Breakfast at the hotel. Your English-speaking guide from Brazil meets you in the lobby.
The city route begins at Praia Vermelha, a narrow strip of sand at the foot of the rocks. From here the Sugarloaf Mountain cable car lifts you up: the cabin passes over granite ledges and treetops, with
Guanabara Bay alongside.
The first stop is Urca Hill, with a wide viewing platform, restaurants, and bars. Already from here you can see the colorful bay, boats along the shore, the city skyline, and the Christ statue on Corcovado. But you continue higher, to Sugarloaf itself. A panoramic view over Rio, Copacabana beach, the bay, and the Niteroi bridge spanning it, the surrounding mountains and islands in the ocean.
Then by car you head into the central neighborhoods of old Rio de Janeiro on a city tour. You pass through dense urban streets: the cool interiors of churches, monasteries, the enormous Cathedral that holds up to 20,000 people, the shade of narrow streets and the stone facades of colonial buildings.
Optional:
Helicopter Tour Rio de Janeiro.
The helicopter lifts off and gains altitude smoothly. The city noise quickly falls away, leaving only the steady hum of the blades and the wind. Below, Rio assembles itself into a complete picture. The ocean dark in its depths, lighter patches near the shore, the endless lines of beaches, the white curves of Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon. Between them, dense buildings and green masses.
You pass over Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, the Botanical Garden, and rise toward the Christ the Redeemer statue. Sugarloaf and Guanabara Bay are off to one side. The helicopter tour Rio lasts from 10 to 30 minutes. The views stay with you, but above all it is the feeling of boundless space, as though for a moment you stepped outside the ordinary world. An excellent addition to any VIP Brazil itinerary.
