Rio's city walking tour: a glimpse of history and olympic legacy
Badge of Excellence
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 4 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Walk through Old Rio on this afternoon sightseeing tour with a local guide. During this half-day outing, wind through the narrow lanes and baroque-style buildings while your guide fills you in on the history and legends of the area. Visit sites like the Metropolitan Cathedral, Carioca Square and the Imperial Palace. Round-trip transportation from Rio hotels is included.
- Get a feel for the best of Rio on a walking tour
- Navigate the narrow streets and appreciate the historic Architecture around Rio de Janeiro
- Discover Rio's famous sites including Sao Bento Monastery and the Imperial Palace
- Roundtrip transfers from Rio de Janeiro hotels included
What's Included
- Walking tour of Rio de Janeiro
- Hotel pickup and drop off to Most Hotels in São Conrado, Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana
- Gratuities
- Food and drinks
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
Roundtrip transfer available from most hotels located in Rio's South Zone. Please stay at the hotel lobby 10 minutes before pick up time.
Start time.1:00 pm
Itinerary
After pickup from your Rio hotel, follow your local guide on this engrossing tour of Old Rio.
Visit the Rio's most impressive church, Nossa Senhora de Cadelária, as well as the ornate São Bento Monastery to view its paintings and gilt carvings. Stop by Praça XV do Novembro, where Brazil's emperors were crowned in the 1800s and many other important historical events took place. View the Portuguese-style Paço Imperial (Imperial Palace), built for Brazil's rulers as a home and workplace in the 1700s. Enjoy engaging commentary from your local guide while you walk, and feel free to ask any questions about the history or culture of Brazil.
Continue your tour with a stroll down Uruguaiana Street, which takes you to the Metropolitan Cathedral and Carioca Square. Your tour concludes here, and you are free to explore the area on your own or enjoy a ride back to your hotel.
Visit the Rio's most impressive church, Nossa Senhora de Cadelária, as well as the ornate São Bento Monastery to view its paintings and gilt carvings. Stop by Praça XV do Novembro, where Brazil's emperors were crowned in the 1800s and many other important historical events took place. View the Portuguese-style Paço Imperial (Imperial Palace), built for Brazil's rulers as a home and workplace in the 1700s. Enjoy engaging commentary from your local guide while you walk, and feel free to ask any questions about the history or culture of Brazil.
Continue your tour with a stroll down Uruguaiana Street, which takes you to the Metropolitan Cathedral and Carioca Square. Your tour concludes here, and you are free to explore the area on your own or enjoy a ride back to your hotel.
1
Church of Our Lady of the Candelaria
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Mosteiro De Sao Bento
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Maua Square (Pass By)
Museu do Amanha (Pass By)
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil - CCBB Rio de Janeiro (Pass By)
Praca Quinze de Novembro (Pass By)
Paco Imperial (Pass By)
Mercado Popular da Uruguaiana (Pass By)
Tiradentes Palace (Pass By)
3
Confeitaria Colombo
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 35 travelers
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 79 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
James_G, Nov 2025
Highlights include Benedictine Chapel with amazing art work and the beautiful Portuguese Library both in down town.
LuAnn_T, Feb 2025
Unfortunately, not enough people signed up for the tour and it was cancelled. HOWEVER, the communication between the operator and Viator was seamless, and the tour was refunded with kind apologies. Tourism is full of moving parts, and sometimes things just happen. I must admit I was disappointed, however given the opportunity to revisit, will definitely try again.
Hope_O, Oct 2024
We had arranged to be picked up at our hotel and André arrived on time. He was very attentive and knowledgable. When I mentioned that there were a few places I planned to visit after the tour, he added them to the tour! We were delighted with his willingness to spend as much time (or as little) in each spot according to our wishes. A fantastic guide who helped me to fall more in love with Rio than I already was. Highly recommended.
Response from Host, Dec 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.
Donald_S, Oct 2024
Good introduction to old Rio. Old Portuguese Library Building was most impressive. Good information on city history. Enjoyable guide.
