Rio de Janeiro Excursion: Spectacular Day Tour to Christ Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain

Experience the best of Rio de Janeiro in one day with a thrilling excursion to Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain. Enjoy panoramic city views, ride a cable car, and explore the Tijuca Rain Forest. Don’t miss out on this spectacular day tour!

Duration: 10 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Pier Maua - Meeting point is

Cruise Terminal Pier Mauá - The guide will be waiting for you at the

exit gate of the Cruise Terminal 4 (right in front of the Kobra Mural), and will walk with you to the vehicle

  • Guanabara Palace - You will pass through the historic Laranjeiras neighborhood, which hosts the Guanabara Palace, the ancient home of Princess Isabel who signed the Golden Law to free all slaves. Nowadays, the Palace is the official headquarters of the government of Rio de Janeiro.
  • Sambodromo da Marques de Sapucai - Before reaching downtown you will pass next to the Sambodrome, where the Samba School Parade happens every year.
  • The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian - See from outside and get inside the iconic Metropolitan Cathedral which was built in a pyramidal form with an internal diameter of 96 meters and a height of 80 meters.
  • Aterro Do Flamengo - You will make your way to Urca through Aterro do Flamengo and its parks, designed by Burle Marx and hear all about Brazil’s participation in World War II as well as the founding of the city back in the late 1500s, just before arriving to Sugar Loaf.
  • Urca - Pass by the beautiful neighborhood that hosts one of the main sights of Rio de Janeiro, the Sugar Loaf Mountain.
  • Morro da Urca - The first cable car takes you to Urca Hill, a vantage point 215 meters high for which already grants beautiful views of Guanabara Bay and its islands, Flamengo and Botafogo beaches, Santos Dummont Airport, the Rio-Niterói Bridge, Urca’s neighborhood and Corcovado Mountain.
  • Sugarloaf Mountain - A second cable car takes you up to the top. When you get there, you will understand why Rio is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world. At 395 meters you’ll enjoy breathtaking views from Copacabana beach, Niterói and the Santa Cruz fortress. From up there, you will have no trouble understanding why Rio is nicknamed “Wonderful City”.
  • Carretão Ipanema Classic Grill - After visiting Sugar Loaf Mountain, you will head down to an all-you-can-eat-style barbecue house. Brazilian Churrascarias (Barbecue places) offer a wide variety of sides and alternative options, in case you decide to stick with a vegetarian option, you will still leave delighted. Lunch is included only if option selected. If selecting an option without lunch, our guide will offer a variety of nearby suggestions that can fit any budget or taste!
  • Ipanema Beach - Located between Arpoador and Jardim de Alah, it is one of the most famous beaches in the country (Have you ever heard “Girl from Ipanema”?) and one of the busiest in the city. About 2 km long, some areas of the beach have strong waves and currents, and can be used for sports.
  • Leblon Beach - Catch up nice views from the Leblon beach, where you can get a great perscpective of the Morro Dois Irmãos (Two Brothers Hill)
  • Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon - Pass by the famous Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon. The lagoon is connected to the Atlantic Ocean, allowing sea water to enter by a canal along the edge of a park locally known as Jardim de Alah.
  • Cosme Velho - Get to Cosme Velho train Station, where you will catch the train to reach the Corcovado Mountain. Skip the line with pre-reserved, so you won’t waste your time with long lines!
  • Parque Nacional da Tijuca - Upon reaching Cosme Velho Station, sitting at the bottom of Corcovado Mountain, we will catch the train with pre-reserved tickets to save time and it will take you up to the top, through the dense Tijuca Rainforest to the 38m tall (125ft) Christ Redeemer Statue. The 20 minute ride up will give you a chance to thoroughly appreciate the Tijuca Forest, which is considered to be the largest urban forest in the whole world. It represents 7% of the whole city`s territory! It’s breath taking and that alone already makes the trip well worth it.
    - Corcovado - Christ the Redeemer - Upon arriving at the Statue, you will have two options of reaching the top, by a lift and then an escalator, or the traditional way, by stairs, 222 Steps, but the prize makes it all worthwhile. Once up, the views and the imposing statue will take your mind off the walk up! Looking up you will feel blessed and protected by this beautiful monument of Christ with open arms, now one of the new Seven Wonders of the World! From up there you can see most of the city, all of the south zone and all the way to Niteroi. A unique view that will astound you. You will have about 40 minutes to get to know all the sides and views of Corcovado and take pictures.
What's Included
  • Professional guide
  • Cable Car Ticket to Sugar Loaf Access
  • Skip The Line Train Ticket to Christ Redeemer Statue Access
  • Lunch
  • Port pickup and drop off
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Drinks
Additional Information

Experience the best of Rio de Janeiro in a single, full-day shore excursion combining two of the city’s top tours. The morning kicks off with a comprehensive city tour, including a cable car ride up to the peak of Sugar Loaf Mountain. Post lunch, embark on a journey through the Tijuca Rain Forest, equipped with skip-the-line cog train tickets, culminating at the statue of Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado Mountain. Ideal for those with limited time in Rio, this tour offers a stellar encapsulation of the city’s highlights in just one day.

