Love or hate Rio, you can't deny that it's beautiful. An architect in heaven had probabl enjoyed a good smoke the day he made the beaches, islands and hills that make the setting for the Marvellous City.
Forget your pride about being a hardcore traveler and grab your camera and baseball cap and head out to see the sights in Rio.
Christ the Redemptor
Thus the opposite is also true that you can stand up by Christ the Redemptor and overlook almost all of Rio and understand why the Portuguese fell in love with the place.
The best way to get to the Christ is to trek up the hill and arrive all muddy and sweaty and freak out the regular tourists. If you're a wimp or it's been rainig you can get a a taxi to Laranjeiras and then take the service all the way up.
Try to get there early before clouds roll in to cover the view.
Sugarloaf
You can't go to Rio de Janeiro and not bother going along to Pao de Azucar, the Sugar Loaf. It redefines your notions of scenic beauty and you even get to ride over it in a cable car and reenact James Bond movies.
Maracana Stadium
Even if you think football is a game called soccer,or some ritual between modern day neantherdals who throw beer cans at one another, every traveler in Rio should head along and catch a footbal game at Maracana Stadium. You'll be supporting Flamengo, the local team, if you have any sense and see the Brazilians go wild at the national religion. Catholicism comes a close second to football in Brazil.
Ask your taxi driver to take you to Maracana and plan on getting there a bit early as it can get rowdy outside if it's a busy game.