Private Tour: Rio de Janeiro Customizable City Sightseeing with Optional Corcovado and Sugar Loaf Tickets
Badge of Excellence
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 4 to 8 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
See all of Rio's highlights on this guided private sightseeing tour. Spend as much or as little time as you like and customize your own itinerary to your interests, whether they be sports, art, history or food. Travel between stops in your comfortable private vehicle, enjoying commentary from your local guide. Upgrade your tour with a trip by cog train through Tijuca Forest to the top of Corcovado Mountain or by cable car to the summit of Sugar Loaf Mountain.
- 4- or 6-hour private tour of Rio de Janeiro with optional upgrades
- Customize your private tour and create your own itinerary
- Visit Rio de Janeiro’s top landmarks and interesting neighborhoods such as Leblon and Lagoa
- Ride the cog train through the lush Tijuca Forest to the Christ Redeemer statue atop Corcovado Mountain (if option selected)
- Take a cable car to Sugar Loaf Mountain and admire sprawling views of Guanabara Bay (if option selected)
- Round-trip transport by private vehicle included
What's Included
- Professional guide
- Transport by private vehicle
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
- Entrance fees (if option not selected)
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
Private Roundtrip Transfer to/from most hotels located in South Zone, Barra da Tijuca, Santa Teresa, Downtown Rio, Port or Airport.
Operating hours.8:00 am
Itinerary
Following pickup at your Rio hotel, board your comfortable private vehicle and meet your personal tour guide. Your private guide can offer suggestions of things to do and see, or you can simply design your itinerary as you see fit. Please list any special interests you have (art, architecture, history, culture) at time of booking to alert your guide, so that he or she can better prepare for your private tour. If you'd like to stop for lunch, your guide can offer recommendations.
See the world-famous beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana or venture to Flamengo Park, Rio’s largest leisure complex. Stop by Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, bordered by Rio’s most fashionable neighborhoods – including Lagoa, Leblon and Gávea – and take in the views overlooking Guanabara Bay. View the Sambadrome, where samba schools compete during Carnaval, or admire historical buildings in Cinelandia Square.
Upgrade your tour to include Sugar Loaf or Corcovado – or a combination of both – including entrance fees and guided transport to each site. Please see the Itinerary section below for additional details on the upgrades.
See the world-famous beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana or venture to Flamengo Park, Rio’s largest leisure complex. Stop by Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, bordered by Rio’s most fashionable neighborhoods – including Lagoa, Leblon and Gávea – and take in the views overlooking Guanabara Bay. View the Sambadrome, where samba schools compete during Carnaval, or admire historical buildings in Cinelandia Square.
Upgrade your tour to include Sugar Loaf or Corcovado – or a combination of both – including entrance fees and guided transport to each site. Please see the Itinerary section below for additional details on the upgrades.
1
Sugarloaf Mountain
1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included
2
Corcovado - Christ the Redeemer
1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included
3
Guanabara Bay
2 hours • Admission Ticket Not Included
4
Botanical Garden
2 hours • Admission Ticket Not Included
5
Maracana
2 hours • Admission Ticket Not Included
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
- The specific departure time for this tour will be determined upon reconfirmation
- Set your choice of time duration and inclusion of tickets at the time of purchase
- The places at the itinerary section are suggestions. You may choose your own itinerary.
- Train Ticket to Corcovado and/or Cable Car Ticket to Urca Hill are only included if respective options are selected
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.3
based on 28 reviews
Kimberly_B, Feb 2025
I booked the excursion for the only time available, which was at 8 am. The tour time was changed to 2 pm with no notice, no email & no text about the new time which did not work for me because I had another excursion scheduled for that day. The experience was horrible, I was ready for a tour at 8 am. This ruined my sightseeing in Rio de Janeiro.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
dear client
we had a system integration issue.
We received your booking with an afternoon tour, not morning
problem was reported and fixed.
i am sorry but we even confirmed pick up time through Viator´s Extranet.
thank you
kind regards
Shawn_B, Jan 2025
Overall a good trip- eventually. Was originally told the tour started at 8am. Then received a change notice from the tour operator that it was then going to be 8:30. I asked several times through the tour operator chat on VIATOR for a Whattsap phone number to communicate with the driver- no reply. Then I had to phone the tour operator on 3 occasions in att empty to find our driver. I was told they were parking and I told the. Where we were standing outside the port. Then I received a WhatsApp message from the driver that said he was in traffic and it would be 9 am for a pick up. At approximately 9:30 we finally walked to the driver because he shared his location on Whattsap. Once in the car, everything was wonderful.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
dear client.
we usually send all communication through Viator Extranet.
We believe there was a system problem as we thought you were aware of pick up.
we will contact Viator in order to align details but we also have our whatsup emergency at the voucher.
thank you for your feedback
Sean_M, Jun 2024
Leonel is the man. As instructed, we came downstairs 15 minutes prior to our pickup time, when we walked out the front door there he was patiently waiting. Very professional, very polite, and very knowledgeable about the history of all things Brazil/Rio de Janeiro. Loved the tour and we owe that not just to the sights we saw but to Leonel. If you're thinking of this tour, I'd say do it and specifically request Leonel because he's the man!!!
Response from Host, Sep 2024
Dear Customer.
Thanks a lot for the review.
We are glad that you liked the tour.
Please count on us on future trips.
Thanks.
michaelhorsting, Jan 2018
Great way to get a personalized tour of places you want to visit.
laurie g, Apr 2016
Camila was great. Lots of information and so pleasant.
