Rio New Year 5-Day Tour – Copacabana, Corcovado & Sugarloaf

The excursion to Mount Corcovado and the Christ the Redeemer statue is a four-hour adventure that begins with a funicular ride up through the Tijuca rainforest. You never know what you’ll spot in the Tijuca Forest – monkeys and toucans, armadillos and coatis, opossums and anteaters! As the little train rounds bends in the trees, houses and the ocean flash into view for a few seconds, only for the dense green wall to close in again. And then, you’re at the very top! From the viewing platform, you can see Guanabara Bay, Maracanã Stadium, Sugarloaf Mountain, the beaches, and Gávea Rock. From this height, it’s strikingly clear just how tightly Rio is squeezed between mountains and water: the neighbourhoods occupy every available strip of land. For some, it’s a panoramic viewpoint – the Rio panorama from Corcovado. For others, it’s a place where the city’s clamour finally yields to silence and a personal prayer.

You’ll have time to rest and dress for welcoming New Year's Eve in Rio 2027. By evening, Copacabana transforms beyond recognition. White stops being a mere detail – it floods the pavements, the hotel entrances, the approaches to the beach. People dressed in white gather on the sand, the stage crew checks the sound, flowers and small offerings are carried down to the water. This is how New Year’s Eve on Copacabana begins – with music, heat, and a simmering anticipation. For many, celebrating New Year abroad is linked above all with this very shore: fireworks rise above the Atlantic, their light shattering on the waves, and the crowd lingers long into the night. New Year in Rio is intimately connected with the figure of the goddess Yemanjá: offerings are lowered into the ocean for her, asking for protection and good luck.

*If you’d prefer a more exclusive celebration, we can arrange a gala dinner or party ticket at one of Copacabana’s hotels. Please enquire for pricing.

After breakfast, you have a free day to explore the city on your own, relax on the beach, or take part in optional excursions.

If you prefer a more luxurious escape with elite hotels and exclusive experiences, explore our Luxury Brazil tour.

A helicopter flight over Rio reveals the city from a perspective that neither Corcovado nor Sugarloaf can offer. Once airborne, the coastline resolves into a single sweeping picture: beaches, green hills, the Botanical Garden, and the white figure of Christ above the neighbourhoods. Rio’s geography becomes tangible, more vivid than ever. You’ll be able to compare views from the windows on both sides of the cabin. At some point, your gaze stops fixating on individual buildings – only the ocean, the rocks, and the city between them remain. Euphoria makes you lose track of time: minutes fly by almost in an instant. Yet sometimes, a short flight is all it takes to imprint the city and the sensation of soaring above it in your memory.
Duration: 6–13 minutes. Price upon request.

The word favela is said to trace back to soldiers returning from the War of Canudos: the settlement on Morro da Providência reminded them of a hill covered with the faveleira plant.

The Rio favela tour explores Rocinha, a district that has climbed a steep hillside in a web of streets, staircases, and narrow passageways. Here, the vertical geography of Rio becomes strikingly visible. Around bends, you encounter workshops, small shops, schools, and residential terraces; above the rooftops, a strip of ocean sometimes appears. In 2022, Rocinha was the most populous favela in the country. The daily life of Rio’s cariocas in the favelas reveals itself unfiltered: neighbours call out to each other from their balconies, discuss the day’s news on the steps, and share the street with music, children, and the buzz of motorbikes.

The tour is conducted by jeep and concludes with a return to your hotel. Group excursion with an English-speaking guide: USD 60 per person. Private tour (minimum 2 people): USD 120 per person.

After breakfast – transfer to Rio de Janeiro airport and your flight home. Package tours to Rio de Janeiro often promise beaches and views, but this journey leaves you with so much more. This group tour of Brazil blends celebration with an intimate discovery of the city – its heights, its history, and its everyday life. Over just a few days, Rio has revealed the many facets of its character: the silence at the foot of Christ the Redeemer, the wind sweeping across the bay, the rustle of the Tijuca Forest, the old streets of the historic centre, and Copacabana turned white with New Year's attire. By day, the city was composed of water, stone, and green; by night, of music, the hum of voices, and light shimmering above the ocean.

New Year tours to Brazil, and a Rio tour over the New Year holidays in particular, are remembered not only for the fireworks but also for that first morning when Rio falls quiet and feels almost like home. And for the sense that the celebration has become a part of the city itself.

Welcoming the New Year in Rio doesn't guarantee good fortune, but it does give you a starting point: after a night like this, it's easier to believe that the biggest plans also begin with a single first step. As your plane rises above the shore, a simple thought will stay with you: don't put off what your heart is set on.

To discover more of the continent's highlights, our Great South America tour covers Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru.