Rio de Janeiro might be best known for its beach life on Copacabana and Ipanema but it is the formerly run-down downtown areas of Lapa and Gloria that are catching the new wave in Brazil. Located a couple of miles from the seafront and down the hill from the better known bohemian district Santa Teresa – where notorious Great Train robber Ronnie Biggs holed up in the 1970s onwards – Lapa, in particular, is being brought back to life by a new generation of artists and trendsetters.

“The area has gained a reputation for its nightlife, which revolves around several shops which sell second-hand furniture and bric-a-brac during the day but turn into samba and chorinho music clubs at night,” says Alison McGowan, a British marketing consultant with estate agency Florence Associates. She assists foreigners looking to buy property in Rio and has lived in the city for the past five years. “The most well known one is Rio Scenarium in Rua do Lavradio but there is also Carioca da Gema and many others,” she says.