Response from Host, Dec 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.
Jose_R, Jul 2023
The walking tour gave us some really good highlights of the city. What I really enjoyed most was the fact that we were able to stroll on our own time without being too hurried with the agenda. Our guide was able to get us a shuttle ride around the museum of tomorrow which was very nice. Also, the highlight of this tour was the library of old books that she took us to. I didn’t know such a library existed and I was happy that we were taken there.
Yibing_X, Jun 2023
Melanie is extremely friendly and easy going, very smoothly transitioning from Spanish to English to take care of multiple customers. Great experience!
Maria_P, Jun 2023
our tour guide was absolutely wonderful. She was very knowledgeable and took us to interesting places. I am not very good at names, but I believe her name was Malenia.
I would recommend this tour.
Julia_T, Nov 2022
Not a lot of walking, traffic was bad. Recommending more time to walk, browse more streets; give 10 mins of free time.
Response from Host, Nov 2022
Dear Customer.
Thank you for the review.
this probably happened as there was heavy traffic this day. usually, it is the opposite.
Thanks.
Ravi_H, Jun 2022
On this tour your will visit several churches along with other places of interest. Melanie was an excellent tour ambassador for, Rio de Janerio! She shared history of the city and allowed us time to make our way through the sites. I recommend, shopping at the local market near Rio Cathedral and taking in linch at places less touristy as the line ups are shorter and the snacks and meals overall throughout Rio are of European standard.
I recommend doing this tour on your first or second day of your visit as it provided you with an understanding of the cities layout and identifies places you may which to spend more time exploring. I woupd recommend asking your tour guide to share tips and make recommendations for things of interest to you. Webdid and Melanie was aboe to offer suggestions that saved us money and make the local experience in Brazil meaningful.
Helen_A, May 2022
Lovely tour to meet our exact taste... We were the only people on the tour so the guide amended it to meet our interests and it was delightful, seeing and hearing about the origins of Rio, small backstreet life so as to understand real Rio life... Highly recommended
Response from Host, Jun 2022
Dear Helen
good morning
Thank you for your feedback and review
kind regards
Tarek_A, May 2022
A nice tour that takes you thorough the most important landmarks in downtown Rio in a reasonable and good pace. Our tour guide Melanie was honestly such a sweetheart and we enjoyed our time with her a lot.
Response from Host, May 2022
Dear Tarek_A
thank you for your feedback
Please count with us in future bookings as we provide tours/transfers in more than 26 cities in Brazil.
kind regards
Chamila_N, May 2022
Great tour. Melani was a great tour guide. We'll experienced, knowledgeable and pleasant. Street Art in Lapa and Selatom steps are so attractive.
Response from Host, May 2022
Dear Chamila_N
thank you for your feedback
Please count with us in future bookings as we provide tours/transfers in more than 26 cities in Brazil.
kind regards
Dilip_P, Nov 2019
JB did a very good job of explaining all the historic sites during the walking tour of old Rio. It was a great experience and highly recommend to anyone.
Fiona B, Mar 2019
JB was an enthusiastic and informative guide giving a great introduction to the many wonderful sites of Rio. There were only 3 on our tour and we were picked up promptly by bus from our hotel and dropped off .
Explore68580170859, Dec 2018
Only us 2 in the tour. The tour guide is constently busy texting on his phone and rushing us to get the tour over with. At one point he even comment that he is a man of the clock meaning he is intested only to make all check list that need to visit and get us over with.
JEROME M, Feb 2018
Another great tour. It was not a hard walk. Good pace and lots to see on this tour. Worth taking this one.
Purnima B, Aug 2017
JB was a great tour guide- very energetic and well- informed. He gave us a good introduction to Rio downtown and we enjoyed walking around that area. Worth- taking
Jean-Claude B, Jun 2017
It turned out to be a private tour ! Therefore our guide could be flexible and adapt the program to avoid the places we had already visited the day before. Jean-Baptiste proved to be a great guide because he knows Rio, loves the city and makes you love it too.
