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Rio de Janeiro: 7 Big Highlights

Fabulous Rio de Janeiro – one of the world’s great cities! Or so we were told, having not made it there for far too long despite our many years of travel. And plenty of time spent in South America. One time we decided Brazil was too expensive. Another time we were short on time and decided our reasonable Spanish vs complete lack of Portuguese was enough to bump Brazil down the list. Several other times we were just on the other side of the world.

But we finally made it! And Rio definitely lived up to the billing. Even though we are decidedly not beach people – at least not as far as spending whole days lying in the sun – we still have no problem appreciating a gorgeous stretch of sand when we see one. And Rio most certainly has those. Plus a few more of the most famous sites in South America, if not the world.

Rock in the middle of a lagoon with a statue of an archer on top
Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas

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We based ourselves just a few blocks inland from Ipanema Beach (famous location alert #1) and were impressed with a few things. First, how many sights were within easy walking distance. Second, how many good restaurants and grocery stores were nearby. And third, how affordable Rio was, overall. Over the years, Argentina’s various economic problems have meant that Buenos Aires has generally been the far cheaper option but, having come directly from that wonderful city, at this particular moment in time Rio was clearly better value for everything except accommodation. Surprising. Pleasantly.

Anyway, here are our picks for the top must-see Rio de Janeiro highlights. Yes, there are many more things to see and do in this massive, impressive city, but these are the ones we would recommend getting to first.

Highlights

1. The View from Sugar Loaf Mountain

View of Rio de Janeiro from Sugarloaf Mountain

Our favourite part, for sure. Absolutely stunning. Despite having seen plenty of photos from famous Rio de Janeiro viewpoints over the years, somehow I was still completely caught off-guard by just how hilly (almost mountainous) the city is. And from the top of Sugar Loaf you get a front row look at all of it, from the picturesque sandy arcs of Ipanema and Copacabana, to the sailboat-riddled Guanabara Bay (Harbour of Rio) to the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado Hill.

The views from the cable cars are spectacular enough on their own, with one taking you to a halfway set of platforms and shops, then a second taking you all the way to the glorious top. Your ticket covers both and at the time cost 195 reals ($US30). There is also a decent trail up to the first stop if you’d prefer to get some exercise, although you pay the same even if you only want the cable car for the last section.

Sugarloaf Mountain cable car with Rio de Janeiro cityscape in the background

Buying your tickets online and early is highly recommended, although when we went at 10:45 am on a Wednesday it wasn’t even lined up yet. Possible because it had been cloudy up until that point and the forecast wasn’t promising but, as you can see, the weather was perfect at that particular moment.

Small neighbourhood on the edge of the Bay of Rio

The platforms are a little overdeveloped, selling everything from souvenirs, hot dogs and ice cream to jewelry and sunglasses. But there are also free public bathrooms so, pros and cons, right? At the very top there is a little nature walk where you can wander around up and down a lot of stairs among a lot of, well, trees, mainly. Although we were also excited to spot some cute little rodents with striped tails (I’ll leave the details to the mammal experts) – excited mainly because we would have walked right past without noticing it if it wasn’t for the girl in front of us struggling to find just the right selfie angle with them (my own photo was embarrassingly poor and will not be shared with you here).

2. Copacabana Beach / Ipanema Beach

Long wjhite sand beach with mountainous backdrop
Ipanema Beach

Two of the most famous beaches in the world are obviously worth a look, I’d say. I’ve lumped them together because, while they are both truly huge, they are surprisingly close together and easily visited back-to-back. Separated by a tiny, rocky promontory that, strangely, offers no way directly through, they are both very long, very beautiful, very busy and very much backed by fantastic scenery in one direction.

That promontory I was talking about, well, as great a spot as it is to take photos back to the beaches or watch surfers in action, is kind of low and lacking in aesthetic appeal compared with the opposite ends of the beaches. Because those other ends are truly spectacular.

Long white sand beach with city and mountains in the background
Copacabana Beach

The northern end of Copacabana features the dramatic heights of Sugar Loaf Mountain. Obviously cool. Meanwhile, the far western end of Ipanema Beach is dominated by the imposing bulk of Parque Natural Municipal Dois Irmãos. Also cool.

