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Gay Pride in Rio is a multi-day event. The day before the parade, I attended the smaller-scale cultural festival, on the grounds of the regal Museu da República (Museum of the Republic). Vendors sell every manner of craft and rainbow accessory here, and a lively show brings drag performers who lip sync to Portuguese- and English-language hits, fashion models who show off the work of local designers, and activists railing against homophobia.

On the day of the parade, even with the dance music lapping at the sun-soaked shores of Copacabana Beach, there is still plenty of time for me to go to lunch with my group of fellow travelers, organized by G Brazil, a Rio-based gay tour operator. When we finally get close to the rapidly expanding crowd at the staging area, the 15 floats seem to tower over everything. These aren’t the floats you see in the United States; each one here is fully two stories high, complete with an on-board DJ, open bar, and even toilets. We’re lucky enough to be invited aboard one of the massive vehicles, and have a terrific vantage point as the parade ambles slowly and festively down the scenic beachfront boulevard, passing throngs of dancing, celebrating men and women. The celebration doesn’t end until long after the sun sets.

The pride parade and festival are perfect opportunities for local elected officials to pay their respects to the LGBT community. Sergio Cabral, governor of Rio de Janeiro state, comments to the press that the event is a “wonderful party. It’s very important for Rio to host a party as beautiful and wonderful as this. All the police present are here to defend against violence and homophobia.”

While you may not see too much same-sex handholding in public (except during Gay Pride and on the gay beaches), queer life and influence is readily visible throughout the city. If you fly into Rio’s domestic airport, for example, one of the first faces you’ll see is that of an historical figure who many believe was gay: Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian aviation pioneer who designed and flew the world’s first large dirigible (His flight around the Eiffel Tower in 1901 made him one of the most famous people of the early 20th century). By some accounts, he also designed the first successful heavier-than-air plane, which flew in 1906 (the debate continues about whether it is he or the Wright Brothers that deserve the honor of being first). Dumont’s sexual orientation is unclear; he never acknowledged a relationship with a man or a woman. Gay, straight, or in-between, he remains an important part of Brazilian history, and his face graces a large mural on the wall of the airport that bears his name in Rio de Janeiro.

That airport, now used solely for domestic flights, recently benefited from an upgrade that includes brand-new departure gates and glass-enclosed jet bridges.

International flights (as well as some domestic flights) arrive at the much larger Galeão—Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport, to the north of the city. Shuttle buses and taxis are plentiful at the international airport, whisking today’s jetsetters to the tourist-popular neighborhoods to the south. En route, visitors may notice the work of another Brazilian icon that many locals say was gay: Roberto Burle Marx, the landscape designer who masterminded Rio’s lovely Flamengo park, as well as a variety of other sites around the globe.

Portuguese explorers arrived at Guanabara Bay in January of 1502; they supposedly mistook the bay for a river, and so named the city Rio de Janeiro (January River). The city was officially founded in 1565, at the foot of Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf Mountain). The growing metropolis became a major port for Portuguese settlers, who moved their colonial administration here in 1763. In 1808, with Napoleon’s impending invasion of Portugal, the Portuguese royal family fled their homeland and made Rio the new capital of their kingdom. Prince Pedro I declared Brazil independent in 1822, and kept the new nation’s capital in Rio de Janeiro. The city maintained its role as capital after the monarchy was replaced by a republic in 1889.

World travelers first took serious note of Rio’s allure in the early 20th century, when a tunnel was carved into a mountain to connect the thriving city with the beach neighborhood called Copacabana. Word spread about Copacabana’s wide swath of luxuriant beach and indulgent lifestyle, set against the dramatic backdrop of soaring mountains. In 1923, the Copacabana Palace opened, and the deliciously white confection of a hotel further cemented the region’s reputation. Rio would never be the same.

There was plenty of excitement to be had in Rio. Visitors could board cable cars for a thrilling ride to the peak of Pão de Açúcar, the 1,299-foot granite rock where the city was founded. At that time, one of Rio’s best-known landmarks was still in the works. In 1931, Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), a 98-foot-tall statue of Jesus Christ set atop a mountain, was finished, and cast its unending gaze upon the rapidly growing city. Hollywood began paying increasing attention to the destination too, and movies like the 1933 Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musical Flying Down to Rio only added to the aura of glamour that Rio had created.

In 1960, plans for a new national capital came to fruition, when a futuristic inland metropolis called Brasilia was completed. Rio de Janeiro lost its title as Brazil’s capital, but its glamorous reputation continued to draw upscale vacationers. “The Girl from Ipanema,” a bossa nova song by Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz, won a Grammy in 1965 for record of the year and helped spread the word about what would become Rio’s next hot neighborhood: Ipanema.

Today, Rio is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, and the metropolitan area is home to some 11 million cariocas, as locals are called.

Many of the things that were on the “must-do” list for early visitors remain popular with travelers today. Whether gay or straight, it’s difficult to resist the infectious samba (Brazil’s most-famous musical genre), the taste of a sweet caipirinha (a cocktail made with cachaça, sugar, and lime), or Rio’s Carnaval, which remains one of the world’s most famous excuses to wear feathers and a bikini.

Of course, Rio has gotten its share of bad press. The favelas (slums)—which can safely be visited during fascinating guided tours—clog some of the hills alongside the city’s toniest districts. There is a huge disparity between rich and poor residents in Rio with street crime and police corruption among the resulting complications. Visitors should not show off jewelry, watches, cameras, or anything of value when walking around the street or sitting on the beach—and don’t even think about keeping anything in your back pocket when attending crowded events.

The city, however, has made efforts to make itself more attractive and safer for visitors. Security cameras have been installed along Copacabana Beach, and modern, glass-enclosed kiosks—some with brand-new, underground public restrooms beneath—have replaced nearly all of the rustic kiosks along the beachfront.

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