This week’s travel dream: Rio’s imperfect beauty

“Just because a place isn’t perfect doesn’t mean it isn’t worth the trip,” said Jodi Kantor in The New York Times. Rio de Janeiro probably will never be as safe and sparkling as its promoters want it to be for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, but it might already be “the most voluptuous city in the world.” Intrigued by the pre-2014 hype, I recently booked a trip to Rio with my 7-year-old daughter and only later learned that guests even at the finer hotels have been taken hostage or robbed at gunpoint in the not-so-distant past. But having to feel on guard turns out to be a small price to pay for what Rio offers: soft beaches, dramatic mountains, even ripe papayas tumbling from the trees that line the streets. This place “makes Miami look like Cleveland.”

There’s one timeworn travel tip that should be followed like gospel in Rio: “Spend as much time as possible with people who really know the place.” Though safer than ever, Brazil’s second-largest city can seem less than welcoming if you wander it aimlessly and speak no Portuguese. Every time we allied ourselves with a friend of a friend or even a hired guide, “a far friendlier metropolis emerged”—full of rooftop hideouts and unexpected culinary delicacies. I learned soon enough to carry minimal cash and wear no jewelry, even at the beach in the upscale neighborhood of Leblon. At day’s end, we’d retreat to the green hills above the city, and my daughter fed bananas to the friendly monkeys who lived in our small hotel.

Strolling once through one of the city’s famous shantytowns, or favelas, I was told by a friend that I’d been smart not to take a jeep tour: Residents of the favelas don’t like living inside someone else’s safari. But while the gap between rich and poor is hard to ignore in Rio, there are moments when it vanishes. Every evening, the spectacular sunset view from Arpoador Beach has an amazing effect. “At the moment when the neon-pink sun slips below the horizon, everyone stops, stands, and claps”—offering a joint salute to city, beach, and sky.

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At the Promenade Palladium (hotel-promenade-palladium.com), doubles start at $355.