Things to see and do in Rio de Janeiro

Top Activities and Experiences in Rio de Janeiro

Rio is a city that must be tasted, touched, and danced. These are the moments that will tattoo themselves onto your soul.

Sunrise at Christ the Redeemer (Corcovado)

Catch the first train at 7:30 am or hike up through Tijuca forest before the tour buses arrive. When the clouds part and the rising sun sets the 30-metre Art Deco statue ablaze, the entire city—Copacabana’s crescent, Sugarloaf’s dome, the endless Atlantic—lies glowing at your feet like a private miracle.

Sunset Cable Car to Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar)

Time your visit for the last light. The two-stage cable car glides over fishing boats and jungle, then deposits you on a 396 m granite dome as the sky detonates in fuchsia, tangerine, and violet. Stay until the city lights flicker on like a galaxy fallen to earth.

A Full Day Surrendering to Ipanema & Copacabana

Rent a chair and umbrella for R$20, order a matte leão gelado and fresh coconut, and let the day dissolve. Watch grandmothers in bikinis play futevôlei, vendors sing “queijo coalho!” while grilling cheese on portable barbecues, and the famous mosaic sidewalks shimmer under bare feet.

Samba Until Dawn in Lapa

Friday or Saturday night: start under the white Arcos da Lapa aqueduct with R$10 caipirinhas, then dive into Rio Scenarium—three floors of antique mirrors, chandeliers, and live samba that makes your hips move without permission. Sweat, laugh, kiss strangers, repeat until the sun rises over the bay.

Ethical Favela Tour in Rocinha or Vidigal

Take a mototaxi up alleys so steep they feel vertical, emerge on rooftops with views that humiliate postcards, and drink cold Antarctica beer while children fly kites that dance above Christ himself. The energy is electric, the people proud and welcoming.

Hike or Hang-Glide over Tijuca National Park

The world’s largest urban rainforest hides waterfalls, wild toucans, and the iconic Pedra da Gávea—a 844 m sea cliff where, if you’re brave, you can leap off and fly tandem over the city with the Atlantic glittering below like shattered sapphire.

Carnival – The Greatest Show on Earth

Even if you miss the Sambódromo parades, the street blocos are free, chaotic, and life-altering: six million people in glitter, beer, and pure joy, dancing from noon till noon again.

Escadaria Selarón & the Bonde Tram in Santa Teresa

Climb the 215 steps covered in tiles from 60 countries—each one a love letter from Chilean artist Jorge Selarón—then hop the rattling yellow tram through Santa Teresa’s bohemian streets of colonial mansions dripping with bougainvillea.

Feijoada Saturday at a Traditional Boteco

Brazil’s soul food: a cauldron of black beans simmered with every part of the pig, served with farofa, collard greens, orange slices, and caipirinhas strong enough to wake the dead.

Helicopter Doors-Off Flight

Fifteen minutes of pure adrenaline: doors off, wind roaring, flying beneath Christ’s arms, over the beaches, past Sugarloaf, and above the endless green of Tijuca—Rio laid bare like a fever dream.

Sunday Hippie Fair (Feira Hippie de Ipanema)

Handmade jewellery, live choro music, açai so thick the spoon stands up, and the most beautiful people-watching on the planet under jacaranda trees turning purple.

Arpoador Rock at Magic Hour

The rock between Ipanema and Copacabana where, when the sun drops perfectly behind Dois Irmãos mountains, the entire beach erupts in spontaneous applause.

Surf the Wild Beaches of Prainha & Grumari

An hour west, rainforest plunges into perfect barrels and empty golden sand. Rent a board or just watch surfers dance with the Atlantic while eating fresh fish grilled on the beach.

Jardim Botânico at Golden Hour

Walk the Avenue of Royal Palms planted in 1808, listen to toucans call, and find the secret Japanese garden where time stops.

Museum of Tomorrow & Porto Maravilha

Santiago Calatrava’s futuristic masterpiece on Guanabara Bay, plus Kobra’s 3,000 m² mural of indigenous faces staring into the future.