Private Rio Tour: Christ the Redeemer & Sugar Loaf Essentials
Description
Enjoy a personalized visit to Rio de Janeiro’s essentials with a private guide and driver. The tour covers key highlights such as Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, and the Selarón Steps, with the flexibility to adjust stops according to personal interests. A local expert shares insights along the way, with the convenience of hotel pickup and drop-off included. Lunch is not part of the package, allowing guests to choose from the city’s best restaurants for a more authentic dining experience.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Ride the train through the Rainforest to get to the Christ the Redeemer Statue and visit it.
Ride the cable cars up to the mountains to have a stunning view of the city and the coast
The gorgeous library the Portuguese built to preserve their literature. A must see!
Staircase decorated with colored tiles from all over the world. Amazing !
Unique arquiteture. A must see !
Visit this charming neighborhood near the City Center
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Pick-up and drop-off are included; you choose where! If your place is not listed please let us know when booking or by message. For airport pickup please inform the arrival flight details; for seaport pickup please inform cruise ship information. If you are staying at Barra da Tijuca and Recreio, we recommend starting your tour at 6:30 AM to avoid heavy traffic and experience the best of Rio.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Important information about Christ the Redeemer: Starting in August 2026, construction work will take place in the visitor area to install new escalators and elevators. During this period, the number of visitors will be limited to 50% of the usual capacity. The work is expected to continue until May 2027. For this reason, we strongly recommend starting the tour at 6:30 a.m. If you are staying in Barra da Tijuca or Recreio, we recommend a 6:00 a.m. pickup.
- To watch the sunset either from Sugarloaf or Christ the Redeemer, book the tour for 11:30am.
- The "Real Gabinete Português de Leitura (Royal Portuguese Reading Room) is not open on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays. We will visit another attraction on those days.
- We recommend installing Whatsapp Messenger app in your phone when coming to Brazil. It's very popular here and it will make your communication much easier. It's a free app, available on both Play Store (Android) and Apple Store (iPhones).
Reviews(359)
We booked the private tour for a party of 4 people. Our tour guide was Fabi and we also had a private vehicle with a driver. For starters having our own private vehicle made the experience that much more comfortable, it also allowed us to do the tour at our own pace and to customize it based on what we wanted to see. Our tour guide was Fabi and she was amazing, very friendly and knowledgeable. She knew where to go and what to do to maximize our experience at the different locations we visited. From where to go to take amazing pictures to things to try at each location we visited. The day was well planned as we managed to see all the sights we wanted to see including some we were not even aware of. We visited Christ the Redeemer, the Sugar Loaf Mountains, Escadaria Selaron, the Cathedral of San Sebastian and a few other sights along the way. I would highly recommend doing a private tour like this, as we got to see a lot more than we would have if we did a group tour. It also helped to have our own private vehicle which made it easier to get around as we were able to leave our bags and shopping in the vehicle if we needed to. The tour doesn't include lunch but you do have the opportunity to stop for lunch. Overall I would highly recommend this tour, Fabi was amazing and really made the experience that much more enjoyable. I would recommend her and this tour to anyone visiting Rio, especially if you only have a few days there and want to make the most of it.
This is the kind of review that leaves us speechless. Thank you so much for your incredibly kind words! We’re so happy that Fabi and the team made your time in Rio so special. We’ll make sure she sees this, it will mean a lot to her! Take care. :)
We had an amazing experience on the Private Rio Tour with Nathaly! She was friendly, knowledgeable, and made the entire day enjoyable. She shared fascinating insights about Rio's history and culture, introduced us to some delicious local foods, and made sure we were comfortable throughout the tour. Visiting Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain was unforgettable, and Nathaly helped us make the most of every stop. Her professionalism, warm personality, and attention to detail made this a truly memorable experience. I highly recommend Nathaly to anyone visiting Rio de Janeiro!
Thank you so much for the lovely review. We’re thrilled that Nathaly made your day so memorable, and we’ll be sure to share your kind words with her. Take care! :)
Amazing experience skipped all the lines and the guide and driver were both fantastic, informative, kind, helpful and spoke perfect English.
Great to know you had such a great day. Thank you for sharing. Take care! :)
Amazing Rio tour with Nathaly - everything went smoothly as she knew the best routes to take, best views, saved time at the busy sites and had great knowledge of Rio with many recommendations. Our driver was also great, navigating the Rio traffic with ease and also very friendly. The car is comfortable and air conditioned. Would 100% recommend this tour. The time just flew by.
So good to know that you had a great time! Thank you very much for the review and recommendation. Take care!
Gabrielle was super friendly and accommodating of our needs. Our father just broke his foot and needed to walk slowly as he is recovering. She adjusted the group’s pace accordingly. She also shown us good photo spots. The driver and tour guide both helped us find ATMs around the city, which was really appreciated because our bank card did not work in some machines. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing your experience. Gabrielle is excellent indeed. Take care! :)
We had a fantastic private tour with Higor. My mother uses a walker, and Higor did an excellent job finding accessible bathrooms, navigating step-free access, and making sure she was comfortable and safe. We saw Christ the Redeemer, an interesting Brutalist-style church, the bottom of the Selaron Steps, and took the cable car to Sugarloaf Mountain. Our lunch stop was delicious too. My only regret was that I didn’t think to ask for a stop at the Holocaust Memorial! We will go another day. Notes for anyone with access needs: The Sugarloaf Mountain cable car was set up well for accessibility, aside from a small gap between the platform and the cable car. There was an extensive network of lifts providing step-free access. Christ the Redeemer was more challenging. There were steep inclines and broken-down escalators. Even worse, people on the small viewing platform repeatedly pushed my mother’s walker, and one woman even shouted at my mother to move it so she could take a photo. Overall, it was a wonderful tour around Rio!
Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful review. We’re very happy to hear that Higor made the day comfortable, safe, and enjoyable for your mother. Accessibility in Rio’s landmarks can vary, and maintenance may sometimes happen with little or no prior notice, so your notes are truly helpful for future travelers. It was a pleasure to have you with us, and we hope to welcome you again in Rio! Take care! :)
Fabiana is an excepcional tour give she will go out of its way to make the tour an excepcional one thanks
Thank you so much for the review! Take care. :)
great personalized experience . got fast pass to Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf mountain so we covered a lot within 8 hours including botanical garden and lunch in Leblon
Perfect! We are really happy you had such a great time. Thanks for the review. Take care! :)
What an experience to see Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf just being there was amazing and the views from both overlooking the beautiful Rio de Janiero were breathtaking. Be free tours sent us a luxury sprinter van and driver which were great and our private guide Higor was the best a one of a kind and not only showed us a great time but we were really treated like VIP’s we had skip the line passes but with Higor who is like a celebrity guide we were passing all the lines in a minute. We had such a great experience we booked another tour with them. I would definitely recommend befreetours.com and Higor is a must!!
Thank you for the wonderful feedback! We are thrilled that our services exceeded your expectations. It was a pleasure having you with us for two tours, and we’ll be sure to share your special recognition with Higor. We appreciate the recommendation. Take care! :)
Our guide Igor was super nice, friendly, attentive and very knowledgeable. We had a very good time with him and learned a lot about Rio
That's great! Thank you. Take care! :)
