This customizable private half-day tour is the perfect way to see Rio in that laid-back Brazilian kind of way. Pick-up is when and where you want it, and then its ‘choose your own adventure’ time. Christ the Redeemer, Ipanema Beach, the Selaron Steps, Sugarloaf Mountain, or some combination, it's up to you. And when you're hungry, stop for a delicious Brazilian lunch to refuel.

See what you want to see with this flexible guided tour of Rio
Feel safe and secure exploring this vibrant city with a local
Take in spectacular views while visiting Rio's best spots
Learn about the fascinating history of this cosmopolitan city

What's Included

Transport by modern, air-conditioned vehicle and professional driver.
Pick-up and drop-off is included.
Fuel surcharge
Lisensed tour guide

Lunch
Entrance fees

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

We pick up in all hotels in Rio and national airport (SDU). For international airport drop-off please negotiate directly with guide/driver. • Hotel: Your guide will wait for you at the hotel lobby. • Port / airport: Your guide will be holding a sign with your name.

What To Expect

Copacabana Beach (Pass By)

Corcovado - Christ the Redeemer

2 hours • Admission Ticket Not Included

Aterro Do Flamengo (Pass By)

Escadaria Selaron

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Botanical Garden

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Rocinha (Pass By)

Cinelandia (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Infant seats available
Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate

Last-minute tours: please call us after booking!!
Your guide will wait for you at the hotel lobby. If you are exiting the port, he or she will have a Viator sign near gate 4.
Please read "inclusions and exclusions" and the voucher after purchase for important information.
Infant car seats are available. Please advise as a "special request."
Special restaurants such as vegetarian or gluten-free are available, please advise.
A small amount of walking is involved.
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

48 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 48 reviews

Jean Carlos our guide and...

Nestor_D, Apr 2024

Jean Carlos our guide and Carlos our driver they were the best. We went to all the high lights of the city. Great 👍 👌

Excellent tour to fall in love with Rio de Janeiro

Deren_K, Apr 2024

Fred was such a great tour guide. We had a wonderful time exploring both Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain. Fred gave us excellent tips for the city, and, during our tour, pivoted to a fantastic market tour when Christ the Redeemer was cloudy which led to us leaving very quickly. They also provided transport back to the hotel after everything. The local candies available and Brazilian music in the car was the icing on the cake. We would highly recommend this tour, and can't wait to visit Rio again.

Fred was amazing! Pick up...

Jae_E, Mar 2024

Fred was amazing! Pick up and drop off were seamless. He communicated all the key details in advance, the tour was flexible, and he knew how to navigate the crowds for efficiency. After the tour he gave us numerous good leads for exploring Rio.

It was great to see the...

John_W, Mar 2024

It was great to see the Christ the Redeemer as a small group instead of having to keep up the larger group around us.

Rio tour extraordinaire!

Robert_M, Mar 2024

Our experience with Igor as guide was wonderful. From an on time hotel pick up to fascinating local color the tour and guide were totally memorable. We toured Christ the Redeemer, the tile steps and the cathedral and had a wonderful lunch. Igor knew how to navigate all the locales and crowds without a hitch. Would recommend guide and tour to anyone.

Nice tour. Igor had to...

Brian_D, Feb 2024

Nice tour. Igor had to think on his feet. When we got to public gardens, they were only taking local cash for tickets, normally they take CC. He pivoted and took us to nearby forested garden that was free entry and pretty cool.

very good

Shay_W, Jan 2024

ullysis is a very good guide. flexible with choosing the sites. With him we cut the line to the jesus the redemeer train line. We saw the main sites. the price of the train is not included in the cost of the trip.

A brilliant day out with Michael

Harriet_P, Jan 2024

We had the most brilliant time with Michael on our half day Rio tour. He was super knowledgable, enthusiastic, friendly and fun. We even went over by 1hr due to needing to return to the hotel to print our Sugar Loaf tickets, and they were totally relaxed about it. 100% recommend!

Best way to explore Rio if you don’t have a lot of time

Sandro_K, Jan 2024

We had a great time exploring Rio with our guide Isaac. We met in the lobby of our hotel and were off the Christ the redeemer in no time. Isaac gave us a lot of historical information on the city and buildings we passed and after visiting the Christ statue, we moved on to the Cathedral, Samba Stadium, historical center before being dropped off at the Sugar Loaf station. We had a great time with Isaac, laughed and learned a lot and explored a great city. Highly recommend this tour and Isaac!

