Here are, according to us and our local team, the things to do and see in Rio de Janeiro in order to get the real vibe, real essence of the city.
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1. Of course you could do all of the following or just register to our cultural scavenger hunt!
2. Take a look to this map of the city, to have a real idea on how it is built and organized.
3. Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer)
The Art Deco statue was created by Polish-French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by the Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with the French engineer Albert Caquot. Made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, the figure itself is 30 meters tall with arms stretching 28 meters; it weighs 635 metric tons. Inside its eight-meter-high base is a chapel, where it's not uncommon to find weddings and baptisms taking place. The Corcovado rack railway chugs from Rua do Cosme Velho up the 3.5-kilometer track to the statue, through the Tijuca National Park.
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4. Sugar Loaf
Rio de Janeiro's best-known landmark is the rock peak of Sugar Loaf, towering 394 meters above the harbor. It sits on a point of land that projects out into the bay and wraps around its harbor, and is connected to the city by a low strip of land. You can take a cable car from Praça General Tibúrcio to the top of the Morro da Urca, a lower peak from which a second cableway runs to the summit of the Sugar Loaf. From here, you can see the entire mountainous coast that rings the bay and its islands. Below, the 100-meter Praia da Urca beach is near the location of Rio's original nucleus, between the Morro Cara de Cão and the Sugar Loaf. On Cara de Cão are three forts, of which the 16th-century star-shaped Fort São João is open to the public.
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5. Copacabana
Few cities are blessed with a beautiful sand beach at its heart, let alone one that stretches four kilometers along one entire side of its downtown. A few steps from its golden sands are Avenida Atlântica, Avenida Nossa Senhora de Copacabana, and the neighboring smaller streets where you'll find appealing century-old buildings, fine hotels, and popular restaurants and cafés. The unquestioned monarch of the area, and of Rio hotels, is the renowned Copacabana Palace, built in the 1920s and now protected as a national monument. Featured in the 1933 film Flying Down to Rio and host to royalty and glamorous movie stars, Copacabana Palace recalls the halcyon days of power, wealth, and elegance, when Rio was capital of Brazil.
At the far end of the beach, Copacabana Fort dates from 1914 and was the scene of a 1922 revolt of officers, who took over the fort and turned its artillery on the city. The short-lived revolt ended the next day when the government brought in battleships to bombard the fort. You can learn about this and other military history at the Museu Histórico do Exército (Museum of the History of the Army) now housed here. Outside, on the fort grounds, are artillery pieces from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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6. Tijuca National Park
Tijuca National Park protects the Tijuca Forest and several viewpoints overlooking the city, and surrounds Cristo Redentor, the giant-sized statue of Christ on Corcovado. To explore the park, you can leave the train up to Corcovado at a midpoint and follow the road through the forest. The 3,300-hectare Tijuca Forest, one of the world's largest forests within a city, was planted in the late 1850s on land that had been destroyed by coffee plantations, to safeguard the springs that supplied Rio de Janeiro's water. Most of the trees are native species and provide habitat for Capuchin monkeys, quatis (Brazilian raccoon), colorful toucans, hawks, brilliant blue butterflies, and many other species of wildlife, which you may spot while exploring its trails and roads.
Near the station of the Corcovado railway is Largo do Boticário, one of Rio's most picturesque squares, surrounded by colonial-style houses. From the pagoda-style pavilion at Morro da Vista Chinesa, 380 meters above the shore, are views of the Municipal Park, the Botanic Garden, and a long stretch of the south coast. There are more views from Mirante Dona Marta, a viewpoint on a spur of rock above Botafogo Bay. Several waterfalls drop from the forest springs, including the 30-meter Cascatinha Taunay. Set in extensive gardens near the park is the Museu do Açude, with the valuable porcelain collections of the West India Company; old views of Rio de Janeiro by Brazilian and foreign artists; and azulejos, traditional Portuguese tiles from the 17th through 19th centuries.
