What to do with 1, 2, 3 or more days in Rio

One Day

Morning: Rise with Cristo. Take the kombi down to Rua Laranjeiras, and walk 10-15 minutes to the cog train station. Take the train up to meet the Christ Redeemer and gain a spectacular view of the city. Or, walk from the house to the Christ Redeemer monument. Experience a bit of the Tijuca National Forest on the way up, and take the train back down the hill.

Cristo

Afternoon: Head downtown to explore museums or take a walk in the old city. Journey over to Lapa, adjacent to downtown, to see the Arches and Selaron Steps. Take the Bonde from the station downtown up to Santa Tereza.

Dutch volunteers on Bonde

Evening: Relax in the bohemian vibe of Santa Tereza. If you arrive in the early evening, take the time to check out Parque das Ruinas. Then head to the center of Santa and peruse the artisan shops, eat dinner, and have a Caipirinha or Cerveja (beer) at one of the oldest and dearest bars in the city: Bar do Gomez.

Bar de Gomez

Night time options: Lapa (Friday night is best- with the party overflowing the streets!), the bar scenes in Ipanema, and Botafogo are also all great Rio experiences.

Caipirinha, Brazilian cocktail

OR

Afternoon/Evening: View the city from the other side-head over to Urca neighbourhood and scale to the top of the Sugar Loaf Mountain. For a magical experience, arrive before sunset and watch the colors change from above the clouds. Urca is also a great spot to enjoy dinner, or you can head over to the nearby Praia Vermelho and enjoy an evening walk on the beach.

Sugar Loaf at Sunset

Night options: Lapa, Ipanema, Botafogo.

Two Days

Day One (as per itinerary in above section)

Morning: Rise with Cristo. Take the kombi down to Rua Laranjeiras, and walk 10-15 minutes to the cog train station. Take the train up to meet the Christ Redeemer and gain a spectacular view of the city. Or, walk from the house to the Christ Redeemer monument. Experience a bit of the Tijuca National Forest on the way up, and take the train back down the hill.

Dutch Volunteers at Christ Redeemer statue

Afternoon: Head downtown to explore museums or take a walk in the old city. Journey over to Lapa, adjacent to downtown, to see the Arches and Selaron Steps. Take the Bonde from the station downtown up to Santa Tereza.

Casa Guests at Selaron Stairs

Evening: Relax in the bohemian vibe of Santa Tereza. If you arrive in the early evening, take the time to check out Parque das Ruinas. Then head to the center of Santa and peruse the artisan shops, eat dinner, and have a Caipirinha or Cerveja (beer) at one of the oldest and dearest bars in the city: Bar do Gomez.

Bonde, Santa Tereza

Night time options: Lapa (Friday night is best- with the party overflowing the streets!), the bar scenes in Ipanema, and Botafogo are also all great Rio experiences.

Day Two

Morning: Be a beach bum! Head to Copacabana, Ipanema, or Leblon to soak in the sun, feel the sand on your feet, and do some excellent people watching. Be sure to drink some fresh agua de coco (coconut water) and find a juice shop where you can drink up a serving of fresh fruit. For a uniquely Brazilian experience, order something exotic like Acai, Acerola, Graviola (local fruits), or even Abacaxi com Hortela (Pineapple with mint)!

Ipanema Beach

*For those early risers, or those who don’t fancy the beach, another morning option is Jardim Botanico. It’s a lovely space, with many themed gardens. Find omnipresent beauty in everything from Cacti to Orchids.

Jardim Botanico

Afternoon: When the sun has your skin turning colors and your tummy is rumbling for lunch, it’s time to head inland. Ipanema, Copacabana, and Leblon all provide excellent dining opportunities. After your meal, stroll down the street and do some shopping. Stay on the main avenues (Ipanema: Visconde de Piraja, Copacabana: Santa Clara 33 outlet market, Leblon: shopping Leblon-nice but pricey), and follow the flow of people to find where to locals go for their fashion wants and needs.

Evening: Experience a spectacular sunset at the Sugar Loaf Mountain. Take a walk around Urca neighborhood; or a stroll down the adjacent Praia Vermelha beach.

