Being quintessential Rio tourists – visiting Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf mountain!

Before we left Rio de Janeiro we knew there were two must-do, tourist-y, activities that we had to check off our list.I know seasoned travelers can be wary of super popular tourist destinations, and we include ourselves in that bucket. However, I also subscribe to the mentality that popular destinations are often popular for a reason and so try to keep my mind open about them before I make a quick “no” decision on visiting them.

Must-do in Rio stop #1: Christ the Redeemer

The first image that often comes to mind when people think of Rio de Janeiro, or even Brasil in general, is the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue (aka Cristo Redentor in Portuguese). And, it is such an iconic symbol of the city for good reason. Nearly anywhere you go in Rio you can look up and find the big guy looking down at you. The statue was built in the 1920s and has been voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

We wanted to visit Cristo on a weekday to avoid some of the crowds and chose a Monday to head there. What we didn’t realize was the day we went was a Brasilian holiday (for Tiradentes Day, which celebrates Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier, a key leader in Brasil’s fight for independence from Portuguese rule). However, when we got to Cristo’s mountain in the early afternoon it was quite empty and we didn’t have any major issues.

We took an Uber (Lyft has not yet made it to Brasil, otherwise we’d be using that service!) to the base of the mountain, which is as far as any car is allowed to go. Of course, as soon as we got out there was awesome Cristo-themed Brasilian street art ready and waiting to greet us!

There are two main ways to visit Cristo – you can take a trolley up the mountain or you can take one of the many private van tours up the mountain. I’m not going to write too much more about these options because a quick Google search can get you extensive information on both options, but we decided to do the trolley.

A word of warning though, when you get to the base of the mountain the van drivers will try to tell you that there is a long wait for the trolley and you’ll be waiting 30 or 40 minutes before there is one open enough for you to get on. Just make sure to double check with the official office before hopping in a van, if time is your decision-making factor. When we checked there was no line and we were on a trolley in under 10 minutes! The price for both options is 43 Brasilian reais (about $13).

When we got to the top the views of the city were stunning, and the admission price is worth it for that alone (the price is also much cheaper than going up Sugarloaf!).

Partially in the picture above and fully in the picture below you can see another one of the main features of Rio de Janeiro – a huge lake called Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. It is one of the main areas in the city for biking, running, etc. and sits alongside the Jardim Botanico (seriously, the best botanical garden ever) and Parque Lage (which we unfortunately didn’t make it to). Beyond the lake is a little strip of buildings, then Ipanema beach and then the Atlantic Ocean. I loved those tiny islands out there. They are protected land and unfortunately not open for visitation unless for some approved scientific study etc.

Even though it wasn’t crazy packed and crowded, there still were enough people there that it was a challenge to take one of those iconic shots in front of Cristo. One of my favorite travel bloggers, Alex in Wanderland, has a post on how she and friend beat the crowds to get a few moments to themselves to take pictures with the main man, but I’m still pretty happy with how our time turned out!

After a little more sightseeing, we headed down the mountain via the trolley and then back to our AirBnB. This was a nice, chill day (even with this activity) and visiting Cristo Redentor was a tourist-y activity we were more than happy to partake in!

Must-do in Rio stop #2: Sugarloaf Mountain

A few days after seeing our buddy Cristo we headed out to Sugarloaf Mountain (aka Pão de Açúcar). We really wanted to visit the mountain around sunset time, so we could see the city in the daylight, during sunset, and at night, so we decided to go on the evening before we left to hop back to the U.S. for a few days (for a friend’s wedding). After treating ourselves to massages at the Copacabana Palace, we took an Uber to the base of Pão de Açúcar, arriving around 5:30pm.

To get to the top of the mountain, most people take cable cars. The first cable car takes you to Morro da Urca and then the second takes you to Pão de Açúcar. Again, lots of information out there in the Google-sphere on how to do this, but price-wise this trip cost us almost double of Cristo, at 80 Brasilian reais each (about $24). The stop in Morro da Urca was really fun – there are great views there, tons of stores to shop in (including a Havaianas outpost), yummy places to eat and nice places to relax.

In the photo below you can see the two cable car paths, then me waiting for the 2nd ride on Morro da Urca and then below that what a cable car used to look like in the “olden days” (from 1912 to 1972) … can’t imagine riding that one all the way up!

There is actually another way to get up to the top of the mountain – and that is to climb it! If we had more time (and energy) this is an option we may have done instead (or as well). It requires a combination of hiking and actual rock climbing, and we definitely would have gone with a guide. We saw a guy in the middle of a climb up (see the little white speck below?) and while it’s hard to tell from so far away, the climb didn’t look crazy difficult. The lines and anchors are also already set up so that would make things a lot easier as well.

We got to the top of Pão de Açúcar just as the sun was starting to set and we were handsomely rewarded with beautiful skies in yellow, orange, red, blue, purple and pink, over a stunning city that so closely intertwines urban and natural landscapes.

One of the neatest parts of being on Pão de Açúcar was that we were literally in and above the clouds, watching them roll through the city and around us. It’s hard to describe in words or even in a picture so we took a timelapse video of the clouds passing by, with Rio and Cristo Redentor in the back. Even though the wind made us brrr cold, it was so awesome to just be up there, looking over this crazy and awesome city and literally to be in the clouds; I mean, how often does that happen?

Soon, the sun had fully set, and the lights of Rio started twinkling on. First the Postos (lifeguard stations) one by one, then the cars driving down Ipanema and Copacabana, then individual houses and businesses around the city. The arrival of night also meant that our flight was leaving soon, so we cable car-ed it down the mountain, had some churros with chocolate as a quick snack and zoomed off to the airport. Pão de Açúcar was a perfect way to cap off our time in Rio de Janeiro and now, after a short stop in the US, we were off to the Northeast of Brasil (beaches yay!).

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Read more about our time in Brazil using the links below:

• Brazil Country Recap – What we loved (and didn’t love) in our six weeks there
• Iguazu Falls
• Exploring São Paulo
• Exploring Bonito
• Touring in Bonito (river snorkeling and waterfall hiking)
• Rio de Janeiro: Our first three days in Rio
• Rio de Janeiro: “Professor-ial” thoughts on attending a game at Maracana
• Rio de Janeiro: Volunteering with Project Favela
• Three days in the beach paradies of Ubatuba!
• Rio de Janeiro: Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain (you are here!)
• The amazing landscape of Lençóis Maranhenses
• Three days in the hippie beach town of Jericoacoara
• Why we had to skip Canoa Quebrada and go to Natal instead
• Six days in Praia da Pipa (my favorite beach town)
• 24 hours in Olinda