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Private Rio Tour: Customize Your Day in the City
5.0
38 Ratings
Copacabana
Discover Rio’s hidden gems on a private 8-hour car tour. Customize your itinerary and explore with expert guides in Portuguese, English, or Spanish.
Discover Rio’s hidden gems on a private 8-hour car tour. Customize your itinerary and explore with expert guides in Portuguese, English, or Spanish.
Duration:
9 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Corcovado - Christ the Redeemer - First, we will visit one of the seven wonders of the world, Christ the Redeemer - and arguably the best view in Rio. We will reach the top of Corcovado by train and spend approximately 40 minutes there (note: train tickets and entry are not included, but with me, you can skip the line!) The time estimate includes…
- Corcovado - Christ the Redeemer - First, we will visit one of the seven wonders of the world, Christ the Redeemer - and arguably the best view in Rio. We will reach the top of Corcovado by train and spend approximately 40 minutes there (note: train tickets and entry are not included, but with me, you can skip the line!) The time estimate includes travel time.
- Sugarloaf Mountain - Next, we will head down to the Sugar Loaf, the second most visited site in Rio. We will hop on the oldest working cable car in the world and enjoy the beautiful view from above. The time estimate includes travel time.
- Escadaria Selaron - The last stop of our tour will be the third most visited site in Rio, the Selaron steps, featuring the 2,000 ceramic tiles collected by the incredible Jorge Selaron during the course of his life. The time estimate includes travel time.
- The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian - We will drive by the cathedral, so you will get a nice view of the building. Depending on traffic, we can decide to stop for a few minutes for photos and a bit of history!
What's Included
- Tips about things you can do in Rio after the tour
- History of Rio and the sites we will visit together
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- Tips about things you can do in Rio after the tour
- History of Rio and the sites we will visit together
- In-vehicle air conditioning
What's Not Included
- Entrance fees
- Entrance fees
Additional Information
This exclusive tour is designed for you and your group to enjoy a memorable day exploring some of Rio’s most stunning attractions. If you’ve already seen the iconic sites like Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf, and Selaron Steps, the tour can be customized to suit your interests and preferences.
It’s recommended to start at 8 am to beat the crowds, but the…
This exclusive tour is designed for you and your group to enjoy a memorable day exploring some of Rio’s most stunning attractions. If you’ve already seen the iconic sites like Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf, and Selaron Steps, the tour can be customized to suit your interests and preferences.
It’s recommended to start at 8 am to beat the crowds, but the timing is flexible to fit your schedule! Pickup can be arranged from your hotel in Rio, or you can meet at our designated spot in Copacabana.
The tour is available in Portuguese, English, or Spanish, and will provide you with a wealth of information about our history, Carioca culture, and lifestyle, ensuring you leave with a deeper understanding of this amazing city and its unique people. Additionally, valuable tips about Rio will be shared, so you can fully enjoy all the fantastic experiences and sights during your visit.
Location
Hotel Rio Othon Palace
Avenida Atlântica
Meet outside the hotel, watch out for a black 7-seater Chevrolet
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(38 Ratings)
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1 star
Camiem23
Jan 30, 2026
Best way to see Rio - We really enjoyed our time with Rodrigo. He is a great guide! His local knowledge and connections helped us avoid the crowded times and he got us through the ticket lines very quickly. We had 2 older participants, and he was very accommodating in taking them back to the ship and then continuing the tour with us. It was very important to him that we had a great experience. In fact, we were scheduled to tour with him on an extremely rainy day. He was able to adjust his schedule and take us the following day when the weather was much better.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cristian_c
Dec 8, 2025
Tour with Rodrigo-the best guide in Rio - We had an amazing 2-day tour of Rio and its surroundings with Rodrigo. He is cheerful, optimistic, and passionate about showing the true soul of the city. Despite our limited time, we were able to see much more than we ever expected, including Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, Rocinha, Joatinga Beach, Ilha da Gigoia, Barra da Tijuca, Recreio, Prainha, Grumari, and Guaratiba. He also introduced us to his friends — warm, joyful people who made the experience even more authentic. We 100% recommend Rodrigo for an unforgettable Rio experience.
Review provided by Viator
Ted_f
Dec 3, 2025
Exceptional Private Tour and Guide - Our guide Rodrigo was fantastic. We literally felt like family. He totally tailored the tour to our requests and added his special places which were great. This will be one of the highlights of our vacation.
