No doubt about it, Rio De Janeiro, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but, in my biased opinion, it is not as beautiful as Cape Town. The Sugar Loaf and the Corcovado, together with the beaches and the bay provide a stunning location. But in competition, Cape Town should not just be judged with Table Mountain, but also Lion's Head, Devil's Peak and the 12 Apostles, and then I think there is no competition.
But there are two factors that might make Rio a better city - great public transport and (a diminishing) colonial charm. The colonial past of the city has largely disappeared; and many of the buildings that are old, are hardly 100 years old - considerably younger than the city itself. But the remains of the colonial cities - large plazas, cobbled stone streets, lavish churches - are interesting to explore.
In general, public transport is great in Brazil. Rio has a fantastic road network, and since their mountains are a lot smaller, numerous tunnels link the various suburbs. And except for a few bottlenecks (introduced because of the geography or at the junctions of the main roads), traffic is fairly fast moving - even in rush hour. One of the side effects is that the buses are driven at, sometimes terrifying and uncomfortable, high speeds. In fact, I think the ordinary minibus taxi driver from South Africa would be hard pressed to match the Rio bus drivers on the road ... after all the buses are much bigger :p Rio's metro is also quite nice, although not as useful as it could be. They do feature air-conditioned carriages - which is really useful in Rio's weather.
I stayed a long time in Rio, and even then there were things I wish I could have done - a hike on the rain forests covering the Corcovado and surrounds topping the list, as well as a favela tour. But that said, Rio is possibly the most expensive city I have been to in Brazil, and in all honestly, it is not my favourite city in Brazil. If I come back to Brazil, I would stop over in Rio - but won't stay as long.
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