We discovered places we would not have thought of visiting. The walking experience is definitely the best way to discover a city and its people.
Nicholas C, Sep 2016
JB was knowledgeable, spoke English well and is obviously very passionate about his city. WE got a view of the Museum of Tomorrow from the Benedictine monastery that normally you would not see so got a cracking photograph. Excellent value for money, as got lots of info about getting about Rio in general,
Tip -- if you are meeting at a hotel but not resident there then go into reception --- he will look for you there not outside.
ROGER T, Aug 2016
A pretty relaxed meander round the downtown area of Rio which I probably would not have seen otherwise. Quirky guide who looked after us well.
Rick_C, May 2016
Despite a bad start, Juan Bautista provided an interesting walking tour from the Sao Bento monastery to the Metropolitan Cathedral in Rio. His passion for the history and architecture of Rio was obvious. The tour was quite expensive and I would recommend a tour arranged locally, instead, especially since we spent 30 minutes in a tea shop albeit beautiful, but at the expense of seeing more. As it is, the tour ended one block short of seeing the Teatro Municipal and the Catedral Metropolitana. Fortunately, we were able to continue the walking tour on our own a couple of days later for just the cost of the metro.
The tour started badly as the bus went to the wrong hotel at the wrong time and left without us a group of four. We had to take a taxi to catch the group one other person at the monastery. A big problem with arranging tours thru third parties is the communications gap/delay. Between Viator, the local tour company and the tour guide, there were three different stories.
BusyM, Feb 2016
This was one of my best tours booked on the Rio trip. It was highly personalized since I was the only one on the tour. The guide was very friendly, warm and knowledgeable and well planed. I had an amazing experience with JB. I wanted to book him for another tour, but he wasn't available. It was a pleasant surprise. Thank you JB! You are the best.
Christopher L, Feb 2016
There is generally not a lot of history in Rio to be seen. I would re-title this tour the Old historic churches tour. Very underwhelming.
Catherine L G, Feb 2016
A good afternoon and a great way to see parts of Rio you would not normally visit. Good too having a local guide who knows the area, gives lots of history and background and shields you from pick pockets. Thanks JB.
janefuller40, Jan 2016
It was set at a nice pace and he was a very knowledgeable guide.
Nicola G, Jan 2016
This was a really good way to spend a few hours. Gave a good overview of old Rio and some sites you may not visit on your own.
sbshorr, Feb 2015
The tour was very worthwhile. tour guide well informed. Very patient. Was very passionate about Rio and the history of the city. Answered all questions and had time to answer individual questions.
horse, Jan 2015
We did this our first day and had a wonderful introduction to Rio. Our guide, JB (short for Juan Batiste), gave us a detailed history of all we saw. He was funny, personable and has left a lasting memory of Carioca hospitality.
Chacko G, Jan 2015
A little background about myself: this was my first trip to Rio, and before this tour, I had not spent any time in downtown Rio. I am generally interested in history, perhaps more than the average person.
Our tour guide, JB, was fantastic. He was very energetic, and was very enthusiastic about the city. He was extremely knowledgeable about the stops on the tour (and a lot off the tour) and effectively communicated with all of us. He walks fast, he talks fast, which is great, because he was able to cover a lot of ground in the 4 hours we had. (Even during the ride to and from our hotel, he was telling us about the buildings we passed and the early rulers of Brazil.)
The tour stops were also well chosen. We visited four churches, two cultural centers, three squares and a wonderful old restaurant (the Confeiteria Colombo), all of which were downtown landmarks. I was never bored, I felt like I got a good sense of downtown, and though the tour was 6 hours long, the time just flew by.
Again, you walk a lot, so if you don't walk well/cannot do so for long periods, I would not suggest this tour.
Highly recommend this tour!!!
Ramon B, Dec 2014
Very interesting. The guide was very repetitive, too. This was tiresome!
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