3-Day Customizable Tour of Rio de Janeiro

r flight arrival, sit back and relax as your driver takes you to your hotel in the upscale South Zone (Zona Sul) district. Check in at your accommodation, where you’ll stay for two nights, and finalize your activity schedule for the next two days with your guide. If you arrive during the day, stretch your legs with a walk around Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. Perhaps sip an evening cocktail (own expense) at an open-air café along the shore and soak up beautiful views of the lagoon and the white-sand beaches. Overnight stay at a South Zone hotel.

In the morning, zip around Rio’s top historical sights in air-conditioned transport. Visit the bustling Cinelandia Square, or officially Praça Floriano Peixoto, named after the second president of Brazil. Pass by the Municipal Theater, the National Library and the National Museum of Fine Arts. Stop by the cone-shaped Metropolitan Cathedral, a design inspired by a Mayan pyramid. A fan of Carnival? Check out the Sambadrome, where the city’s samba schools compete with Olympics-level dedication during the annual festival. 
Next, board a glass cable car in the Urca district that whisks you up Sugar Loaf Mountain. Make a brief stop at 700 feet (213 meters) above sea level to snap shots of the city, Guanabara Bay, the Rio-Niteroi Bridge and Corcovado Mountain. Then reach the apex of Sugar Loaf, 1,299 feet (396 meters) high, and marvel at panoramas of the Santa Cruz Fortress and the beaches of Niteroi and Copacabana. After drop-off at your hotel, explore the city on your own in the afternoon.

Enjoy a free morning to yourself and then in the afternoon, hop aboard a cog train and travel through the lush Tijuca Forest. In 20 minutes, you’re at the top of Corcovado Mountain, next to the feet of the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue, 130 feet (39 meters) tall, and looking up at his arms that stretch 98 feet (30 meters) wide. Soak up the sights of Rio from your mountaintop vantage point as you learn about the 1931 art-deco statue named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.

In the morning, hop aboard an open-air Jeep and head to the tropical Tijuca Forest, located minutes from the city center. Learn about the reforestation program of Tijuca National Park and the importance of the Mata Atlântica ecosystem, part of the protected Mata Biosphere Reserve, which covers 14 states in Brazil. Inside the rainforest, take photos of the Emperor's Table, where Brazil’s last emperor supposedly held picnics, and the pink-and-purple Mayrink Chapel with painted panels. At Vista Chinesa, where the country’s first Chinese immigrants settled, admire views of Ipanema and Copacabana beaches, Guanabara Bay and even as far as Niteroi.

ar mountain resort known as Brazil’s Imperial City, nestled in the wooded hills of the Serra dos Órgãos. Arrive in the cobbled streets of Petrópolis and enter the Imperial Museum, housed in the former summer palace of Pedro II, Brazil's second and final emperor. Inside the restored Austrian-style palace built in 1845, get a look at how the country's royalty once lived. Stroll by tapestries, antique furniture and jewels, and admire the imperial crown studded with over 600 diamonds, weighing nearly 4 pounds (1.7 kg). Next, visit the Gothic-style St Peter of Alcantara Cathedral and see the tombstones of Pedro II and his family. Follow your guide to a tranquil park and marvel at the Crystal Palace, a ballroom made of glass and steel, where Princess Isabel held expositions and royal parties. Purchase lunch at a restaurant of your choice in town, and feel free to ask your guide for recommendations. Your tour ends with transport back to Rio.

Spend the morning appreciating the city of Rio from Guanabara Bay, where Portuguese explorers arrived on January 1, 1502, and hear about how they originally named the bay Rio de Janeiro, or River of January. During the 2-hour cruise, focus your camera on Sugar Loaf Mountain, Copacabana Beach and the statue of Christ Redeemer from your prime vantage point on the water. Catch sight of the neighborhoods of Botafogo, Flamengo and Urca, as well as Fort Sao Joao, Flagstone Island, Santa Cruz Fortress and Rio-Niteroi Bridge. When the ship docks back at the pier, you’re driven back to your hotel.