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Rio de Janeiro: E-Scooter Lapa & Santa Teresa with Cable Car

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.83 (6 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/12

Duration3h

GroupUp to 4

LanguagesEN · PT +1

Mobile ticketAccepted

Gliding through Rio's old quarters on two wheels, cable car ticket in hand

You ride an electric scooter through Lapa and downtown Rio, take the cable car up to Santa Teresa, and visit the Selarón Stairs and Metropolitan Cathedral. The tour includes your cable car ticket and beginner instruction if you need it. You're moving under your own power but with a guide who knows where to go, which means you see the neighborhoods from street level instead of from inside a vehicle.

Step-by-step itinerary

Ride electric scooter in Lapa
Visit Selaron Stairs
Visit Metropolitan Cathedral
Pass by Municipal Theater
Visit Ruins Park
Visit Samba City
Take cable car to Santa Teresa

The Experience

Leaning forward slightly, feet planted on the deck, hands gripping the handlebars — that's how you start moving through Rio de Janeiro on an electric scooter. The Port Zone spreads out ahead, and then you're rolling toward Lapa, where the colonial aqueducts rise up like something from another century. The route threads through downtown, past the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Municipal Theater, and the whole rhythm of the city changes when you're moving at this pace instead of stuck in traffic. Your guide gives you the basics if you've never ridden before — it's more about balance than anything else, they'll say, and they're right.

Santa Teresa is where the day shifts. You'll leave the scooters for the cable car (ticket's included), and it climbs up through the neighborhood in a way that feels almost old-fashioned now. The streets up there are narrow and steep, lined with colonial buildings and street art, and you can see across the bay to Guanabara. After you come back down, there's the Selarón Stairs — those famous steps covered in blue and yellow tiles that someone spent years decorating by hand. It's one of those places that photographs don't quite capture; you have to stand on them to get why they matter.

The whole thing moves at a human speed. You're not rushing between stops or sitting on a bus watching the city through a window. You're in it, feeling the air change as you move between neighborhoods, stopping when something catches your attention. Cinelândia, the National Library, the Lapa Aqueducts — they're not just checkmarks on an itinerary; they're part of how the route actually flows. The guide knows the shortcuts and the stories, and because the group stays small, you can ask questions without holding anyone up.

What’s included

Electric scooter rental for the duration of the tour.
helmet.
cable car ticket to Santa Teresa.
guided route through Lapa, downtown Rio, and Santa Teresa.
beginner instruction on scooter riding if needed.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearby

Operated by VANMO

Is this one for you?Pick this if you want to move through Rio's historic neighborhoods without arranging transport between stops or navigating the traffic yourself — the scooter keeps you moving at a pace where you actually notice the details, and the guide handles the route.