Beach courts on Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro

Both beaches have a wide range of zones and areas, including world-class surf spots, atmospheric beach bars, huge collections of loungers and umbrellas and many, many courts used for both volleyball and foot volley, the distinctly Brazilian pastime of using their talented feet for practically every sport despite having perfectly good hands available.

3. Christ the Redeemer

Christ the Redeemer statue from below

One of the official “New Seven Wonders of the World”, Cristo Redentor is obviously the most famous attraction in Rio de Janeiro (and possibly all of South America). Now, SHOULD it be one of the seven wonders of the world? That’s debatable (or “absurd”, if you were to ask Laynni). The way we understand it, Brazil did a truly bang-up job of mobilizing the entire country to vote when the decisions were being made and, you know, Brazil is HUGE, so, end result, they now have one of the seven wonders of the world. Fair enough.

It IS very big. And elegant. And symbolic. And the views are great from up there. But is it truly one of the 7 most impressive sights IN THE WORLD? Probably not. I mean, I’ve personally seen several bigger Buddhas (not that size is everything). But does that mean you’re going to visit Rio de Janeiro and NOT go see Christ the Redeemer? Of course not, don’t be silly. It really is quite remarkable.

Incidentally, Guanabara Bay is also one of the “Seven Wonders of the Natural World“, apparently the largest bay in the world by volume. Or some such thing.

Meanwhile, Christ the Redeemer is also very popular and very busy. Shocking, I know. So we recommend buying your tickets online ahead of time and signing up for the very first train up from the bottom of Cerro Corcovado at 7:20 am. Even having bought tickets ahead, we arrived at 6:30 and there were already about 50 people there.

Large crowds admiring the Christ the Redeemer statue

The train ride up was surprisingly dull, tree-lined and lacking in views. Completely the opposite of the extraordinary cable car up to Sugar Loaf. Although the train does have a certain classic authenticity to it, being that it is old, rickety and still used by local commuters.

And we did pass by a giant Jesus head, presumably a backup or replacement, I guess. A little disconcerting, to be honest.

Even being in the first group, it was BUSY up top, with all the best photo spots lining up quickly, hectic and chaotic but all with a very sociable and excited vibe, almost giddy, as people frantically posed for all the famous shots they’ve always imagined for themselves when admiring photos on Instagram or MySpace. Surprisingly civil, though, photographically speaking, with several different lines forming for various angles, interspersed with a few dozen people at any given time sprawled on the ground taking vertically artistic photos.

It was only when we suddenly spotted some dude nervously shuffling out onto big J’s outstretched arm that we learned you can pay more to actually climb up – then out – to the top of the statue. Pretty cool experience, I’m sure, although less so for the couple hundred of us below taking photos of our own, who would have preferred NOT to have some rando in a helmet and harness featuring heavily. But at least there were gaps between the climbers so it was still possible to get a few clear shots.

View of Rio de Janeiro from Corcovado Hill

Anyway, on the subject of what time to go up, consider that while it felt very packed up there to us, we then went back down on a 1/3 full train while completely full trains passed us on their way up (a new one every 20 minutes). Meaning not nearly as many people were leaving as were arriving. Which I believe leads to – in mathematical terms – a complete shitshow. So, yeah, I’d go early if I was you.

4. Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas

Catamaran near the shore of a lake

Large, pretty and handy, is how I’d describe this nice lake. Located just a couple blocks from the Ipanema neighbourhood and not far from Copacabana, too, it is a lively place full of joggers, bikers, tennis courts and snack shops. There are places to rent boats or kayaks and terrific views from a number of surprisingly different angles.

5. Parque Lage

Historic building with Corcovado Hill in the background

Just off the north side of the lagoon is this surprisingly picturesque and fascinating park tucked beneath the looming spectre of the Redeemer. There is a classic old ruin that has been repurposed into a café slash photo hotspot, plus lots of nicely shaded trails through the trees and even some weirdly fake but also weirdly neat grottoes. And an aquarium inside a man-made rock in the middle of nowhere, for some reason.

