If your idea of a perfect holiday includes hot sunshine, cold Caipirinha’s, endless beaches, and dancing the night away to the sultry sounds of the Samba, it’s time to pack your dancing shoes, your sequined covered maracas, and perhaps, your sense of humour, and head on down to the Carnival capital of the world – Rio de Janeiro!

Four weeks from today the Rio Carnaval (Portuguese spelling) will open its doors, and if you love loud music, sparkling parades and Bootylicious babes, now is the time to book your tickets for the world-famous Sambodromo where you can watch some of the many magnificent Rio 2013 Carnaval Parades.

Rio de Janeiro is an amazing city to visit at any time of the year, but during the annual festival of Carnaval, it seems like the entire country is on holiday and ready to party! An estimated 5 million visitors will make their way to Rio between the 8^th and 12^th of February, and while hotel rooms in and around the city will soon sell out, there are still accommodation choices available – but you need to act fast!

Flights to Rio de Janeiro for the Carnival 2013 are less of a problem, with American Airlines, Alitalia, Air France and even British Airways offering return flights from the UK for between £580 and £880 per person.

A two-week stay in Brazil will give you plenty of time to enjoy the Carnaval (and recover!) before you start exploring the fine sandy beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema, take a trip to Sugar Loaf Mountain and Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer statue), and taste some of the many culinary delights that this region has to offer.

Carnaval is an institution in Brazil, and if you think you will be ‘safe’ from the all-singing, all-dancing madness that goes on in the Sambodromo in the northeastern cities of Salvador and Recife – think again! They too put on the most amazing street parades, and the music is so infectious that I guarantee everyone who visits Brazil during the Carnival period will return home with a Samba in their step, glitter in their eyebrows, and unforgettable memories of the biggest party in South America!