Sugar Loaf Mountain

*Sugar Loaf Mountain and Urca neighbourhood can also be lovely morning activities, done before the beaches or Jardim Botanico.

Three Days

Days One and Two

See above section Two Days for activities for these days. Also, if you are staying more than two days, we recommend taking the time to visit one of Rio’s famous Samba schools. If you can’t be in Rio during Carnival, a visit to a samba school is the next best bet! Have a Saturday night in Rio? Head to Salguerio around midnight for an unparalleled event...see our previous blog post on our group trip to Salgueiro school’s samba practice for more details! http://therealriodejaneiro.blogspot.com/2010/10/carnival-in-october.html

Samba at Salgueiro

Day Three

Option 1: Take bonde into Centro (downtown) and explore the old buildings and museums. Points of interest include: Cinelandia- once the site of a convent, then a square, and eventually an area with a high concentration of cinemas, thus, Cinelandia. Today a cultural center with offering an abundance of restraints and bars. Praca XV- this is the epicenter of old town Rio de Janeiro. Here you will find the Imperial Palace where the Portuguese family lived upon arrival in Rio, the Naval Museum, and a large square, also known as Praca XV. There are also always free exhibits at museums downtown, such as Caixa Cultural and Centro Cultural Banco Brasil. Both are cultural exhibition halls owned by Brazilian banking companies, unfortunately their online information is all in Portuguese...but if you let our front desk staff know you are interested in visiting, we will be happy to get you all the information you need to take in the art at these fabulous establishments. Do some shopping in Saara, the largest open-air market in South America, and best place to buy Havaianas. Finish the day at Confetaria Colombo- a beautiful coffeehouse cerca 1894 offering high quality beverages, decadent desserts and more in ornate surroundings.

Cinelandia

Opton 2: Take a trip over to Niteroi. Catch a ferry from downtown and cross the Guanabara bay to Niteroi. Visit Museu de Arte Contemporanea (The Museum of Contemporary Art, also known as M.A.C.) where the structure itself and the view of Rio are as impressive as the art within. The beaches of Niteroi are also spectacular.

M.A.C.

Take bus number 38 or a taxi to beautiful Itacoatiara, a surfer’s paradise or journey a bit further to Itaipu beach- a fisherman’s colony surrounded by sand dunes, a lagoon, and colonial era ruins. Stay for the sunset, and watch the city turn scarlet from afar before heading back home to the Casa.

Itaipu Beach

Also, you could do Centro in the morning and then Niteroi in the afternoon for just the MAC too as an alternative option.

Options for day four, five, six, seven...

Take a hike in Tijuca National Park- The park offers many trails for hiking, biking, running, or strolling along through the forest. Along the way, spot monkeys, Toucans, butterflies, waterfalls and impressive views of the city below. Popular points within the park include: Vista Chinesa- a pagoda at the high point of a road connecting below to Jardim Botanico, Pico da Tijuca- a viewpoint at an altitude of 1,022m (3,352ft), and Cascatinha waterfall.

Waterfall, Tijuca National Park

Visit a favela- We have connections with two varying programmes for this option. One is run by a favela resident, and takes you through the largest of these communities in the city: Rocinha. The other is a married couple-tour guide team who offer a visit to the twin communities of Babilonia and Chapeu Mangueira, who are participants in the project UPP wherein the police have entered into the favela, and community members are working with authorities to revitalize their district and eradicate illegal activities. Both options are superb experiences and offer safe guidance throughout. Both are also run in collaboration with people from the local community, and are therefore very authentic and interactive, as opposed to voyeuristic.

Rocinha

Barra de Tijuca- Extended beach neighborhood offering all sorts of fun activities: surfing, jet skiing, shopping, or simply sunbathing. Brazilians joke that this area is more like Miami than Rio, because of its big streets, SUVs and oversized shopping malls.

Barra Beach

Petropolis- Take a day trip into colonial town in the mountains. Visit an imperial palace, the summer home of Dom Pedro II (now a museum-Museu Imperial), marvel at the Palacio de Cristal (crystal palace, a stained-glass and iron building made in France and assembled in Brazil as a wedding gift to Princess Isabel in 1888), and explore Casa de Santos Domont (the house of Santos Dumont, an aviation pioneer, filled with quirky inventions).

Crystal Palace