Stalactites in small grotto opening

It is actually possible to walk all the way down to here from Christ the Redeemer on a small forest trail (or up, if sweating a bunch is your thing).

6. Selarón Steps

We didn’t visit these famously colourful steps because, well, they were a little bit out of the way and because they are apparently very popular with large tour groups and because, well, they are just stairs. But a large number of people seem to like them so I thought I should give them a mention.

7. McDonald’s

Not for the food, necessarily. That’s just like any other McDonald’s, presumably. Although the special Kit Kat McFlurry was delightful, even if a brief miscalculation did result in my spoon shattering into approximately one million tiny plastic shards.

No, I mention it mainly because it was mid-summer in Brazil, somewhere between 30 and 1000 degrees Celsius, but we still got to enjoy a lovely seasonal snowstorm courtesy of a fake snow machine on the McDonald’s roof. A white Christmas, indeed.

Fake snow falling on a busy sidewalk in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro: Things to Know

A few quick tips:

You can pay with card everywhere.

We have never before seen so many different outlet voltages, usually prominently marked to avoid appliance disasters and, presumably, to ensure that every time we plugged something in there was a small part of us prepared to watch our device violently explode. Thankfully, none of them did.

The garbage trucks – in Ipanema, at least – get started at around 11 pm and are very loud and sound like some combination of an industrial tree saw and a problematically horny wildebeest.

It is possible that Ipanema Beach isn’t a very quiet place, in general.

The aptly-named Gringo Café offers all-day breakfast. Laynni had waffles and I had a grilled bacon and cheese sandwich, and we both immediately declared “we’ll be back”. And we were, I promise you.

Ubers are cheap, fast and, as far as we could tell, safe. We paid less than $US4 to get back from Copacabana to our place in Ipanema and the same to get to Christ the Redeemer. On our way out of town we paid about $US8 for a 1.5-hr Uber to a hotel near the airport. And those all included large % tips. I honestly don’t see how that is financially feasible but that’s their business, I guess.

Surfboards on the beach and surfers in the ocean

Tours

We explored Rio on our own but we definitely toyed with the idea of joining a tour or two. Some help you check off several top spots in one day, while others provide more unique and exclusive experiences.

Redeemer, Selarón Steps and Sugar Loaf Sunset

These trips are quite affordable and are perfect if you have limited time or just want to get all your sightseeing done in one day so you can spend the rest of your visit sleeping off various hangovers on the beach.

Hang Gliding

An adrenalin rush AND incredible views. Sounds memorable.

Helicopter Tour

Even better views but without sending your nuts up into hiding among your other internal organs.

Angra dos Reis and Ilha Grande

Get out of the city for a touch of nature among these beautiful islands.

Finally, I would not personally recommend renting a car but if you want to see some of the sights further outside the city, we would suggest Discover Cars.

Miscellaneous Stuff

We enjoyed the large apartment we rented in Vista Top. It was just a few blocks in from Ipanema Beach, had great security, a decent kitchen, passable couch and a weirdly terrific view from the bathroom. And a weirdly bad view from other apartments directly INTO our bathroom.

The beach courts are busy in the morning when it is still (sort of) cool but the rest of the beach doesn’t really start hopping until the afternoon. Night life, I suppose.

If you’ve never had a Brazilian wax and have always wondered what the fuss was about, well, this is probably the place to find out.

If you go for lunch at a great buffet place where they charge you by the weight of your plate, don’t be a sucker and load up on ribs.

For our last night, we moved to the delightfully friendly Pousada Irmaos Freyhardt near the airport. There is a cool old church and great viewpoint just around the corner and a good beach scene a short walk away. Good spot for a night or two on either end of your trip.

Despite everything, we didn’t see a single Brazil nut.

Couple selfie in front of the Christ the Redeemer statue

Summary

We liked Rio de Janeiro a lot more than we expected to. In many ways this was just a token visit to give Brazil a chance and check out a few world-class sites to see if they are really as “must-see” as advertised. Good news, they are!

We greatly enjoyed our visit and now look forward to returning for a much longer, more comprehensive exploration of this enormous, diverse country.

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