Here we’ll find some of the main attractions of Rio de Janeiro, also an estimated needed time indicator to visit each one of the sites is given, so you can have an idea of how much time it’ll take when booking the tours with me.
Christ the
redeemer statue: The
most representative symbol of Rio and Brazil. The view is just fabulous from
the top of the 710 meters (2328ft.) Corcovado mountain you can see most part of
the city with its beaches, forest, lagoons, etc. It was elected recently as
being one of the 7 new world wonders!
Duration of visit: 02 hours
Sugar Loaf
Mountain: Together
with the Christ the redeemer provides the best views of Rio de Janeiro from a
completely different angle, the access is made by a cable-car that became
worldwide famous after the appearing in the James Bond’s The Moonraker movie.
Duration of visit: 02 hours
Beaches:
Rio has around twenty beaches ranging from the world known Copacabana,
Ipanema and Leblon with their very particular sparkling beach culture to more
wild, quiet in protected area beaches like Prainha and Grumari. Each one has it
charm.
Duration of visit: 01hour passing by car and stopping for photos in Copacabana/Ipanema or 04-06 hours for the most secluded beaches Prainha/Grumari with stop for bathing.
Historical city
center: Rio was the
capital of Brazil from 1763 till 1960 and as being the center of all political
decisions of the country, during this time the center of Rio followed all these
changes also in its architecture, there you’ll find a very interesting mix of
colonial Portuguese buildings, neo-classical, art-nouveau, art-déco, eclectic
and contemporary styles all in one place.
Duration: 1,5hour quick visit or 04hour extensive visit.
Santa Teresa artsy
neighborhood: Once
a upscale and noble neighborhood with numerous 19th-century
mansions. Nowadays a bohemian district full of artists and intellectuals with
streets filled with art galleries, ateliers, bars and restaurants with a lively
alternative lifestyle.
Duration of visit: 30minutes, just passing by car or 02 hours to a more extensive visit, strolling around.
Maracanã Stadium: Brazil is the football country and
Maracanã is its maximum symbol, built in 1950 to host the 4th
edition of the World Cup of Football, it had the record audience of nearly two
hundred thousand fans during the final Brazil vs. Uruguay. Nowadays besides
having the amazing opportunity of seeing a football match, during the week
without games, it’s opened for visitors for seeing the bleaches, changing rooms
and the pitch. A must-see for a real football (soccer) fan.
Duration of visit: 01hour
Tijuca Forest:
Rio de Janeiro is a blessed city to have within its boundaries a
33-square kilometers national park with an exuberant vegetation of the Atlantic
rainforest, having one of the highest biodiversity in the world. Here for the
nature and outdoor activities lovers are plentiful walking tracks inside the
jungle, with great views passing by waterfalls and even having the chance of
seeing wild animals such as monkeys and sloths.
Duration of visit: 02hours for a quick visit to a waterfall and lookout point. Or 04-06 hours doing a walking tour inside the jungle.
Botanical Garden: Created in 1808 by the prince of
Portugal João it is one of the most important botanical gardens in the world
with more than seven thousand species of trees and plants, some of them the
brazil wood (tree that gave the name to the country) and the giant imperial
palm tree. Walking around this park is simply a delight for the nature lovers.
Duration of visit: 1,5hour
Markets: Great place to see the real local
life, the spontaneous way of the street vendors attracting the clients, seeing
the exotic fruits and vegetables and meeting people. Besides the outdoor fruit
markets there are also interesting antique markets to see.
Duration of visit: 30 minutes
Carnival: The biggest outdoor party in the
world! The carnaval of Rio is well known for its street parties and the
beautiful parade. Outside the carnaval period you can also experience a bit of
it by visiting the Sambadrome, the special “stadium” built for the big parades
and see its small museum of carnaval with costumes and also take a visit to the
Samba City the pavilion created to be the place where all the amazing floats
are built through the year around.
Duration of visit: 1,5 hour
Social Project in
a favela: In order
to have a better a sociological background of Rio a visit to favela is not to
be missed; favelas are the poor
neighborhoods of Rio where more than 30% of the 6million inhabitants of Rio
lives. The visit is done in a non voyeuristic and responsible way since we’ll be visited a
Day care Center for Senior citizens and children (Casa de Santa Ana) located in the City of God
district and part of the value of the tour goes to the project that helps
improve the life’s of hundreds of people.
Duration of visit: 04 hours
Nightlife: Rio de Janeiro is a vibrant city, the place where the world well-known rhythm symbol of Brazil was created, the samba. In the nightlife district of Lapa are lots of venues with live music where local people go not only during the weekends but almost everyday. To get to know the real nightlife of Rio nothing better than get in a tour showing the particular places, like street samba parties, bars with live music, lively markets where music is played. And of course from August till February the rehearsals at samba schools for the biggest event of the year, The Carnival.
