Rio De Janeiro

Rio, known for its sunny beaches and carnivals is one of the largest cities in the world. The name Rio De Janeiro means river of January (named by early Portuguese explorers). As the last leg of our South American trip, we flew from Foz De Iguazu (Iguazu Falls) to Rio. We stayed for 2 days at JW marriott,Copa cabana to get a glimpse of this beautiful place.

JW Marriott

Unless you are on a multi-legged trip in South America, you can fly directly from many US Cities as Rio is well connected with direct flights from Miami, New York, Dallas and Atlanta. On landing, you can either rent a car or catch a taxi to your hotel. Since Portuguese is the main language spoken and we were not that familiar with the place, we took the taxi and checked into the JW Marriott hotel right on the Copa Cabana beach. Find the detailed description of our stay at JW Marriott here: JW Marriott

Sugarloaf Mountain

Rio has two world famous attractions: Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf mountain. And then there is the famous Copa Cabana beach with its soft sand. Sugar loaf mountain or Pao De Acucar (meaning - loaf of sugar in Portuguese) is close to Copa Cabana area. We went in the evening and had a great time.

It is somewhat crowded but wasn't much when we went. The Top of mountain is reached by two stage tramway.

First stage is from the base to Morro Da Urca. Nice views from Urca and it also has souvenir shops and restaurants.

From there it is another tram ride to the top of Sugar Loaf mountain. Stunning vistas await there. Lit up mountains and beaches during dusk is a sight to behold.

Lighted "Christ the redeemer" statue is also visible.

Copacabana Beach

Next morning we enjoyed the stroll at Copa Cabana beach before heading on a guided tour of Rio which included a visit to Chris the Redeemer Statue.

Christ The Redeemer

Christ the redeemer is super crowded!.But the vistas are beautiful and whole Rio is visible.The statue itself is huge and an architectural marvel.

The Sugar Loaf mountain can be seen too.

City tour

The city tour was interesting and started with vistas of Favellas/ in-famous slums of Rio.

Most of the hotels in Rio have tie-ups with these guided tours and you will be picked up and dropped to the hotel at specified times. Next we went up the mountains to the base of Chris The redeemer statue and from there it is a separate bus/truck trip to the Statue itself. The place is super crowded and it is hard to stay in a single place for long.

We then went to downtown Rio and saw some historical landmarks including the San Sebastian Cathedral.

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