Brazil,  Couple's Travel,  South America

Weekend Itinerary for Rio de Janeiro

January 20, 2022 /

“Brazilians are the Italians of South America.”

-hotel driver

Hey y’all and welcome to our post! Hopefully this will be informative for you, and you can plan your dream trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Let me start by saying that upon exiting the airport in Rio, I told my husband that I could already feel this would be one of my top places to travel. There was something about the energy, the weather, and the people that I took an immediate liking to. I was fully convinced of this notion on the way to the hotel when our driver said, “Brazilians are the Italians of South America.” He assured us that the culture is friendly and helpful which felt like home for us coming from the hospitable South U.S.

Perhaps your friends or family have warned you not to travel to Brazil because it is dangerous or unsafe for travelers. This is the second time Harry has visited Rio and neither the previous time nor this trip did we have any uncomfortable or unsafe encounters. We recommend you exchange your money at the airport and resist using ATMs that are on the street. As with most cities, you need not be flashy with designer watches and handbags, especially in tourist areas. As long as you are aware of your surroundings and keeping your wits about you, you should be fine. I didn’t bring a purse anywhere we went, we both left our watches in the hotel safe, and we carried all of our things in one small backpack that we took turns holding. We never left our bag unattended on the beach, but having limited items to keep track of made it easy for us to relax and be less targets for pickpocketing. Now that safety concerns are out of the way, let us share our itinerary with you!

Where to Stay

Hotel Porto Bay, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro-Rooftop Pool

We stayed at Hotel Porto Bay in the Copacabana. This hotel has an incredible rooftop pool, with a great covered bar, that overlooks the world famous Copacabana Beach. From here you can relax, enjoy a few cocktails, and people watch. We enjoyed watching a football (soccer) match on Saturday morning that was taking place on the beach below. The staff is very attentive and friendly. All of the staff we interacted with at the hotel spoke English and appreciated when we would try to use Portuguese phrases.

In addition to the incredible rooftop, Hotel Porto Bay had a beautiful ocean-facing gym, saunas, restaurant on the 5th floor, and spacious rooms. You can also book massages. Our room allowed us to have a view of both the Copacabana and Christ the Redeemer from our balcony. We booked our hotel in advance on hotels.com. Since that was paid for, we had quite a lot of cocktails and breakfast at the hotel, and upon checking out our remaining bill was only $65 U.S.D. Your money can go a long way in Brazil!

Day 1- Beach & Pool Day

Hotel Porto Bay, Copacabana-rooftop pool

Most flights from the U.S. to Brazil are overnight, so assuming you have a similar flight to ours, you are probably going to feel ready for a shower. We did the express check-in for the hotel online, so our room was ready upon arrival. We were able to shower, unpack, then stop by a restaurant downtown to have some delicious chicken, rice, and beans.

Afterwards it was time to hit the beach! Before going to the beach, we stopped by a convenience store to buy a few beers and ice for the beach. Bringing your own alcohol is much cheaper than buying any on the beach. We packed a soft cooler to ensure we could keep it stocked with beer and water. We rented chairs from vendors on the Copacabana. They prefer cash, but most take credit card, too. We spent several hours enjoying the beautiful beach. It’s no wonder it’s so famous! There are a lot of vendors selling towels, food, drinks, and more. They are not overbearing, though. If you want to buy something, call them over, otherwise they just walk up and down the beach.

After spending a few hours on the beach, we headed back to the hotel rooftop to enjoy some coconut water and cocktails for the remainder of the afternoon. We got ready for dinner and found a great Brazilian Barbeque place. Brazilian Barbeque is similar to the structure at Fogo de Chao restaurants. The servers walk around with meat and you flip a card signaling whether or not you’d like some. We also had some delicious sushi, veggies, and desert while we were there.

Day 2- Tourist Attractions

Christ the Redeemer

We decided to beat the busy time to visit Christ the Redeemer and go early in the morning. The downside to this is that it’s often cloudy. Later in the day, the clouds tend to burn off from the sun, but there are a lot more people. Choose what makes the most sense for you. We took a yellow taxi to the base of Christ the Redeemer. Upon getting out of the car we were swarmed with people trying to sell us tickets and talk to us. We just pushed through to get to the ticket counter. Do not purchase tickets from people on the street or sidewalks, go straight to the ticket counter. Once you purchase your ticket you are able to take the train to the top of the mountain. The views are spectacular on the way up. Once at the top, you can take the stairs to the actual statue or wait for an elevator. There is a small cafe at the top where you can get snacks and drinks. Christ the Redeemer was spectacular. We spent much more time than we thought we would there because it was so mesmerizing to view the statue, the forest, and the beaches below. Important note: You can also hike or take a van to the top, but the train is the most popular option.

Sugarloaf Mountain

At the base of Christ the Redeemer, we took a yellow taxi to Sugarloaf Mountain. This place was incredible and we spent several hours there. It is also a great place to take children, if you’re traveling with a family. We bought tickets on our phones to skip the ticketing line, and took the cable car to the top. There are 2 stops along the cable car with spectacular views of the Brazilian beaches. There are several restaurants and bars here, so this is where we chose to eat lunch. While walking around the paved trails, we saw the Wishing Tree, a tree where you make a wish that money can’t buy and walk through the middle of it. We also saw marmoset monkeys swinging in the trees, as well as a greenhouse nursery for endangered tree species. It was magical and beautiful to be on top of Sugarloaf Mountain!

With our afternoon winding down, we took a yellow taxi back to our hotel to enjoy the rooftop pool before dinner. We chose to go to a seafood restaurant for dinner that night around 7 p.m. After dinner we walked along the extremely lit Copacabana Beach, then headed to the hotel bar for a caipirinha, the Brazilian cocktail.

Day 3-Beach & Travel Day

Our flight home was Sunday night, so we had a full day left to explore. We asked the hotel for a late check-out, which they granted. We took a yellow taxi to Ipanema Beach, another famous Brazilian beach in Rio. We enjoyed Ipanema Beach, but did not think it was much different than the Copacabana, other than being slightly less crowded. Next we went back to the Copacabana to walk along the beach before heading to our hotel rooftop for a few hours. Before long it was time for us to head to the airport and return home.

We hope you enjoyed our itinerary and are looking forward to your own trip to Rio de Janerio!

xoxo,

Harry & Lauren

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