As far as arrivals go, not many places are going to top Rio. Our morning flight from Belo Horrizonte brought us over Rio’s incredible cityscape , nestled in amongst rainforest clad rounded peaks. My wife and I were clamouring over the window for our first glimpse of Christ the Redeemer, the Maracana, and Copacabana beach. Our descent into Santos Dumont airport was completed by a dramatic turn in front of Sugar Loaf Mountain. It was an incredible introduction to a unique city.

The world heritage site boundary is actually pretty limited. It excludes the majority of Rio’s built environment, which is covered separately by the four tentative sites that are scattered over a small area in the city centre. As such the outstanding universal value of this cultural landscape lies mainly in its natural features.

Given the limited boundary, it wasn't until late on our second day of touring that we entered the core part of the world heritage site. This was when we went for an evening stroll around the pleasant suburb of Urca, which is tucked up against Sugar Loaf Mountain. The seafront wall provided a nice place to join the locals while watching the sunset, the planes circle, and kids play beach football.

The unique urban landscape meant there were endless times when the best thing to do was gawp at the magnificent views. The best are from Copacabana Fort, from Niemeyer's Niteroi art centre back across the bay, the brooding monoliths that dominate the beaches of Botafogo and Ipanema, and of course the vista from the base of Christ the Redeemer statue. The latter is one of those places that lives up to its reputation and overexposure in 'must see' lists.

Rio turned out to be a welcoming and friendly place, though we never quite found the sort of neighbourhood atmosphere that has made many other large cities we’ve been to so enjoyable. Botafogo and Santa Theresa both seemed pleasant, but we happened to be in these areas on quieter nights and so perhaps not seeing them at their best.

As die-hard urbanites, we felt that Rio as a city left us wanting more. However, the spectacular natural setting and welcoming population make this world famous city an extremely enjoyable place to spend four very full days.

Site 7: Experience 7