Rio: Corcovado, Sugar Loaf and Selaron Guided Tour

We will begin our tour visiting the Christ the Redeemer statue, on the top of Corcovado Hill. On our way there you will enjoy the views of Copacabana beach, Botafogo beach and Guanabara Palace.Before heading up to the statue you will enter the Tijuca Forest stopping at Paineiras to board the official vehicles up to Corcovado. The visit to the monument will last approximately 45 minutes.

Remark: In case of poor visibility on the summit of the Corcovado, we will make an alternative stop at the look out point, Mirante Dona Marta (362m), generally less affected by cloudiness.

After that we will head to Sugar Loaf driving along Botafogo beach towards Praia Vermelha, in the district of Urca.

We will travel to the top in two steps by cable car. The first will take you to Urca Hill, at the height of 220 meters above sea level where you already will have great views from Baia de Guanabara. From there we will take the second cable car all the way to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain, 396 meters above sea level. From up there, you will have a chance to see the most breathtaking views of Rio de Janeiro. We will stay at the top for approximately 30 minutes.

After visiting Sugar Loaf there is an optional stop for lunch at Ipanema's restaurant district.

Continuing our tour we will pass by the Maracanã Stadium (outside only) where we will have a quick stop outside for pictures at the Bellini's statue, a famous captain who led Brazil's soccer team to win the World Soccer Cup in 1958. Then we will head to the Sambadrome, which is the stadium for the city's main Carnival parade. We will then stop to take some photos.

As we continue through the city, we will see the Lapa Arches, Lavradio street and Avenida Chile. There we will visit the cone-shaped Metropolitan Cathedral, a major landmark in this Brazilian city and a masterpiece of modern art. It's conical shape is believed to give proximity to God. Four stained glass windows run from floor to ceiling forming a cross at the top. You will notice that acoustics are great in there!

Next we will visit the Escadaria Selarón (Selaron stairs), a colorful tiled stairway, work of a self-taught Chilean artist Jorge Selarón. Having traveled the world, Selarón moved to Rio in 1983, in a tiny house just in front of the desolate stairway connecting the areas of Lapa and Santa Teresa. 215 steps that he entirely covered with tiles collected in urban areas of Rio or donated by visitors from all around the world.

Following we will then visit the São Bento Monastery. A place of monastic simplicity that is one of the most beautiful architectural complexes in Brazil where there is a surprising contrast between the austere, purposefully simple appearance of the exterior and the richness of the interior highlighting gilded Baroque engravings with plants motifs.

On our way back to the hotel you will be able to see the beaches of Flamengo and Botafogo as we return via Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon.