5 days in Rio de Janeiro
Donatas Dabravolskas · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Rio is geography showing off. The rule of this route: one mountain or viewpoint per day, one beach block per day, and evenings where the music actually is — Lapa on the weekend, botecos always.
Day 1
Christ the Redeemer and Santa Teresa
Take the first Corcovado train up (8am, clouds burn off later), then wind down into Santa Teresa for lunch at a hillside boteco, the Selarón Steps, and the tram tracks' arts scene.
View on mapDay 2
Sugarloaf and Urca's seawall
Morning swim at Praia Vermelha, the Claudio Coutinho trail under the mountain, then the two cable cars up Sugarloaf for late afternoon — stay for the city lighting up. Beers on the Urca seawall after, like a local.
View on mapDay 3
Ipanema to Leblon — the beach day done right
Posto 9 umbrella, coconut water, biscoito Globo. Walk the shore to Leblon for lunch, sunset applause at Arpoador rock, and dinner in Ipanema's tree-lined backstreets.
View on mapDay 4
Tijuca Forest and the Botanical Garden
Morning trail in Tijuca — Cachoeira do Horto or the Vista Chinesa climb if legs allow — then the imperial palms and orchid house of the Botanical Garden, with the Christ watching from above.
View on mapDay 5
Centro, samba and goodbye
The Royal Portuguese Reading Room, Confeitaria Colombo's belle-époque coffee, the Museum of Tomorrow on the renewed waterfront — then Pedra do Sal's street samba if it's Monday or Friday.
View on map
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