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7. Escadaria Selarón
One of Rio's newest tourist attractions was begun in 1990 by Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón as his gift to the Brazilian people. Until his death in 2013, he covered a long flight of steps in front of his house with mosaics made of tiles, pottery, and mirrors, many in blue, green, and yellow - colors of the Brazilian flag. Selarón began by using broken tiles that he salvaged from construction sites and demolitions of old buildings, but as his steps drew the attention of tourists, people began bringing him pottery and tiles from all over the world. Now pieces from more than 60 countries are represented in the 250 steps, which cover 125 meters of stairs. The steps are a popular film location and were featured in Rio's 2016 Olympic bid video.
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8. Ilha de Paquetá
The island of Paquetá, with an area of a little more than a square kilometer, lies in Guanabara Bay, an hour's boat trip from Praça 15 de Novembro. It became a fashionable resort in the early 1800s, when Portuguese Emperor Dom João VI spent his summers here (the colony of Brazil became the seat of the Portuguese Empire in 1808, when Napoleon's armies occupied Portugal). Solar del Rey, a palace in which Dom João VI frequently stayed, is among the interesting old buildings, which also include the 1698 chapel of São Roque and the house of José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva, father of Brazilian independence. No cars invade the peace of the island, but you can explore it on foot, by rented bicycle, or in a horse-drawn carriage. Palms line the island's beaches, where you'll find impromptu food stands grilling fresh fish.
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9. Passeio Público and Cinelândia
Stretching along Avenida Beira-Mar, Passeio Público is an attractive park designed in 1779 by a group of artists. Brazil's oldest public park and one of the oldest in the Americas, it is filled with sculptures by Mestre Valentim and pavilions with paintings by Leandro Joaquim, two of the park's designers. The Baroque entrance, a stone staircase, fountains, and statues of figures from mythology provide focal points in this expansive green space. To its east along the bay is Parque do Flamengo and the Marina da Glória, with gardens designed by Burle Marx, and the modernist Monumento aos Mortos, a memorial to the dead of World War II. At the north end of Flamengo Park is the Museum of Modern Art.
Adjoining the Passeio Público is the Cinelândia district, one of Rio's political and cultural centers, filled with magnificent public buildings from the first decades of the 20th century, after Rio de Janeiro became capital of Brazil. The Academia Brasileira de Letras (Academy of Letters) occupies a building in Avenida Presidente Wilson, modeled on the Petit Trianon at Versailles. It was donated to the city by the French government in 1923 to house a society established in the late 19th century by a group of writers and poets inspired by the Académie Française. The society's purpose is to safeguard the Brazilian Portuguese language and promote Brazilian literature.
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10. Ipanema and Leblon
Continuing on from Copacabana's four-kilometer strand, the beaches of Ipanema and Leblon are separated by the Jardim de Alá Canal, which drains the lagoon, Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. Along the seafront promenade are large hotels, sidewalk cafés, and restaurants. These two districts, although best known for their beaches (one of which was made world-famous by the song Girl from Ipanema) have a lively cultural life, with art galleries, cinemas, and an avant-garde theater. Praça de Quental in Leblon is the scene of an antiques market every Sunday, and Praca General Osorio hosts the Sunday Feira de Artesanato de Ipanema featuring crafts, music, art, and local foods.
The shore of Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas is lined by parks and
sports clubs, and its waters are popular for regattas and other water
sports. On the west side of the lagoon, the Jardim Botânico (Botanic Garden) has more than 5,000 species of plants from all over the world, including water lilies and other plants from the Amazon region.
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11. Nossa Senhora do Carmo and Monte do Carmo
The parish church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo was the Capela Real (Royal Chapel) from 1808 to 1889 and the cathedral until the modern one replaced it in 1976. Connected to it by a passage is a second Carmelite church, Monte do Carmo, begun in 1755. Highlights are its Baroque façade, stone doorway, and the white and gold carving by Mestre Valentim in the Chapel of the Novitiate. The 1761 former cathedral is richly decorated with carving and has a silver high altar. In a side street is the chapel of Nossa Senhora do Cabo da Boa Esperança (Our Lady of the Cape of Good Hope), the last surviving street oratory in the city.
