Crossing the Equator: Rio to the Spanish Riviera

Rio de Janeiro or simply Rio, is the second-most populous city in Brazil and the sixth-most populous in the Americas. Rio de Janeiro is the capital of the state of brazil.

Armação dos Búzios (or Búzios) is a Brazilian resort set on an ocean peninsula east of Rio de Janeiro. It’s known as an upscale vacation destination with numerous beaches. These include Ferradura, on a calm horseshoe bay with water sports, and Geribá, a popular surfing site. Among its village streets, cobbled Rua das Pedras is a center of dining and nightlife.

Salvador, the capital of Brazil’s northeastern state of Bahia, is known for its Portuguese colonial architecture, Afro-Brazilian culture and a tropical coastline. The Pelourinho neighborhood is its historic heart, with cobblestone alleys opening onto large squares, colorful buildings and baroque churches such as São Francisco, featuring gilt woodwork.

Praia is the capital city of Cape Verde, which is off the coast of West Africa. The city is on the southern coast of Santiago Island. The old town center, called the “Plateau” by locals, is on a raised area overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Around the bay, beaches include Quebra Canela and Praínha, both near the Praínha neighborhood. Shops and restaurants cluster in the Achada de Santo António quarter.

Porto-Novo is a port city and the capital of Benin, in West Africa. It’s known for colonial buildings like the Brazilian-style Great Mosque, formerly a church. The Ethnographic Museum displays ceremonial masks, musical instruments and costumes. The Musée da Silva recounts Benin’s history and celebrates Afro-Brazilian culture. Just east, the Honmé Museum was King Toffa’s 19th-century royal palace.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a port city on the island of Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands. Well-preserved buildings in its old town include the colonial Church of the Immaculate Conception. The 1700s Palacio de Carta has baroque and neoclassical features. In the Old Civil Hospital, the Museum of Nature and Man has interactive displays on the islands. The city’s squares include the central Plaza de España.

Tangier, a Moroccan port on the Strait of Gibraltar, has been a strategic gateway between Africa and Europe since Phoenician times. Its whitewashed hillside medina is home to the Dar el Makhzen, a palace of the sultans that’s now a museum of Moroccan artifacts. The American Legation Museum, also in the medina, documents early diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Morocco in an 1821 Moorish-style former consulate

Málaga is a port city on southern Spain’s Costa del Sol, known for its high-rise hotels and resorts jutting up from yellow-sand beaches. Looming over that modern skyline are the city’s 2 massive hilltop citadels, the Alcazaba and ruined Gibralfaro, remnants of Moorish rule. The city’s soaring Renaissance cathedral is nicknamed La Manquita (“one-armed lady”) because one of its towers was curiously left unbuilt.