RIO DE JANEIRO · BRAZIL
Sea, samba, and a city of peaks.
Christ the Redeemer and the Sugarloaf cable car, sunset sails on Guanabara Bay, favela walks and samba nights in Lapa, and the island beaches a day trip south. Everything worth booking in Rio, in one place.
Only here
Three things you can only do in Rio.
Beaches, boat trips and city tours turn up in every coastal city. Standing under Christ above the clouds, gliding off a mountain onto the sand, and walking a hillside favela with the people who live there belong to this city alone.
Open arms, 700m up
Christ the Redeemer
Corcovado rises straight out of the Tijuca rainforest, and the figure on top stands almost forty metres tall with its arms open over the whole bay. A cog train climbs through the trees to the terrace at its feet, where the beaches, the city and Sugarloaf all open up at once. Nothing quite prepares you for the first time you step out onto that platform.
- 1 Christ the Redeemer Entry Ticket by Corcovado Train
- 2 Rio: Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, Selaron & BBQ Lunch
- 3 Rio de Janeiro: Christ, Selaron Steps, and Tijuca Park Tour
Mountain to sand
Hang-glide to the beach
Strapped to a pilot, you run off the Pedra Bonita ramp high above Sao Conrado and ride the sea breeze down over the rainforest and the rooftops, landing on the sand below. Few cities on earth let you launch off a mountain in the morning and swim in the sea by lunch. Rio is one of them.
- 1 Rio de Janeiro: Hang Gliding Adventure
- 2 Rio de Janeiro: Hang Gliding Tandem Flight
- 3 Rio de Janeiro: Paragliding Tandem Flight
The city on the hill
A favela on foot
Close to a quarter of Rio lives up the morros, the hillside communities stacked above the beach districts. A walk through Rocinha or Santa Marta, led by people who live there, trades the postcard for the working city: the alley markets, the rooftop views, the funk beat and the street art.
- 1 Rio de Janeiro: Rocinha Favela Walking Tour with Local Guide
- 2 Rio De Janeiro: Half-Day Rocinha Favela Walking Tour
- 3 Rio de Janeiro: Favela Santa Marta Top Tour with Local Guide
Start at the top
If you do one thing in Rio, start here.
More travellers build their Rio days around this one than anything else in the city.
The classics
Rio's Most Popular Tours
Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, the Tijuca forest and a sail on the bay. The days most travellers come to Rio for.
Where to begin
The experiences a Rio trip is built around.
Christ the Redeemer, the Sugarloaf cable car, a sail across the bay, the Tijuca rainforest, a favela walk and a flight off the mountain. The handful of days most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each.
Rio's first question
How to see Christ the Redeemer.
The statue stands 700 metres up Corcovado, inside a national park you cannot simply drive into. Three ways to the top, depending on the time you have and whether you want Sugarloaf in the same day.
The other Rio
The city stacked up the hillside.
Close to a quarter of Rio lives in the favelas that climb the morros above the beach districts. Guided walks through Rocinha, the largest in Brazil, and hillside Santa Marta are led by people who live there, with the money going back into the community. Expect alley markets, rooftop samba, sharp street art and the best free view in the city.
Read the guide: the best favela tours in Rio →The bay
Where the mountains walk into the sea.
Guanabara Bay opens between Sugarloaf and the open Atlantic, ringed by green peaks and scattered with islands. Cariocas have sailed and swum it for generations. Cross it on a sunset schooner, race it by speedboat, or ride the slow ferry to Niteroi for the long view back at the skyline.
Sails & boat trips →After dark
The night belongs to Lapa.
When the heat drops the city moves to Lapa. Under the old aqueduct arches the samba spills out of open doors, the bars run until dawn and the floor fills with dancers. Guided nights out and live folklore shows drop you straight into it, with someone who knows which door to walk through.
- 1 Rio: Ginga Tropical Samba and Folklore Show Ticket
- 2 Ginga Tropical – Brazilian Samba and Folklore Show
- 3 Pedra do Sal: Live Samba Night with Local Guide & Drink
Above it all
See the whole city from the air.
Rio was built for the aerial view. Strap to a pilot and run off the Pedra Bonita ramp for a tandem hang-glide or paraglide down to Sao Conrado beach, or take a helicopter loop past the open arms of Christ, around Sugarloaf and out over the sand. The classic Rio postcard, from the only angle that fits it all in.
See all 6 flights over Rio →By place
Pick your corner of Rio.
Corcovado for Christ above the clouds. Sugarloaf for the cable car and the bay. The Tijuca forest for waterfalls in the city. Santa Teresa and Lapa for the studios and the samba. Arraial do Cabo and Ilha Grande for the day you escape to the islands.
By activity
Or pick how to spend the day.
A cable car if you want the view. A boat if you want the bay. A favela walk if you want the real city. Hiking, samba, a flight over the beaches, or a long lunch by the sea.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
First time in Rio? A long weekend that hits the essentials without a wasted hour.
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