PARIS, FRANCE

"The City of Lights" is indeed beautiful in every aspect. When it comes to Paris, you need to be prepared. If your dream is to go up the "Eiffel Tower" or to go inside the "Louvre", you need to purchase tickets long in advance, even before you fly to France (if you can't find tickets online, be there around 6am). The lines are the worst I've seen so far. Arrive very early or reserve a whole day just for that.
In case you can't get tickets to go inside the "Louvre", your day is not over. You can walk around its gardens, browse though the statues and admire that gorgeous pyramid.

Tour Eiffel 

Musée du Louvre

After you leave the museum, you can walk down "Voie Georges Pompidou" along "La Seine" river all the way to "Rue d'Arcole" and turning right you will walk about 10 minutes and you will face the MAGNIFICENT "Notre Dame Cathedral", which is a must see.
After that, you should keep walking right on the same street (Rue d'Arcole) and not long after you cross the river, the street name will change to "Rue Dante", keep walking straight for a few minuets until you reach an intersection. At the intersection, you'll stay on "Rue Saint-Jacques", you'll walk about 10 minutes and turn right on "Rue Soufflot" and walk straight towards the beautiful "Luxembourg Palace" and  take a well deserved rest at its stunning garden (Luxembourg Garden).
The tourist sights are not too far from each other, what allows you to choose between walking or taking a cab. I choose walking (SHOCKER!) and I loved every minute of it. I could spend a week walking up and down "Champs-Élysées" and just shopping or choosing where to eat. By the end of that street you will find the "Arch of Triumph" which is also a must see in Paris.

Champs-Élysées

If you have time, visit all these places both day and night, the sights are AMAZING! Paris is indeed one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to and, despite the horrible cigarette smell EVERYWHERE, I still want to go back many times...

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

"City of Wonders" as Rio is known in Brasil.. Indeed! As soon as you get out of the airport and on your way to your hotel you begin to appreciate the wonders of that city. Rio is misjudged by foreigners and the bad press towards the violence in the city doesn't help. Honestly my husband and I felt completely safe there.
We didn't have friends living there or booked some overpriced tour. We were all alone. We stayed at the Copacabana Beach and we had a breathtaking ocean view room. If you can, try to stay in Copacabana, Ipanema or Leblon. Those are amazing neighborhoods and that spectacular Sugar Loaf view its right there.

Copacabana Beach

At night they have very nice "seasonal markets" along the "Copacabana Calçadão" where you can find all kinds of things from paintings to swimsuits. It's the perfect place for those souvenirs! Also there are bars and great restaurants all over the place.

Seasonal Markets - Copacabana

I wouldn't take any kind of public transportation and I'd also avoid cabs. You can never be too safe. I'd rather walk everywhere. Worst case scenario get the hotel to book you a cab. After we were already there for a few days we walked by a tour agency by the hotel that had pretty good prices so we decided to book a couple of tours. They picked us up at the hotel and dropped us off, what was pretty convenient.

Favela Rocinha (Slums)

We booked the "Rocinha" witch was pretty cool but I wouldn't advise anyone to do so. It's a very dangerous place to go specially if you don't speak Portuguese. It's like going to see the Pyramids in Egypt, you will definitely see some pretty cool stuff but you take a chance of being mugged, kidnapped and raped or murdered. The other tour we booked was "Rio for a day" witch turned out to be amazing.

Christ The Redeemer

We saw all the major attractions of the city and we got a free lunch "Brazilian Style". We had a blast on our vacation in Rio and we will go back many times for sure. Despite all the bad press, its definitely our favorite city in Brasil!

NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES

There is so much to see and do in Manhattan... you could stay here for a week or a year and you still wouldn't have time to see everything NYC has to offer.
The most convenient part of coming to NYC is that you can take public transportation ANYWHERE! I'd advise anyone to choose the subway or the trains over the cabs everytime. The traffic here is very busy, not only at rush hour but every hour of the day.
NYC pleases all kinds of people with all of its museums, beautiful parks, spectacular Broadway shows, exciting clubs and restaurants, amazing sights and infinite stores...
I'm the kind of person who would rather walk then waste my money on tour buses. Just get a daily or weekly METROCARD and you're good to go.
I like to take all my guests on my own personal tour and my start point is always downtown Manhattan.
One of my favorite gems in that area is "Battery Park". You can begin your day there, taking the Statue of Liberty tour or not, relax, watch the boats and maybe catch one of the summer live performances at the park. After that you should walk up to the financial district where you will find the Bull and the stock exchange flag. Keep walking and you'll find the amazing views of the "Brooklyn Bridge" and the "One World Trade Center", You can choose between staying in Manhattan or crossing over to Brooklyn. Either way, its a great bet for a nice break.

Battery Park

Moving on, you can choose between taking the subway or walking and our next stop will be "Chinatown". Which its not what it used to be but it's still a great place for some cheap souvenirs.
Lets keep walking up and we will make it to "Little Italy" and that's a perfect stop for lunch time.
It's time to walk a little more and hit "Soho", one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city. There you will find great stores and movie theaters, and if you're lucky, you might see a celebrity walking around.
Next you can choose one more time between the subway and walking to keep our journey north and the next stops are "Chelsea" and the "Village". Personally, I rather go to either neighborhoods at night and appreciate its bars, pubs or restaurants and after stretch to the "Meatpacking District" to choose between our finest clubs and lounges.
Continuing with my daily plan, next stop is "Times Square". It's probably the busiest section of the city. It's a great place to sit down for a snack and just observe the flow of the most vibrant city in the world. There you can buy anything. If you have time, I'd advise you to catch a couple of "Broadway Shows". There's nothing I enjoy more in the city than going to Broadway.

Times Square

Next, walking north you will see "Radio City Music Hall" and up ahead, the "Rockefeller Center". Now you can walk along our famous "5th Avenue" you will find "Central Park", our most cherished park. Once you get to the park, its hard to choose where to go or what to see, specially if it's your first time here. You must take at least a full day to explore what the park has to offer. To make it easier for you, walking north on the east side of the park you will see the "Apple Store", the "Imagine" sign and John Lennon's apartment. Now, walking west from 5th Avenue to the other side of the park and then walking north you will get to "Columbus Circle" and our gigantic "Museum of Natural History".

Central Park

NYC has a million more places to go or things to do besides the contents of MY PERSONAL ITINERARY, (which you can cover very quickly in one day (I've done it many times) or you can do it in 5-7 days. It depends on how long you have in the city) like the "Empire State Building", the "Piers", everything on the "Upper West Side" or "Upper East Side", the beaches in "Long Island", "Madison Square Garden", "St. Patrick's Cathedral", the "Lincoln Center", the "Citi Field" in Queens, "Brooklyn Aquarium", the "Bronx Zoo",  it's just never-ending...
I hope you find my post helpful and enjoy my favorite city in the world as much as I do!

TIPS FOR A BETTER TRIP

When travelling, there are some things we all should be aware of. Here I will make a list of tips that would have been very appreciated on many of my trips... - Always pack Ibuprofen AND acetaminophen. - DO NOT forget an azithromycin full cycle in case of diarrhea. - Shampoo, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste are a MUST, you don't always get them even at 5* hotels. - International power converter and adaptors are always appreciated. - Heartburn meds will go a long way. - If you are a germ freak like myself, it helps to know that not every country has hand sanitizer available for purchase. In some countries people don't even know what that is. - Eating raw food abroad is more often than not a big mistake. Avoid them unless you don't mind being up at 3am throwing up at the sink of a hotel room with food poisoning. - A first aid kit can be very useful. - Essentials for a summer vacation are: sunscreen, bug spray, anti-ich cream.
- Essentials for a winter vacation are: body lotion, chapstick, thermals.