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12. Santa Tereza
A district of steep, quiet streets and hundred-year-old houses, Santa Tereza is Rio's most atmospheric neighborhood. Its cafés and restaurants are favorites of artists and intellectuals who add to the Bohemian atmosphere. Although its greatest charms are found just wandering its streets, which often open out onto beautiful views, there are several attractions to seek out, among them the church and convent of Santa Tereza, dating to 1720. The Museu Chácara do Céu has an art collection of mainly modern works, including those by Picasso, Miró, and Matisse, as well as Chinese sculpture from the 17th through 19th centuries. The adjacent Parque das Ruínas is the shell of a socialite's mansion that fell into disrepair and has become an art, music, and performance venue.
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13. Quinta da Boa Vista
The gardens, villas, and imperial palaces of São Cristóvão are now public parks and museums, the foremost of which is Quinta da Boa Vista. From 1808 to 1889, the palace was the residence of the royal and the imperial family and was later altered and rebuilt as the Palácio de São Cristóvão. It houses the National Museum, which has the largest zoological, botanical, ethnographic, and archaeology collections in the country, totaling more than a million items. In the expansive park are gardens with lakes, woodlands, and caves, which you can reach via a miniature railway. Also inside the park is a zoo with more than 2,000 species of mammals, birds, and reptiles from Brazil and around the world.
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14. São Bento
On the hill just above the harbor are the church and monastery of São Bento, one of the finest Benedictine complexes in Brazil. The original 1617 church was without aisles until it was enlarged in the second half of the 17th century by the addition of eight side chapels. The finest artists of the Benedictine order were involved in decorating the interior. The exuberant carving that covers the walls and ceiling was mainly the work of a monk named Domingos da Conceição, who was also responsible for the figures of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica on the high altar. The choir chapel has silver work by Mestre Valentim and 14 paintings by Ricardo do Pilar, a monk who was the foremost Benedictine painter of colonial Brazil. His masterpiece, Senhor dos Martírios (Christ of the Passion), is in the sacristy of the monastery.
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15 São Francisco da Penitência
The Igreja da Ordem Terceira de São Francisco da Penitência is divided into three sections with separate entrances, and the simple façade of this church belies the riches within. The interior, which was begun in 1657 and completed in 1773, is a riot of gilded wood carving. Among those who contributed to the decoration of the interior were Manuel and Francisco Xavier de Brito, two leading Portuguese sculptors and woodcarvers. They had very similar styles, known as Brito, using decorative forms that influenced Aleijadinho and other masters of Brazilian Baroque. The ceiling of the choir has the earliest trompe-l'oeil painting in Brazil, completed in 1736, the work of Caetano da Costa Coelho, who later painted the ceiling of the nave in the same style.
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16. Catedral de São Sebastião
Architect Edgar Fonseca, who designed Rio's new cathedral, took his inspiration from Mayan pyramids, interpreting their soaring forms in a modern context. Built between 1964 and 1979 and often referred to as the New Cathedral to distinguish it from its immediate predecessor, Nossa Senhora do Carmo, the church seats 5,000 in its 96-meter interior. Four stained glass windows rise 64 meters from the floor to light the interior with brilliantly colored natural light. At night, the church is lit from within, a bright beacon in the central skyline.
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Vaneide is our Rio de Janeiro local representative, we asked her what an ideal day of leisure in Rio de Janeiro could look like, what would she suggest doing from early morning to late at night?
Here is what she suggests. Don't hesitate to contact Vaneide on Twitter @bigcitychase #Vaneide #questionforVaneide if you have questions for her, we may publish your conversation in this blog if she thinks it might be useful to other Rio de Janeiro visitors.
Vaneide from Rio de Janeiro for Big City Chase Rio de Janeiro :
"Hello, my Name is Vaneide, I grew up in Brasilia and moved to Rio 10 years ago, to spend an ideal leisure day here I suggest that forst thing in the morning you get up early and job on Copa Cabana beach.
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