Rio de Janeiro in 3 days
Three days in which the viewpoints are not booked but waited for — in cloud Corcovado shows you nothing and the ticket is not refunded.
- How long
- 3 days
- Book ahead
- The statue and Sugarloaf
- Don't get caught out
- You take no documents
Three days in Rio run on one rule: districts and beaches keep a schedule, the two great viewpoints do not — they go on the first clear morning. Put Corcovado down for Wednesday and get cloud on Wednesday, and you have paid for fog.
Copacabana, Ipanema and the first sunset
The forecast. If Corcovado's summit is clear, the plan shifts and you go up today. If not, this is the day.
Copacabana end to end, four kilometres along the wave-patterned pavement. The postos, numbered lifeguard stations, are the address system everything is arranged by — from 1 in Leme to 6 by the fort, then on through Ipanema to 12 in Leblon.
The Copacabana fort at the far end: a military museum, a Confeitaria Colombo café and a view back along the whole curve.
Ipanema and Leblon, lunch on a side street rather than the front. The canal between them separates two districts and two price levels.
Sunset from the Arpoador rock. When the sun drops the whole beach applauds — not for visitors, but a habit decades old.
Dinner in Ipanema. Before nine it is empty; after ten it is the city.
The statue, Santa Teresa and Lapa
Corcovado — the cog railway from Cosme Velho or a van. Vans leave from 7 in Copacabana and Largo do Machado, from 7.30 at Paineiras; take one of the first departures, ahead of the tour groups.
Down into Santa Teresa. Lunch here and wander without a plan, downhill towards Lapa.
The Escadaria Selarón — two hundred and fifteen steps tiled with pieces from over sixty countries, worked on by one man for twenty years. Go in the afternoon, when the light drops.
The Lapa arches and the centre: the São Bento monastery, the Royal Portuguese Reading Room, and the São Sebastião cathedral, which looks like a Mayan pyramid.
Dinner and music in Lapa, on a Friday or Saturday. On weekdays the city is quieter, and that is no bad thing.
Sugarloaf and Botafogo
The Botanical Garden or Tijuca. In Tijuca, Pedra Bonita is a short climb: about twenty minutes on foot to a rock looking over São Conrado and Barra. The park opens 8 to 5, and the last start up the path is at 4.
Lunch in Botafogo or Urca, the districts under Sugarloaf; the cable car leaves from Urca, at Praia Vermelha.
Sugarloaf, two cable cars and two summits. Time it so you reach the first before sunset: one view then holds both the day and the lit city. That is also why the queue is longest before sunset — set off an hour earlier.
A last dinner in Leblon, or a churrasco — the Brazilian grill where waiters keep bringing meat until you say stop.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
How many days does Rio need?
Three is the minimum for two viewpoints, the beaches and the centre. A fourth goes on a day trip — Petrópolis, Niterói or the beaches east. With two days you drop Santa Teresa, not the viewpoints.
What is the cheaper way up to the statue?
The van from Paineiras. The cog railway from Cosme Velho and the van from Copacabana cost almost the same and reach the same summit; you only save by getting to Paineiras on your own, by taxi or public transport. Last entry there is at 5 pm.
Is the beach safe?
It is, provided you carry nothing you would mind losing. Documents, cards and phone stay in the room; you take cash for a lounger, a coconut and a beer.
Ready for Rio de Janeiro?
Where to next
Day trips from Rio de Janeiro
→Five trips from Rio, from an imperial summer palace in the mountains to a colonial port the tide deliberately…
São Paulo · 360 km
→A city with no postcard and the best restaurants on the continent — you come for the table, not the view
How well does Rio de Janeiro suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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