, diving, snorkeling, camping and hiking. It also has a very knowledgeable staff.

An innovative store worth visiting. Here you will find clothing designs of Marc Jacobs, Prada, Paul Smith as well as fashionable Brazilian stylists.

Contemporâneo is Soho like boutique. The best of Brazil´s design is here. It also has an excellent restaurant.

Literally ?Sorry, I´m Chic´. This shop sells vintage fashion, modish relics from the ´60s and great finds from decades past. It also features an upstairs bar and theatre.

Espaço Brazilian Soul is a two-story boutique that sells designer duds such as board shorts, T-shirts, flip-flops and button-downs. Mainly for men, but women can find some cool dresses.

This boutique sells youthful fashions for both men and women. It incorporates a mix of retro and vintage design including clothing, accessories and shoes.

Set up by Brazilian designer Tufi Duek this store lies on a quiet street. You can find smart pieces from his men´s and women´s collections.

Ipanema.com focuses on men, but it does have some picked women´s wear.

As the name puts it, ?Store of New Design´, it sells some of Rio´s best modern designs.

A new multi-level fashion store in Ipanema to find beach duds and streetwear.

A store full of young women´s fashions (both beach and "night out"). It also has colorful jewelry, kids clothes, silly post cards and toys and accessories.

This is riot-minded shop that has a collection of embroidered button-downs, sleek jackets, pants and jeans ideal to try clash against the police and the head for a hype party in Rio´s high-class districts.

Vally of Dolls is a youthful street fashion boutique in Ipanema. It offer local designs. Somewhat colourful, but worth a try.

Arte Brasilis is definitively Oone of Copacabana´s best handicraft stores. It features wooden carvings, colourful wall hangings, place settings and other handmade objects from the state of Minas Gerais and the northeast of Brazil.

Inside the grounds of the Museu do Índio (Indian Museum), this shop sells indigenous handicrafts - from masks and musical instruments to pots and baskets, and even weapons! Its products come mainly from northern tribes.

In the back of a small shopping centre, Empório Brasil has a small but attractive collection of regional handicrafts. This store offers massage and other beauty treatments as well.

This small shop is located in Ipanema and sells some beautifully made art pieces: works in coloured glass, wood boxes, paintings and papier-mâché pieces from the states of Minas and Pernambuco. This shops also offers worldwide shipping for large pieces.

Run by nonprofit social-welfare organization Leste-Um, this shop sells works of regional artists and Brazilian folk art made of clay, wood and porcelain. O Sol also sells baskets and woven rugs.