Jimmy A, Mar 2016
This was an excellent way to see Rio - tour guide spoke excellent English and gave more information that just a textbook speech. He made suggestions of things we might want to see and knew all the head of the line shortcuts to see everything with very little waiting in line. Truly made us feel like VIPs.
Donald C, Feb 2016
Our tour guide, Igor, was terrific, knowledgeable and at a nice pace with my group of seniors.
We had a great time.
Janice C, Jan 2016
Our guide, Fatima, was wonderful and did a great job showing us the highlights of Rio in one day. She was knowledgeable and had an excellent command of English. This was a perfect way to see the city with the limited time we had available.
dennis w, Jan 2016
A private tour was the way to go. We told the guide where we wanted to go and she provided extra places that we were happy to see. Having someone who grew up in Rio to show us around was a great way to go.
Steve M, Jan 2016
This type of tour is great...you can pick and choose what you wish to see...however, on this day when we wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens, our guide decided he wanted to steal a piece of large fruit from one of the trees in the gardens...made us quite uncomfortable as we knew this was not allowed and thought...wow, on tour and we might go to jail...and he walked out with it even with us saying it was wrong. He luckily was stopped by a security guard after he took his shirt off to try and hide it. This was our first stop. After that, the tour was sour tasting throughout even though we still go to see what we wanted. Very disappointed in our guide named Camilo. We had heard that Fatima was amazing and asked for her but she must have been booked ... so assuming ask for Fatima and it should go terrific.
Tamara S. E, Sep 2015
A lovely, carefully planned tour by a bright and interesting guide!
William K, Jun 2015
Super experience and our guide was perfectly suited for a custom tour. We were able to eat an authentically local breakfast before arriving at Corcovado and were dropped off for a delicious chiurasco lunch when the tour ended. The four hours was adequate for all of our purposes. We were 9 people total and had a full-sized, comfortable coach that added a lot of extra comfort.
Joan, Mar 2015
My husband and I were only in Rio for one day and wanted to make the best of it so we decided to do a Half-day Private Tour. We were picked up at our hotel at 8am sharp and off we went. It was a beautiful day so we went to see Christ the Redeemer first. Our guide, Fatima, was awesome! She was knowledgeable, interesting and spoke very good English. She knew the ins and outs of getting around Rio. We also visited Santa Teresa (Unfortunately it was Monday and many things were closed). She then took us places we did not know anything about! We loved our time with Fatima! We would definitely booked this tour again when in Rio!
soni, Feb 2015
We got this 6-hour tour so we can see some additional places besides Corcovado and 'Sugar Loaf Mountain but unfortunately there was not much time left. Our guide Fatima was excellent. She picked us up on time from the hotel and guided us very well. Spoke fluent English and also took our pictures. She is very knowledgeable and experienced. She also held our place in line so we didn't have to wait. Thank you Fatima for everything you did including fixing my mask I bought.
Basanth Sadasivan, Jan 2015
Solid tour. Very well done and at a reasonable price too
yana, Jan 2015
We booked a private 6-hour tour of Rio. We had an amazing experience. Our guide Igor was great - he told us about the history of Brazil and Rio. He took us to all the sights we requested to see trying to find the best times for visiting these sites. We also spent some time going throught the Tajuca forest and his knowledge of the local fauna really amazed us.
Thank you, Igor for the tour of Rio on Jan 4, 2015
Martin B, Apr 2014
Excellent trip, tour was as described, guide was excellent and very informative about the places visited. Although the Private Tour is obviously more expensive would recommend it (over a larger group tour) as we were able to move around at our pace. Given the amount of queuing involved for train (to ascend Corcovado) and the cable car (at Sugar Loaf) I could imagine a lot of time being wasted waiting for a large group to organise itself at the various locations.
Charles_B, Jan 2014
Our customized Rio de Janeiro sightseeing tour was excellent!! Our driver and tour guide, Carla de Silva, arrived at our hotel promptly and took us up to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain, narrating along the way. We then toured the city, stopping at the Sambodromo stadium, visiting the cathedral, stopping by the Maracana soccer stadium, and visiting the Monestary Sao Bento, where we listened to the chanting by the monks. They then dropped us off right at our ship, making sure we were settled in line. Carla did an outstanding job of taking care of us and showing us the beautiful sights of Rio. We would certainly recommend Carla and Viator to friends and clients.
Vicki_M, Jan 2014
Our tour guide Lewis was the best!! Truely made our trip worth it!!!
Lynn B, Jan 2014
We had a very late start to this tour. The minibus arrived in plenty of time but the guide was 20 minutes late arriving due to the fact that he gone searching for our tickets for sugarloaf and Corcovado. He arrived to meet us without the tickets and then we wasted more time driving from one location to another to pick up the tickets. We were only in Rio for about 24 hours so decided to pay for this very very expensive private tour to ensure we saw as much as possible. Once the tour began, some 45 minutes late we did enjoy the sights we were taken to but all 4 of us ended the tour feeling we hadn't seen the downtown so to speak. Our tour ended at 130pm which in fact meant we spent 5 hours touring instead of the 6 we had paid for. Definitely felt there was a lack of organization on the part of the administration.
California Tourist, Jan 2014
Maria tour guide was on time and great. However back office disorganization came through again as they told us 9 am pickup when it was to be 8 am. Another logistics planning issue in the back office. Would give 5 stars due the Maria the guide but logistics was bad
Evdoxia P, Nov 2013
It was a very comfortable and well organized private tour with tourist guide (Sheila) who had the willingness to share with us her knowledge very kindly and to show us as many as possible places according to our interest. We will definitely travel again with you ! until next time
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