Half-Day Tour of Rio: Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain and More

Tour guide Mayut is very good and professional

The views at Sugarloaf mountain and Christ the Redeemer were beautiful, our guide was kind and helpful! However, the sites were extremely crowded, which unfortunately meant we had to cue for about 3 hours during the tour, with no priority access. We could only do 25 mins of sightseeing at each site to make up for part of the delay, which was quite short. Ultimately, instead of 5 hours, the tour lasted 9-10 hours (!). Although we had planned a generous buffer before our evening flight, we ended up having to leave the last site early with our own arranged private transportation to make it back to our hotel on time. When booking, we considered that we could skipping the second part of the tour (Sugarloaf) if timings got tight, however on the day of the tour the itinerary was swapped (Sugarloaf first instead of Christ), which was not communicated in advance. The guide helped as best as he could, however the itinerary change and risk of such significant delays should have been properly communicated in advance.

Just finished the tour with my partner and honestly, it was the PERFECT way to kick off our trip. We got to see Christ the Redeemer before it got suuuper busy (pro tip: sit on the LEFT side of the bus for the best first views). Our guide, Lucas, was super chatty and even helped us with a few Portuguese phrases. Bring water!! Rio heat is no joke. Only bummer was we didn't get as much time at the Selaron Steps as I wanted for photos, but still, so worth it for a first timer.

I went solo and ended up making friends with two other travelers from Canada. Loved the pacing, although the Sugarloaf stop was a bit rushed (sunset line was looooong). Our guide, Paulo, had all the facts and was fun to chat with. Bus AC was working well, thank god. Wished there was a snack break—bring ur own snacks if u get hangry like me.