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Rio de Janeiro: Christ Redeemer, Sugarloaf & Selarón Steps

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/24

Duration8h–9h

GroupUp to 15

LanguagesEN · PT +1

PickupAt your hotel

One Day, Ten Stops: Rio's Landmarks & Hidden Viewpoints

You're picked up from your hotel and driven through the Tijuca Forest to Christ the Redeemer, then to viewpoints, the cathedral, museums, and the colorful Selarón Staircase. Lunch at a buffet restaurant is included, as are all entry tickets and the cable car rides up Sugarloaf Mountain. The van and guide stay with you the whole day, and you return to your hotel by evening.

8h–9h

Step-by-step itinerary

Van ride through Tijuca Forest
Climb stairs to Christ the Redeemer
Enjoy views and photos at Christ
Visit Mirante Dona Marta viewpoint
See Metropolitan Cathedral exterior
Stop at Praça Mauá square
Photo stop at Museum of Tomorrow
Visit Cinelândia square
See Municipal Theater exterior
Lunch at all-you-can-eat buffet
Pass by Arcos da Lapa aqueduct
Walk Selarón Staircase steps
Cable car ride to Sugarloaf Mountain
Enjoy views from Sugarloaf summit

The Experience

The van picks you up from your hotel in the morning and heads straight for Christ the Redeemer. You ride up through the Tijuca Forest—one of the largest urban forests in the world, dense and green right in the middle of the city—then climb the final stairs to stand in front of the 30-meter statue. The view from up there is the thing you came for: Guanabara Bay, the forest below, the mountains all around. It's the reason this place made the Seven Wonders list back in 1931, and you'll understand why the moment you see it. Your guide explains the history while you take photos, and then you head back down the same way you came.

After Christ the Redeemer, the itinerary swings to Mirante Dona Marta, a viewpoint that's not on every tour—this one is exclusive to the agency. From here you can see Christ, Sugarloaf, the bay and the city center all at once, which means the photos you take here look like someone stitched three postcards together. Then you move into the city proper: the Metropolitan Cathedral in the center (75 meters tall, opened in 1979, holds 20,000 people), Praça Mauá with the Museum of Tomorrow right there on the waterfront, and Cinelândia square where the Municipal Theater sits like something from Paris, all classical columns and a dome. The theater opened in 1909 and you see it from the outside, but the architecture alone is worth the stop. Your guide points out the old cinema buildings around the square, and you start to feel the layers of Rio's history.

Lunch happens at an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant where they serve feijoada, the traditional Rio dish, alongside other options. Drinks and desserts cost extra, but the main spread is included. After you eat, the van takes you to Lapa and the Selarón Staircase—215 steps covered in over 2,000 tiles in every color you can think of. A Chilean artist named Jorge Selarón built it by hand, and it connects Lapa to Santa Teresa. The colors are so bright and dense that you can spend twenty minutes just photographing different sections, and every angle looks different.

The last stop is Sugarloaf Mountain, and this is where the cable car comes in. You board at Praia Vermelha and ride to Morro da Urca station first, then switch to another cable car that takes you to the summit. The view during the ride itself is part of the attraction—you're suspended over the city and the water, and the angle changes the whole way up. On the way back down you ride the cable car twice more, so you see the landscape shift four times total. By the time you return to your hotel, you've covered the main landmarks, eaten, and caught Rio from about five different angles.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup and drop-off from main hotels in the south side and downtown, transport in an air-conditioned van with a professional driver and tour guide, entry tickets to Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain, cable car rides at Sugarloaf, live commentary on board, and an all-you-can-eat buffet lunch with feijoada and other dishes. Drinks and desserts at lunch are payable separately.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Passeio Rio

Is this one for you?Book this if you want Rio's main landmarks—Christ, Sugarloaf, the cathedral, the colorful Selarón Steps—in one organized day without arranging transport, tickets or timing yourself. The fixed schedule and included pickup mean you show up at your hotel and the rest is handled.