RIO DE JANEIRO · BRAZIL
Christ above. Sugarloaf out. Samba after dark.
Day trips up the icons. Cable cars over the bay. Walks through Lapa and Santa Teresa. Hang-gliders off Pedra Bonita, boats out to Ilha Grande, and the long way down the coast.
The whole-city day
Start with the day that ticks every box.
Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, Selarón’s steps, and lunch in between. The Rio day people fly in to do.
The classics
Rio’s Most Popular Day Tours
Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, Selarón’s steps. The tours most travellers come to Rio for.
The postcards
Three icons. One day each.
Christ on the mountain. Sugarloaf across the bay. Selarón’s mosaic in Lapa. The three views every visitor to Rio takes home, in the order most people do them.
On the mountain
Christ the Redeemer.Up to Corcovado, the most photographed view in South America. By train through Tijuca, by van, or bundled into a city tour with Sugarloaf and lunch.
Across the bay
Sugarloaf Mountain.The two-stage cable car climbs Morro da Urca then Pão de Açúcar. The view at the top sweeps Guanabara Bay, the Atlantic, Copacabana, and Christ across the city.
In Lapa
Selarón’s Steps.215 mosaic-tiled steps climbing from Lapa to Santa Teresa, hand-laid by the Chilean artist Jorge Selarón with tile from 60 countries. His life’s work, finished the year he died.
Only in Rio
Three things that only happen here.
Beach days and helicopter loops happen everywhere. These three don’t. Carnival’s home soil, a guided walk through the city’s hillside neighbourhoods, and a hang-glide off the mountain to the sand. Worth planning the trip around.
Where samba was made
Carnival & Samba
Rio is where samba was codified into a global rhythm and where Carnival became the world’s largest annual party. A beginner samba class in Ipanema. A backstage tour of Cidade do Samba, where the schools build their floats. The Sambadrome itself, where the parade runs every February. The dance lessons run all year.
- 1 Rio de Janeiro: Beginner Samba Lesson in Ipanema
- 2 Rio: Pub Crawl in Lapa with Cachaça Tasting and Live Samba
- 3 Rio: Carnival Backstage Tour at Samba City with Cocktail
On the hillside
A Favela Walk, with a Local
Rocinha is the largest favela in Brazil — around 70,000 people on the steep side of Dois Irmãos. Walks led by people who actually live there have shifted the visit from extraction to community-led. You see the bakery, the school, the rooftop view of São Conrado beach. The local guides are the whole point.
- 1 Rio de Janeiro: Rocinha Favela Walking Tour with Local Guide
- 2 Rio De Janeiro: Half-Day Rocinha Favela Walking Tour
- 3 3 Hour Rocinha Favela Walking Tour with a Local Guide
Off the mountain, onto the beach
Hang Glide from Pedra Bonita
Pedra Bonita’s launch ramp is one of the few places on earth where you take off from a 510-metre granite face and land on a beach. Atlantic thermals carry you over the Tijuca rainforest before you touch down on São Conrado sand. Tandem flights run on calm-wind mornings, roughly October through April.
- 1 Hang gliding Hang gliding Experience Rotorfly
- 2 Rio de Janeiro: Hang Gliding Adventure
- 3 Experience Asa Delta or Parapente in the River
By place
Pick a corner of Rio.
Each place is its own day. Corcovado for the Christ statue. Urca for Sugarloaf and the cable car. Lapa for Selarón’s mosaic steps. Tijuca for the rainforest hike. Rocinha for the walk through the hillside. Plus the panoramic city loops that string everything together.
By activity
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Cable car for the bay view. Boat if you want the islands. Helicopter for the whole city. Samba lesson, favela walk, hang glide — pick your pace.
Day trips
When you want to leave the city for the day.
Petrópolis for imperial mountains. Arraial do Cabo for the white sand. Angra & Ilha Grande for the island day. Pedra da Gávea for the climb. All within a half-day’s reach of the centre.
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