Planning a Trip to Rio De Janeiro | Brazil

Rio De Janeiro is a fantastic place to visit for friends, or family, depending on your style of travel. I have a few friends who have done it solo too, but I have come to the conclusion that solo travel is not for me. Regardless, continue reading this blog if you’re planning on visiting Rio, or just read it anyway.

You can easily spend a good 3 – 4 days in Rio. I stayed at the Sheraton Rio, which is also a resort, and hence has a number of restaurants and pools to just relax at. If you are flying from Auckland, you’re likely to either be flying via Buenos Aires or Santiago (possibly Sao Paulo) depending on which airline you choose to travel with. If Rio is your first stop on your trip, again I would emphasise giving yourself a day to acclimatise to the time etc. and not overdo any sightseeing.

I think the highlights are Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain. Both these attractions lookout to one another. One of the recommended things to do is, to go to Sugar Loaf mountain during the sunset. I wasn’t able to make it for the sunset, as Sugar Loaf had been closed till about 2 pm the day I got there, but I did make it past nightfall, and when the city lights up, it is beautiful. I also went to Sugar Loaf during the day, but my personal favourite choice is to go in the evening or to catch the sunset and see the city light up.

VIEW FROM THE CABLE CAR GOING UP TO SUGAR LOAF MOUNTAIN; COPYRIGHT @MILGOS

When it comes to Christ the Redeemer, you want to be the first ones there, to avoid the crowd. I had booked a tour through TripAdvisor, well a third party tour that advertises through TripAdvisor, and they did not turn up, and so I ended up going myself. Don’t worry I got my money back. But anywho, the hotel helped with booking the 8.30 am train that goes up, and if you can make it for that go for it, or if you can do an earlier one, then opt for that. The train ride, from memory, is about 20-minutes, and once you get to the top you have a series of staircases to climb. Note to self: there are a lot of staircases to climb when in South America. You also have to take the basic tourist photo when you go and see Christ the Redeemer. Once you’re here, it really is up to you how long you want to spend here taking photos. It gets busy very quickly. I would anticipate keeping about two hours in hand for this.

CHRIST THE REDEEMER; COPYRIGHT @MILGOS

You can then head to Selaron Steps. These steps were painted/decorated by Chilean born artist, Jorge Selaron. This has become yet another iconic attraction in Rio. It straddles between the Lapa and Santa Teresa neighbourhoods. Lapa is known to be a bohemian neighbourhood and you have to be alert. I didn’t feel scared of being there, but just held on to my phone and checked around. After this, you may or may not wish to go (back) to Sugar Loaf Mountain, if you’d like to check out the views during the day.

SELARON STEPS; COPYRIGHT @MILGOS

Other activities in Rio include a Favela tour, whilst I didn’t do this, you can enquire about this with your hotel or if you are doing a G Adventures tour, enquire with your CEO and they will be able to help organise. Do not try and go to a Favela alone. You can also opt to do hang gliding, I personally am scared of heights and would not do this. There’s also a rain forest which you may like to check out.

You are bound to enjoy your trip to Rio.

Until next time,

MiliG