Walking tour in Rio de Janeiro Historical Center.
Recommended by 91% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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What's Included
- Licensed Guide.
- Private transportation
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Use of bicycle
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Theatro Municipal do Rio de JaneiroPraça Floriano, S/N - Centro, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 20031-050, Brazil
Go in front of the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theatre and find the Guide in front of a statue that stands next to the police car. Corner location of Avenida Treze de Mayo with Rua Evaristo da Veiga.
End point
- Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB)R. Primeiro de Março, 66 - Centro, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 20010-000, Brazil
Itinerary
1
Cinelandia
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Escadaria Selaron
25 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Real Gabinete Portugues de Leitura
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Sao Francisco da Penitencia Church
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
6
Praca Quinze de Novembro
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Most travelers can participate
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.6
based on 45 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
The walking tour was fine, we learned some interesting things, but somehow I expected more information and based on the reviews I expected more interesting storytelling. At the beginning the guide pointed out each building on that square and told us what it was, but the ones on the other side of the square were mostly behind trees and we didn't even cross to look at them properly, just saw their roofs from across the square. I also ended up reading up on the story about the staircase, why it started and how the artist died, etc. I also felt like I shouldn't be looking around much at the stairs, trying to find a tile from my home country. Maybe it's because it was just us two on the tour so it felt like the guide is just waiting for us.
The guide also offered to take photos of us, which I really appreciated, but upon checking them after the end of the tour apart from the photos at the stairs he only took 1 photo at each of the other spots, and he didn't care if the photos were good or not, plus he changed the setting and went for a wide photo on most of them, so we looked distorted on them.... He knew good spots to take photos, but not how to take good photos...
The second guide was nice, he was more focused on the logistics and security.
The tour listing should be updated to reflect that the church entrance of R$30 pp is not included, so people know what to expect. The 'What's included ' section says everything is included, but when you open it a few things are listed as not included, but the church entrance fee isn't there. This should be updated.
This was one of the best experiences I had my entire time in Brazil. It's been a wild ride the last couple days so I can't remember the name of our guides right now, but they took us to some awesome spots, gave us some fascinating history, and helped to take some amazing pictures. I would do this again any time - highly highly recommend!
A really interesting knowledgable tour - Carlos and Lucemir were brilliant we even had a brief lunch with them both after the tour. Lovely human beings!
You get to see some historical Highlights you should‘t have missed. The 3 hour tour was very nice. Thank you Carlos
The tour had loads of facts about the history and varying architecture of city center. The library and brutalist church were beautiful. Carlos was an awesome tour guide! He had some great suggestions for site seeing and helped me navigate public transit after.
Carlos explained so much and showed me many interestung sights, what a compact tour! -- And yet he gave me enough time to ask questions and make it interactive.
A total recommendation, Carlos is really a passionate story-teller and adaptive in his explanations!
Carlos was very knowledgeable and we saw many things. It was very engaging and interesting. We learned a lot and it was an amazing experience.
Excellent walking tour of city highlights. Using Viator, you gain direct access .. no waiting in lines at sites. Carlos is top-notch .. very knowlgeable, super accomodating to individual needs, excellent English, great sense of humor.
I cannot recommend this tour.
My guide, Carlos, provided very little historical or architectural information about the buildings and landmarks we visited. I was hoping for a more informative walking tour of downtown Rio, but much of the tour consisted of simply walking from place to place with limited explanation.
About an hour into the tour, Carlos suggested taking a taxi to visit a couple of additional sites, including the marina and the monument dedicated to Brazilian Expeditionary Forces who fought in World War II. At no point did he clearly explain that there would be an additional cost. After the visits, he asked me how I would like to pay. I was surprised, as I had been told we would take a taxi and was never informed that I would be responsible for extra transportation expenses.
To his credit, Carlos later apologized for the misunderstanding, which I appreciated. However, the lack of historical commentary and the unexpected request for additional payment significantly diminished my experience. Based on my experience, I would not recommend this tour.
The guide Carlos was very pleasant, but he did not give a great commentary and the walk we took around the Centre was just not that interesting. We had an accompanying guide with him for security for us, but that guide was quite bossy, telling us when to take photos and telling us to pay attention. It became quite irritating. Overall, I felt I could’ve learnt a lot more about Rio it’s history, it’s people and how it functions than Carlos was able to tell me. Given that he does this to every day of the week, I think he needs to perhaps do some more research to make his commentary more interesting..
Carlos provided an informative and delightful tour of historic downtown Rio. I very much enjoyed this experience!
