Downtown Ancient Rio Tour with Hotel pick-up and drop-off

Badge of Excellence

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

4 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Group discounts
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Visitors will travel back in time on this tour of downtown Rio. The tour will visit the cultural and historical highlights of Rio, including the Cinelandia Square which is home to many of the political buildings of Rio; and Praia Quinze de Novembro, a square in the historical centre of Rio and surrounded by many historically significant buildings.

Hotel pick-up and drop-off provided as part of the package.
Transportation provided in the form of an air-conditioned vehicle.
Admission ticked to Church of Our Lady of the Candelaria included.
An immersive cultural and historical experience.

What's Included

Air-conditioned vehicle

Snacks
Lunch

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

Pickup is available from most hotels in the areas of Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana, Flamengo and Downtown (Centro). Contact us back to adjust the pickup time. For Barra da Tijuca/ Recreio we provide pick-up for an additional rate.

Meeting point

Hotel Rio Othon Palace
Av. Atlântica, 3264 - Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 22070-001, Brazil
If you do not provide us the pickup location at the time of booking and you do not inform us about it later, we will assume you will meet us at the Meeting Point at the Front Desk of the Rio Othon Palace (Avenida Atlântica, 3264 - Copacabana).

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

Cinelandia

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Biblioteca Nacional

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Museu Nacional De Belas Artes

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Praca Quinze de Novembro

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Arco do Teles

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil - CCBB Rio de Janeiro

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Church of Our Lady of the Candelaria

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Mosteiro De Sao Bento

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Most travelers can participate

We contact you back in order to provide proper pickup time. Check your emails and/or cell phone.
Comfortable clothing and walking shoes are recommended for this tour.
If requested, you must present a copy of your ID.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 19 travelers per Minivan.
Contact us to confirm the pickup time according to hotel location.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 100 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

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

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.3

based on 20 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Great tour, even in the rain

Joseph_G, Feb 2026

Great tour of different parts of the city, including Christ the Redeemer, downtown, Selarom Steps, to Sugarloaf Mountain.

Churches, theatres and coffee shops in old Rio

Angus_B, Dec 2025

Millene was a fantastic guide. She tailored the trip to suit our family of four, ( including allowances for one with limited mobility) She showed us the highlights of old Rio, from the churches to the theatres - ending up with at a traditional coffee shop for pastries and drinks (coffee, tea and Guarana ) and was very engaging and a most knowledgeable guide.

Great morning of history

Danielle_L, May 2025

Meilin was excellent she knew so much history I learned a lot about Rio and its history and saw some amazing sights downtown. Highly recommend if you like history and old buildings!

A mix of good and learning points.

Marc_V, Nov 2024

Enjoyable experience, but quite a mix. Our guide Marcos was a lovely person. He was extremely flexible. We visited on a Sunday when most buildings and attractions were closed, but Marcos drove us to Santa Teresa and Seleron steps, which were not initially programmed in the tour. A helpful suggestion would be for Viator to inform visitors that buildings and attractions are closed on Sundays, and to make alternative arrangements for the city tour, rather than leaving it to the last-minute initiative of the guide. Our guide would have preferred to leave us in Santa Teresa, to allow him to finish his tour early, but all three tourists asked to be dropped off at their hotels, as per tour description. Marcos remained courteous and polite, but was frustrated due to personal time commitments. Marcos drove like a lunatic to drop us off at our hotels, with violent braking and much beeping of horn. All in all, we visited the parts of Rio that we wanted to see and were grateful for Marcos' flexibility. A learning point would be for the tour to be better organised and less chaotic.

Wasted my time

FRED_S, Nov 2024

The driver was 45 minutes late and did not speak English, which was selected when I Booked the tour. We ended up getting out of his vehicle and taking a taxi to some of the sites that we wished to visit. Because of the delay, some of the other sites we wish to visit were closed. Refunded the cost of the tour once we complained

Downtown tour with Alex Sargentelli

Nelia_C, Nov 2024

Very enriching tour with Alex. Coordinated trip well from pick up to drop off. Very knowledgeable and offered tips along the way. He needs a raise👍🏼⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Joana was our tour guide . Carlos was the Driver .

JOCELYN_E, Oct 2024

Going to the churches and selaron steps Joana the tour guide was very good tour guide . Show us the old Rio

Response from Host, Oct 2024

Hello! Glad you enjoyed your tour! We work with the best tourism professionals in Rio so that more and more tourists can have good experiences here, just like you did. If you ever come back to Rio, we'd be delighted to welcome you again! See you next time!

A tour to avoid: it did not deliver as programmed

David_D, Apr 2024

None of the downtown buildings are open on Saturday and Sunday. I paid to visit these buildings and paid some entrance fees. The tour should not be conducted on weekends. No prior information about the closures was advised until the guide turned up and explained the situation, as we waited for the driver who was late. He had no knowledge of the city and the your guide had to direct his every move. More than half the tour was taken up with looking in shops at Santa Theresa, which wasn’t on the tour programme.

Response from Host, Apr 2024

Hello, Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience you experienced during your tour. It's regrettable that the downtown buildings were closed on the weekend, and we understand your disappointment. We understand the importance of providing prior information about closures and deviations from the tour program. We will review our communication protocols to ensure that clients are adequately informed beforehand and we will align everything with our guides, who are responsible for leading the tours. Regarding the late arrival of the driver and the lack of city knowledge, we apologize for any inconvenience caused. We will address this issue with our team to ensure smoother operations in the future. We also will review our itinerary to ensure a more balanced and fulfilling experience. Once again, we apologize for the shortcomings you encountered during your tour. Your feedback is valuable to us, and we will use it to improve our services. We hope to have the opportunity to host you again in the future and provide you with a more enjoyable experience. Thank you for choosing us for your tour. Warm regards.

Great tour with a good guide.

Nilufer_B, Dec 2023

This tour was excellent, it helped us to get to know Rio better, more in depth. Our guide was very nice.

Dario is the best !!!

Yuliya_G, Dec 2022

Our tour guy Dario was excellent. Very knowledgeable, experienced, polite and attentive. Our tour was so wonderful ! Lovely afternoon in Rio. Highly recommended

Bonita experiencia en Rio de Janeiro

Concepcion_M, Dec 2024

La guia Jaqueline muy amable ,profesional y preparada .En pocas horas recorrimos el centro historico de Rio y nos fue contando un poco su historia completamente recomendable.

Super!

lucianabonfanti, Nov 2023

Con la bravissima guida Romeo abbiamo visitato la città vecchia anche con il quartiere di Santa Teresa. Ottima ed istruttiva esperienza da consigliare vivamente. Rio de Janeiro non è solo spiagge!