Review provided by Viator
44ahaq
Nov 30, 2025
Amazing time / we will back !! - We were a group of 4 visiting Rio/Brazil for the first time. JP was waiting for us one hour before our arrival time. From the moment he picked us up — we knew we were in good hands. We visited Christ the Redeemer, Fogo de Chao, Sugar Loaf Mountain and the colourful steps in Santa Teresa. We loved our time in Rio and fell in love with Brazil as a whole. The people, the culture … it was a fantastic experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lindyb01
Oct 4, 2025
Do yourself a favour.....book Rodrigo. - I'd give Rodrigo 10 stars. It was an excellent day, he's easy chat with, very knowledgeable and knows his stuff. Take his advice and start early in the day.....yes, you might be holidays but you'll thank him for it.
My advice to anyone coming to Rio would be to book him solid for at least 3 days.
You definitely won't regret it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Memtraveler23
Jun 21, 2025
Don't hesitate, book with Rodrigo! - My mom and I had a great day in Rio with Rodrigo! We were just going to be in Rio for a day, Rodrigo picked us up from the airport, took us on a fun filled day, and dropped us back off at the airport. We booked about a month in advance, and he reached out to us within 2 days to confirm details. We checked back in the day before, and he met us promptly. He had a flexible itinerary planned, and we were able to make adjustments based on our interests. As other reviews have said, Rodrigo has contacts around the city to inform on wait times. We went to the obvious sites, Cristo de Mer and Sugar Loaf, as well as the most beautiful church, Selaron steps, Maracana Stadium, and he pointed out additional places as we drove around, we also stopped for lunch. Rodrigo has a wonderful disposition, and we'd definitely recommend him, and book with him again! This is far and away a better alternative to booking a group tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
F7801fzjamesw
Apr 19, 2025
One-of-a-Kind, Can't Miss Tour - Beware: Rodrigo is addictive! After one experience touring Rio with him, you will want to do it again and again! On my first full day in Rio, Rodrigo took me to Sugar Loaf, Christ the Redeemer, and the other sites listed in the description. As other reviewers have noted, he has a tremendous gift for saving valuable travel time and maximizing the experience by waiting for the perfect time to visit a site. He is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about his city, and he is extremely attentive and magnanimous. I had such a wonderful time, I booked two more 8-hour tours, including a downtown tour and one to Petrópolis, with him. If I were staying longer in Rio, I surely would have done more. I have booked numerous private tours in cities throughout the world, but my time with Rodrigo exceeded all of them. Truly, this is a one-of-a-kind experience, and you will not be disappointed.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sarah_p
Apr 4, 2025
Rio in a day? Yup - and excellent too - Rodrigo is everything you would want for a full day tour like this: he is prompt, knowledgeble, a great driver, fun, interesting, and really wants to share his love of Rio (the good, the great and the awful) with you.
You will see and do a lot - but he genuinely will customize it for you (for instance we ended up in a store buying coffee and sharing a real Carioca lunch with Rodrigo - to his delight I should add! - well off the standard tourist trail).
You won’t just check off the big ticket Rio items (which are wonderful, especially the setting and views) but you will have a thoroughly enjoyable day with your new Brazilian friend.
Review provided by Viator
Sarah
Feb 4, 2025
If you need a guide or a transfer in Rio from a hotel or the cruise terminal, LOOK NO FURTHER! - I booked Rodrigo’s eight hour tour of Rio and ended up using him for airport and cruise terminal transfers and a second day of touring. This gentleman knows his city and is so passionate about it. Part of our tour was to visit Christ the Redeemer and be suggested we move it to the next day as there were five cruise ships in port. On the second day which was a weekend he was able to check the lines through his colleague and suggested we could save time by driving up rather than waiting for the train ?which also broke down that morning). He has contacts every where in the city to park his car when there is no parking, front of the line access at all the major sites and he speaks excellent English. For one of my transfers he was booked and he arranged for another driver who was also awesome and he has wonderful ideas of places to visit for repeat customers and excellent restaurant recommendations. We could not have been any happier and don’t think we could have found a better tour guide in Rio and his prices are way below what service he provides.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
V2569jjveronicad
Jan 24, 2025
100% recommended - Fully personalized service. Rodrigo was able to solve unexpected problems. Very good knowledge of typical places and alternative options.
It's a reference for my next visit.
Review provided by Tripadvisor