Sep 3, 2024
Great, history-filled day trip out of the city and into the mountains! - This full-day tour was the perfect addition to our week in Rio! Our guide Monica was incredibly friendly, and she is supremely knowledgable about the history that brought Petropolis to life. She was an excellent guide! We loved getting out of the city of Rio itself and into the mountains nearby. Highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aug 30, 2024
Petropolis, a great historical tour.. - Monica the tour guide was awesome. Informative, articulate in english and spanish and just an absolute pleasure. The food stop was great and timing of everything was very well organized. I highly recommend!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dec 1, 2019
Beautiful Petrópolis - Was a great tour with Julio. I was with a group of Spanish & Portuguese speaking guests but he explained everything personally as if I was on a private tour. Petrópolis is a must when you are in Rio.
Review provided by Viator
Aug 29, 2024
I'll be back! - Petrópolis is a beautiful city and a lot of history. Thank you Monica for the explanations and the transport was very good too
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jun 14, 2024
I did not receive all the services I paid for. - I feel harmed because I didn't have access to all the services that were included in the package. I paid to enter the Quitandinha Palace and, upon arriving at the place, I was informed by the guide Rafael that we would not enter and that we would just stop at the place for photos and information.
I also paid to have a drink and dessert included at lunch and had another surprise: I had to pay "outside" for the service. Both Rio Carioca Tour and the guide Rafael informed that this was an error by Trip Advisor, that they were not responsible for the error and that I should seek compensation from you. Below are photos that prove what was exposed here. I look forward to hearing from you so we can resolve this issue.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 15, 2019
Interesting tour - This tour is more significant for Portuguese decendents as it's very historical and the main attraction is the Imperial Palace where the majority of the time is spent. For a foreigner it's interesting but can be a bit much as it doesn't have the significance it does for decendents.
The Bohemian Brewery was interesting and the beers we tasted were good.
The chocolate factory was disappointing as it is not a factory but more a coffee shop and the selection of chocolates available to buy were very limited.
We were the only 2 English sneaking on the tour which did make it a bit difficult but credit must go to our guide Roma who really went out of his way to try to explain as much as possible to us.
All in all an interesting day.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 25, 2024
Itinerary is Lacking but Imperial Museum was nice - The tour through the Imperial Palace/Museum was really nice. The tour guide as also very knowledgeable, passionate, and friendly. We spent over an hour at the Imperial Museum and learned a lot about the Imperial / Royal family during our visit. The other stops were underwhelming and wish there was more to see in Petropolis. The buffet lunch included is not so good and if you don't select the optional brewery tour, you are left at a part with nothing to do for over an hour (Brewery tour itself was okay). The tour was also conducted in English, Spanish, and Portuguese... so it took a long time to explain everything. The size of the group also made things to very slow. Overall, it was 12 hours spent for a couple of interesting hours.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
May 8, 2024
Unprofessional company - Very horrible experience. My phone was stolen the night before the tour and I had to spend the day of the tour buying a new one. That night when I finally was able to contact the company I was told I could be rescheduled for the next day. I went to the meeting point and waited for an hour and no one showed up! I emailed four times and when I got a response I was told there was no tour for that day….complete waste of time
Review provided by Viator
Dec 11, 2019
Robbed, Held Captive, and Poisoned - Let me begun by saying that my husband and I are well traveled and love/ appreciate tours of all kinds... but are very frustrated by companies who do them badly and without concern or care for their guests. In my opinion, Rio Carioca Tours is a greedy, tour churning company without respect for its guests, policies, or guides.
A few notes:
The "14 people max" promise in the tour description is a lie. They crammed 44 on our bus and spent two hours picking them all up (and another two dropping them off). Torture!
We only stopped outside most of the listed attractions to take pictures, not enter or experience. Nothing cost very much...a big time ripoff. Even the lunch only cost $4USD... and literally made me sick...I got food poisoning... and I've got an iron stomach.
The worst part is you can't just leave the tour. You're stuck on it...ALL day. So it's a huge waste of time... to basically see, do, and learn nothing, at least not in English, the third translated language our poor guide had to suffer through.
The only saving grace was the self guided brewery tour. It was a delight.
Do yourself a favor and choose something else to do with your time! You can take public transportation to Petropolis in far less time than the tour will take you and have more time to see what your want.
Review provided by Viator