Carlos was a great guide with great energy. He was very engaged and loved to tell you so spot the history of Rio.
The other guide, Lucemir, struggled a bit with English so my tip would be to let Carlos lead the tour more.
If you’re visiting Rio de Janeiro, book a tour with Carlos — you won’t regret it!
Carlos is incredibly knowledgeable, brought the city to life with fascinating stories and answered every question we had. He took fabulous photos of us, and his restaurant and live music recommendations turned out to be trip highlights we’ll never forget.
His warmth and genuine passion for Rio made us feel like we were exploring the city with a friend. We highly recommend Carlos to anyone visiting Rio!
We had a fantastic time today walking the historical area of the city with our guide Lucimer. He was so knowledgeable and just about the nicest man you could ever be Lucy enough to spend time with. I highly recommend.
Carlos provided an excellent tour of the city and historical overview of Rio. The different churches and libraries with history of Brazil and as a great enjoyment to learn.
We had a really enjoyable tour with Carlos. We were lucky that no-one else joined so that we had our own private tour. He was very knowledgeable and friendly and showed us some great spots
A nice way to get to see all the main historic attractions in rio without stress. Nice ending in a historical cafe.
Carlos is a great guide he knows alot about the history of sao paulo and took us to all the main historic places. I came late but Carlos was patient with me and updated me on his location so I was able to meet him at the second stop the seleron stairs. He waited for us when we slowed down from the heat since the tour is alot of walking and he had no problem ordering for us in portugese when we stopped by certain shops. He also took and sent me pictures when my phone ran out of storage. If you want to experience Historic Sao Paulo you must come on this tour! I had an amazing experience and 100% recommend
It's well worth doing. Carlos was a knowledgeable and friendly guide, and he was very happy to take photos of us on our phones at places like the Selaron Steps and Confiteira Columbo. The library (Gabinete) was remarkable, but for us the highlight was the cathedral - breathtaking! This was a great and very reasonably priced way to hit all the high spots in a morning.
Warnings are the obvious ones: it was very hot, and very crowded in places, so bring plenty of water, hat, sunglasses, and be careful of bags, phones etc as you would be in any big city.
Overall, highly recommended if you like to explore a city on foot.
Great tour , Carlos was very inreying and passionate about Rio and its history. Very friendly and accommodating . He spoke good English .
Nice experience! Even though I wanted to visit the Real Gabinete Português, it was closed that day, it was still a very enriching experience. The guides were kind (they speak English and Spanish as well) and really took care of us. We visited the Colombo bakery and tasted the delicious "sorvete" there.
A great guide and so informative. Great company too . I would definitely recommend a tour with Carlos
Our small group was treated to a personal walking tour of Rio de Janeiro. Carlos was the perfect guide, speaking English and French to our group members as required. Many attractions were visited in a logical way, meaning the walking was not too much. Plenty of information given and opportunities for photos. We would definitely recommend Carlos because he has a warm, friendly personality, and understands the needs of each member of the group.
The trip was fabulous. Carlos’s explanation was very detailed ,the route was designed perfectly and we really liked the trip .The trip showed to us the contrast between Rio de Janeiro’s glorious history and its situation nowadays.I strongly recommend this trio to everyone. It was absolutely the best
This tour hit the highlights of Rio in an effective manner. The guides were knowledgeable and entertaining, while being concerned for our safety and well-being. Both guides spoke English well. The sights visited were popular in Rio, and we were provided with priority access to those that were busy. One of the sights was a hidden gem where we were the only visitors there. Would recommend to anyone!
Just excellent! Because it was Christmas, the tour was only me and two guides: Carlos and Augusto. Moment they realized that it is not my first trip to Rio, they decided to made few extra stops and showed me places I have not seen before. Also, we had nice discussion about history of the city and visited places. Both were very nice, very good and very hospitable. Excellent value for the money spent. Overall 20/10
I've learnt a lot. This tour guide Carlos, is a legend.
If you want to learn about Rio that's for sure the best option. Plus, he showed me the best angles to take pictures and lead me awesome places. Every moment was worthy.
It was an amazing tour. The tour guide Carlos is really nice and easy to talk with. He's very knowgeable, and were able to answer all the questions I há.
Excellent tour through the center of Rio. We started at the Municipal Theater and ended at the Colombo Café. The tour guides were very kind and took us to see several places full of history and culture. Highly recommended tour!!!
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I loved the tour, Carlos is very kind and explains everything to you at each point of the route.
I highly recommend it.
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per personWas $29.71(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Walking tour in Rio de Janeiro Historical Center.
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