Rio de Janeiro Full-Day City Tour with Christ the Redeemer

I booked my trip without lunch and Sugarloaf. The trip was going to start at 7 am, so they picked me up at 5:20 am, which is very early. No stoppage for breakfast. Then they did not take us to Chirt the Redeemer as they said it is closed because of land slide. Then the trip was almost over by 10:30 am, so they made us take tickets to Sugarloaf, which was not the plan. And the tour ended at 12 noon. I was not expecting this. I need a refund for Christ Redeemer.

We had an excellent experience on this tour and would highly recommend it for anyone looking to see the major highlights of Rio! It was a great way to visit three of the city’s must-see attractions — Christ the Redeemer, Selarón Steps, and Sugarloaf Mountain — while also seeing several other sights along the way. We especially appreciated having all of our tickets and admissions arranged in advance, which made the experience easy and stress-free. Our tour guide, Jal, was phenomenal! He shared interesting and relevant information throughout the day, kept our group of about 19–20 people organized and on schedule, and was genuinely a joy to spend the day with. We also really appreciated that he spoke fluent English and Spanish in addition to Portuguese, which was a huge benefit for such a diverse group. We were extremely lucky with the weather, particularly at Christ the Redeemer. Since we were among the first pickups of the morning, we arrived at the Visitor Center around 7 a.m., when it was surprisingly chilly — especially being in the rainforest! By the time we made our way up to the statue around 8 a.m., however, it had warmed up considerably. We had great visibility at Christ the Redeemer and beautiful weather for the remainder of the day. The itinerary was also paced very well. We had a good amount of time at each of the major stops, so we never felt overly rushed, but we also never felt like we were spending too much time in one place. Lunch was another nice part of the experience. It was great to enjoy a traditional Brazilian BBQ meal while in Rio. The meats were especially good, and there was a surprisingly large selection of additional items available at the “salad” buffet. One thing to be mindful of when planning your day is the overall tour length. The tour is advertised as approximately 8 hours, but because we were the first guests picked up and the last guests dropped off, our total time was closer to 12 hours. It is definitely a full-day experience, so I would avoid making firm plans for immediately afterward. Our only real disappointment was that we were supposed to make a stop outside the stadium, which we had been looking forward to. It ultimately became a drive-by rather than an actual stop, presumably because some members of the group spent additional time at an earlier location. It was a minor disappointment in an otherwise excellent day, but worth mentioning if that particular stop is important to you. Overall, we highly recommend this tour. It was well organized, thoughtfully paced, and an excellent way to experience several of Rio’s most iconic sights in one day. Jal made an already great experience even better, and we would absolutely recommend touring with him!

Hotel pickup timing is ridiculous….1 or 2 minutes scheduled between hotels and that’s impossible, so we waited for 15 mins and started about 30 mins late. Didn’t ruin day, just be prepared for this. Rest of tour and day great. Driver and guide wonderful.

We were at the statue very early so we couldn't see the statue or the beautiful views. Disappointment The stairs were overcrowded, didn't bother and to go up the stairs. Lunch was okay If you can choose a nice sunny day and not first thing in the morning I believe it would be better. We had to move out date due to the flight canceling, the day we had previously would have been a perfect day.

Our tour guide Luciana was very knowledgeable about the history of Brazil. Her context made the tour very easy and clear to understand. We went during an overcast day which made the views sugarloaf mountain moot. Overall, it was a good tour.