Six street-art destinations to see now

Carioca creativity in Rio de Janeiro A mural by Eduardo Kobra on Boulevard Olímpico in Rio de Janeiro © Alamy Rio legalised street art in 2009, making it a beacon for international artists alongside the locals; proliferation was helped along by the Art Rua street-art festival that ran here for several years. But some say its big moment happened in 2016, when Etnias, the monumental work on Olympic Boulevard by Eduardo Kobra – all 190 metres of it – was completed to mark the Olympic Games. Today, tours of street-art marvels in the city’s favelas are widely available; the Favela Painting Project, founded by Dutch art collective Haas & Hahn in 2005, supported “community-driven art interventions” in the Favela de Santa Marta, which is still a destination for lovers of mural art. But a meander up, down and around the steep lanes of the charming Santa Teresa neighbourhood will also bring you face-to-face with work by some of the country’s best-known artists. The pool at the Santa Teresa Hotel The hotel’s “crimson-on-ruby” bar Stay: the Santa Teresa Hotel tops all sorts of best-of lists for many reasons: its mint situation high up the hillside in its eponymous quarter; its lovely...