  • Barbecue Lunch (Vegetarian options available) - On option with Lunch. If selecting an option without lunch, our guide will offer a variety of nearby suggestions that can fit any budget or taste!
  • This tour does not operate on Carnival, Dec 24, 25 & 31 and January 1st.
  • Wear comfortable clothing and shoes
  • Bring sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat in case it’s hot
Location
Pier Maua
Avenida Rodrigues Alves 20, Centro
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.1
(21 Ratings)
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Rafael_o
Feb 11, 2024
Must do or else you miss out! - Absolutely amazing! Andrea our tour guide goes above and beyond. The restaurant of choice was really good with plenty of meat selections. If you are on a Cruise ship I would not recommend this tour because you need more time than the ship allows to see both Cristo Redentor and Pan de Azúcar. This tour is a complete package and well worth it! Thank you Andrea! Miriam y Rafael Otero
Review provided by Viator
840ppk
Aug 3, 2023
Worth it - Our guide Warly was very friendly and knowledgeable. He made our tour fun and easy. Lunch was awesome too!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
563janiquej
Jul 25, 2021
Best excursion ever! - This was the best experience ever! Louis was a awesome tour guide he was the best ever! I would recommend him if you choose to go on a excursion! Food was incredible!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Chris_s
Feb 22, 2020
Night at Sugar Loaf - It was awesome, our trip was delayed by 4hrs because of the ship, but the team waited for us and rearranged the tour, the night tour at Sugar loaf was amazing. THANKS.
Review provided by Viator
Pamela_m
Mar 2, 2019
Comprehensive One Day Overview of Rio - Took this tour over the cruise line's shore excursion because (1) it costs less, (2) included more sites and experiences, and (3) I was pleased that Viator now offers a guarantee not to miss your ship. The problem with Rio is heavy traffic, so you crawl from one site to another. Nevertheless, this tour took us up Sugarloaf Mountain on the cable car, the bog railway to see Christ the Redeemer and the viewing stands for Carnival. The only disappointment was that no drinks of any nature - water, soda, tea, coffee - were included with the lunch. For a few extra dollars, Euros, pounds, yens, pesos, reals, please throw in a complimentary, non-alcoholic drink.
Review provided by Viator
Steve
Apr 6, 2018
The highlights of this three-part... - <p>The highlights of this three-part tour were the gondola ride to the top of Sugar Loaf and the visit to the Christ Redeemer statue. It was a cloudy day, so some of the vistas were not spectacular, but that's touring. Between the two was a lunch at a grilled-meat restaurant. Although the food was tasty, it was a bit much for us and we would have been just as happy with a more modest meal, reducing the tour cost.</p> <p>For some reason, communication between Viator and the local company was incomplete. We had to pay for both the Sugar Loaf Gondola and the restaurant meal because the local company did not have a record of our payment credit card accepted, fortunately. Upon return to the US, we contacted Viator and they refunded the amount we were charged.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Bb_villagesfl
Feb 22, 2020
Day/Night Mare in Rio - It wasn't our tour operator's fault, but our tour operator didn't help much either. Our ship (Island Princess) was not cleared until after 12:00 Noon so our 8:30 Tour got off to a late start. We were told right from the beginning that we would not make the Rio de Janerio Cathedral so that was one item we missed. We also missed Tijuca National Park, along with visiting Sugarloaf Mountain at night when we saw nothing but lights from afar. Besides seeing "Christ the Redeemer", we saw a beach from a Sheraton hotel parking lot, and a soccer stadium from the outside that we circled around and watched people at the ticket counters. We realize the tour operator had no control over our ship letting people off late, but we spent so much time (at least an hour) just getting our group together, and a bunch of time wasted because the restaurant told us to kill time because they were crowded... Then, because we were so late and wasted so much time, the rain moved in like a monsoon and we had to make our way to the bus walking in 4" to 6" deep puddles.... It was a "Tour from Hell"! Our friends asked how we like Sugarloaf and we told the truth.. "We have NO Idea"!!
Review provided by Viator
Carlos_s
Dec 9, 2019
Too long - The places we visited were very good, but to pick up passengers from different hotels was too long. I thought it was only for cruise passengers. We wasted around two hours and we had to change the bus.
Review provided by Viator
Anne
Mar 17, 2018
My friend and I had a wonderful day... - <p>My friend and I had a wonderful day on this trip. The views from the top of Sugar Loaf mountain and Christ the Redeemer were wonderful. We were picked up from the port just after 8am and taken to a hotel to join a larger group for the tour. There were a few times during the day when the organisation was a bit chaotic as there were several gaps in the day when we had to wait for our transport to the next stage of the trip. The worst part was our return to the ship when we were transferred to a private taxi to take us back to the ship. The journey started well but, it turned out that the driver had no idea where the port was and it took almost 2 hours for us to get back to the ship. My friend and I do not panic easily however, given the warnings we had been given about safety in Rio I was worried. The content of the trip was great but, as a result of the return trip to the ship I wouldn't recommend using this company in Rio.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Lionel1234
Nov 4, 2018
Taxi tour - This was a ten hour tour and although we did see sugar loaf mountain and Christ the redeemer we saw more back streets over and over again plus hotels. Over half of the tour was filled up with collecting more guests. Getting rid of some at lunch time then going round more hotels to pick up the afternoon crowd. Very frustrating and disappointing
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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