UNESCO World Heritage Site Inscription details
Visited in October 2015
A friend of mine who has worked in Rio for the last couple of years very aptly described the city as a gorgeous beach with a city attached. At the risk of offending the city’s many fans, I found the city’s natural setting the most beautiful thing about Rio de Janeiro. The combination of beach, mountains and Atlantic forest is truly spectacular. And while the city has its share of man-made wonders, they pale in comparison to the works of Mother Nature.
I read a few guidebooks before coming to Rio and they all had one thing in common – any description of things to see in the city starts with the beach and one even pretty much recommends staying on the beach for the duration, if you have only one day to see the sights. Most tourists stay in the beach districts of Copacabana or Leblon and Ipanema, and venture out from here. There are good hotel options in other parts of the city, but Rio is easy to get around – cabs are plentiful and inexpensive.
if you are staying in Leblon or Ipanema a good way to start is getting to know Rio, is to take a walk along the beaches towards Copacabana. Likewise, if your hotel is in Copacabana, going the other way is a good idea to take in Rio’s best sights. Take your time, perhaps enjoy a swim or a capirinha or coconut water at one of the many bars on the beach and stop to savor the views.
A great spot between Ipanema and Copacabana beach is the Arpoador, a rocky headland, which offers great views of the Dos Irmãos (Two Brothers) mountain and a favorite sunset watching spot for the Cariocas. Just around the corner from the Arpoador lies Forte De Copacabana, a fort built in 1914 to strengthen the defenses of Guanabara bay, the fort houses a museum of the army, a small art museum, some great view of Copacabana beach and Sugarloaf mountain, as well as a neat little café to stop for lunch.
After leaving the Fort, you can walk along Copacabana beach or Avenida Atlantica to the Copacabana Palace Hotel and check out this luxurious property, which has welcomed royalty and celebrities like Orson Welles, the Rolling Stones, movie stars Ava Gardner and Marlene Dietrich.
Other than the beaches, two of Rio’s most spectacular sights are Sugarloaf Mountain and the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado. Both are worth seeing. One suggestion would be to try to go up the Sugarloaf close to sunset so you can watch the sun go down behind Corcovado and Christ the Redeemer. Likewise, Corcovado, which will allow you to see take pictures of the city with the setting sun at your back.
Sugarloaf mountain is accessible by cable car from a station located in a wealthy Rio neighborhood called Urca, Urca was described to me as a place with great architecture, but which I also unfortunately did not get to explore. The most common way to go get up the mountain is by cable car, but you can also take a rock climbing tour. I took the easy way.
There are two cable cars you take up the mountain. The first one gets you to Morro da Urca (Urca Hill), an intermediate stop with a helipad and restaurants. There are some good views, but unless you are planning to do a helicopter tour from here, it’s best to just go directly to the second cable car up to the top of Sugarloaf. Keep in mind, that the viewpoint at the top gets very crowded at sunset and the good spots fill about an hour before, so if you want to take some sunset photos, or just take in an unobstructed sunset view – get there early. It’s worth it.
Christ the Redeemer stands on Corcovado mountain in Tijuca National Forest. There are two options for making the trip up Corcovado to the statue – the first and probably more popular is the train. It departs every half hour and chances are you won’t be able to get tickets for the very next train that leaving upon your arrival, as tickets sell out pretty quickly, especially in the tourist season. This is actually a good thing, as it will give you a time to check out the small, yet quite wonderful Museum of Naive Art next door to the train station. A half hour is plenty of time for a good look at this museum’s collection. The second way to go up Corcovado is by van, which reputedly takes the same amount of time as the train, but has the advantage of offering several different pickup locations, including Copacabana.
Christ the Redeemer is certainly impressive. It’s the largest art deco statue in the world (but incredibly only the fifth largest statue of Jesus) and weighs over 630 tonnes. First opened to the public in 1931 after 9 years of construction, it is now considered one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. In my honest opinion, there are quite a few other man-made wonders I would include on such an exclusive list before this one and, as with most of Rio’s attractions it’s the views of the natural splendor from the mountain the statue occupies. which makes it truly special.
If you take the train up the mountain don’t be in a hurry to leave the neighborhood. Instead, take a quick peek at Largo de Boticario, a beautiful, if unkempt, 19-th century square, a quick 5 minutes walk from the station past the Naive Art Museum and on the other side of the road.
Once you get your fill of Rio’s beaches and most famous sites, it’s time to start exploring the city itself. A good place to start is in Centro or downtown Rio – Paço Imperial, the former imperial palace. Don’t expect much opulence from the building, though – it was not built as an imperial palace and was only used as such when the Portugese royal family arrived in the early 19th century, trying to escape Napoleon. What makes the Paço good starting point is it’s location in the heart of the city. Today, it’s used as a cultural space with interesting art exhibitions and its courtyard cafe – the Bistro do Paço is a good lunch option, but can be very busy. If that’s the case, a good alternative to is head North of Praça XV de Novembro and into the small arch called Arco do Teles. This leads to Travessa do Commércio – a cobblestone street of charming colonial buildings housing some good and reasonably priced local bistros.
For architecture fans Centro is home to some interesting examples of religious colonial architecture including Igreja Nossa Senhora do Carmo da Antiga Sé – the royal chapel, Igreja Nossa Senhora da Candelària initialy erected in the early 17th century by a grateful Portuguese couple as a modest chapel, and later rebuilt as a large colonial church. But if you are only going to see one church in Rio – head South from the Paço Imperial towards the Carioca Metro station. Overlooking Largo da Carioca is Convento de Santo Antonio – a large early 17th century monastic complex and right next door to it is the spectacular Igreja da Ordem Tercera de São Francisco. This church was decorated with over 400 kg of gold on its’ altar, pillar and ornaments.
As you exit the church, to your right you will see a large modern skyscraper – the headquarter’s of Brazil’s national petroleum company Petrobras, and close to it the modern Metropolitan Cathedral, a modern take on religious architecture and worth a peak inside, if time permits. Walk past the cathedral and you end up in a neighborhood called, Lapa, starting with the Arcos de Lapa – a white aqueduct, built in the 18th century and until recently used as tracks as a streetcar to the hilltop neighborhood of Santa Tereza. The streetcar is apparently no longer in service, after a fatal fall by some drunken tourists, but there is talk of it restarting again for the Olympics in 2016.
Regardless of whether you go by streetcar or some other form of transportation Santa Tereza is a delightful upscale Rio neighborhood and certainly worth leaving the beach for. Take a quick walk around to see some nice architecture and great views of downtown. There are some upscale stores and bars, but be sure to check out the outdoor “workshop” of local artisan Getulio de Mata, who makes cool toys from various recycled materials.
Santa Tereza’s biggest highlight is Parque das Ruinas, a dilapited former mansion once belonging to wealthy carioca socialite, which fell into disrepair upon her death after World War II, now expropriated by the city as a park, which offers even more terrific views of the city and offers some great modern art pieces on display.
Right next door to the park is a another small art museum called, Museu Chácara do Céu, worth visiting if you have the time. After you done with Santa Tereza, it’s an easy walk downhill until you reach the colorful tiled staircase called Escadaria Selarón, another Rio highlight, which will take you to Lapa, next door to downtown and home of many musical venues. I didn’t get a chance to check out the music scene, but have read some rave reviews of Rio Scenarium, a popular music club in Centro. Something for next time!
This and a quick visit to Tijuca National forest, was all I had time to see during my stay in Rio. Next time – carnival, the contemporary art museum and a visit to the famous favelas!