Rio in a day! 👍🏼

Amber_E, Dec 2023

Great day exploring Rio, seeing Sugar Loaf mountain & the iconic Christ the Redeemer! Very efficient & well planned. Our guide, Romeu was also knowledgeable, well spoken and fun to be around! Highly recommend! 👏🏼

Excellent experience

Karim_C, Dec 2023

Fábio the guide was very kind and extremely knowledgeable. We visited Corcovado and a lot of different places around downtown, with each of them with a little story for us to understand better Rio’s history and how Cariocas live

Private tour is the best way to see Rio!

Nancy_P, Nov 2023

Highly recommend this tour! We are American tourists and were only in Rio for a short stay. This tour included a private air-conditioned car, English-speaking driver and extremely fluent English-speaking tour guide to show us the highlights of Rio. Fabio was an excellent, expert tour guide, and a Rio native. He knew the best places to show us, and he and the driver, Carlos, were easily able to navigate the crowds so that we had the best experience. Our 5-hour tour included Sugarloaf, Selaron steps, Rio de Janeiro cathedral and a stop at a local pub for a beer. We also drove through many neighborhoods, like Copacabana, Ipanema, Central city and many, many others! Here are the reasons I recommend a private tour: 1. pick-up/drop-off at your hotel means your tour starts the minute you are picked up!; 2. You can have a continuous conversation and really learn about local culture; 3. You can customize the tour to a certain degree to your liking; 4. Rio traffic and congestion are crazy. Having a separate driver meant we could be dropped off right at the point of interest and didn't have to wait to find parking; 5. A small group is much more 'nimble' than a group, and we could move more quickly from point to point. Finally, want to also give special thanks and recognition to Way to Go Rio, the booking agent, for their responsiveness in finding us a new guide when our original guide fell ill. Worked out perfectly!

great tour

ChunNi_C, Oct 2023

Fabio is professional guide and informative. We had a great time. The traffic is bad during off work hour . But the car he arrange is comfortable .

Unforgettable

Pari_S, Oct 2023

Michael Matthew was a wonderful guide who went beyond his duties to accommodate us. He recommended a great restaurant and took us there and told the matron to give us a cab. Food was absolutely delicious, serve was great and they called a cab for us. All these happened because of Michael

Great private half-day tour with fantastic guide Igor

Smita_P, Aug 2023

We had a wonderful half-day private tour with our wonderful guide Igor, who took us to Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain. Coordinating with the tour company was seamless. Our guide Igor was fantastic! He was flexible, accommodating, punctual, communicative, knowledgeable, and spoke excellent English. He also works with a great driver and we always felt very safe driving between the sites. We highly recommend taking a private tour with Igor!

Response from Host, Sep 2023

Thank you so much Smita, it was a pleasure! :)

Custom private tour is the way to go!!!

Romuald_M, Aug 2023

Arthur our tour guide coordinated with me on what exactly I wanted to see so we made the most of our tour. He shared a lot of information about the places we visited and his in depth knowledge helped us get a great understanding of the different places of interest. Arthur had the patience and his interaction was great with the family which helped make the tour, a seamless and wonderful experience. We did Sugarloaf Mountain, Christ the Redeemer, Selaron Steps and the Cathedral. While we toured the city between attractions, he provided updates of the different attractions or landmarks venues as we passed them. I was skeptical going to Rio due to a high crime rate, but since Sugarloaf Mountain was on our bucketlist, Arthur and Julio (driver) ensured we were safe during the tour. We enjoyed the city and will definitely visit it again and if I have the chance, will request for Arthur to be our tour guide once again. Cheers

The only way to see Rio

Linda_O, Mar 2023

Best way to see Rio. Gabriella was great. Got us thru all the lines at the Redeemer. Saw so much in four hours.

Response from Host, Mar 2023

Thanks so much for your review. We are happy that you enjoyed the experience. Gabriella is really a great professional. Thanks! :)

Outstanding Custom Adventure!

Chad_F, Feb 2023

What a great day! Our guide Romeu was amazing! I would recommend asking for him. Very nice and helped us tremendously! We are very grateful!

Great Way To Spend The Day in Rio!

James_S, Feb 2023

If you can request Gabby for your tour — do it now, if not immediately. She’s what made the experience. Her knowledge and level of customer service complemented the rich history of Rio. The structure of the tour made it feel like a great use of our time! Book & enjoy!!!

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Dear James, it´s a great pleasure to read your review. Thank you so much! We root for Gabby!! She´s great indeed ! We hope to see you again in the future xxx

Great afternoon in Rio

Alan_W, Feb 2023

Lucas picked us up in the morning and got us to Cristo Redentor and got us in line fir tickets and train ride bypassing the regular tourist line which saved time on a Saturday…showed us some other history sights afterwards but with pre carnival happening we were unable to make it to Sugarloaf mountain but the Christ Redemer statue is the real must see

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thank you very much for your review, Allan! Hope to be able to serve you again. God bless you :)