City Tours in Rio de Janeiro: 8 Picked and Priced

1.Carnival Backstage Tour at Samba City with Cocktail

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 520 reviews · 90 - 150 minutes · from $27Our pick

At Rio’s City of Samba, a bilingual guide takes you through Grande Rio’s Carnival factory, where floats and thousands of costumes are prepared. You’ll hear how the competition works, try on parade outfits, watch or join a samba session, and finish with a caipirinha. Guides vary, with Sol, Ton, Lea, and Lias among the names praised for their energy.

“Had a great guide with energy and enthusiasm. Really interesting, giving insight into what, why and how. A lot of fun too!”

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2.Private Guided City Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 207 reviews · 4 - 8 hours · from $56

Explore Rio in a private vehicle with a guide who adjusts the day to your interests. Choose 4, 6, or 8 hours and combine beaches, Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, Santa Teresa, the Botanical Garden, city landmarks, or local neighborhoods. Guides including Dario, Meilin, Jacqueline, and Riccardo have helped visitors fit major sights and personal interests into one flexible day.

“Meilin was an amazing guide. We found her extremely knowledgeable, very friendly. She made sure that everything that we had wanted to see she took us to, and then added some things that we didn’t even know existed. The whole day was relaxed and fun. She even took me to a record store that sold Vintage albums because I collect records all over the world. Highly recommended.”

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3.Half-Day Christ the Redeemer and City Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 101 reviews · 5 hours · from $63

Spend five hours visiting Rio’s essential sights, beginning with Christ the Redeemer above Tijuca Forest. A multilingual guide, such as Liz, leads you to the statue, Maracanã, the Sambadrome, Selarón Steps, and the Metropolitan Cathedral. Hotel pickup is included from Rio’s central and South Zone neighborhoods. Expect a busy schedule, outdoor stops, and extra traffic in high season.

“Nice guide and driver, and the statue is cool, but some things could be better. The pickup was about 15 minutes late with no communication, even though my hotel was the first stop. and the city tour was kind of meh, with a lot of time allocated. Lots of waiting around. Also, at least my group consisted of both English and Portuguese speaking, so the guide would say everything twice, and often when he got to the English part, we were already past whatever he was talking about.”

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4.Petrópolis: Imperial City Tour

★★★★★★★★★★3.7 · 95 reviews · 9 - 10 hours · from $68

Spend 9 to 10 hours exploring Petrópolis from Rio with an English, Spanish, or Portuguese-speaking guide. Visit Quitandinha Palace, the Imperial Museum, the cathedral mausoleum, Crystal Palace, Santos Dumont’s house, and the Flowers Watch. Add a brewery visit and tastings, or use the final stop for shopping.

“It was a nice day trip with the casino and palace definitely being the highlights and worth the price of the tour.”

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5.Rio Samba Bus: hop-on hop-off city tour in Rio de Janeiro

★★★★★★★★★★3.8 · 94 reviews · 2 hours · from $31

Ride the Rio Samba Bus through Copacabana, Urca, Flamengo, downtown, Lapa, Ipanema, and other key areas. You can hop off at 26 stops, hear live commentary in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, and enjoy MPB and samba performances when scheduled. Attraction tickets, hotel transfers, food, and drinks cost extra.

“Pouvoir prendre le bus à n’importe quel arrêt à l’heure que l’on veut ou peu .😔perdu notre activité parce que on pouvait pas ce rendre à l’arrêt de départ”

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6.Learn the History of Rio with an Unforgettable City Center Walking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 82 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $49Top rated

Walk through Rio’s historic center with a private guide, starting at the Municipal Theater and ending at Paço Imperial. You’ll see Cinelândia, Selarón Steps, Lapa’s arches, the Metropolitan Cathedral, Largo da Carioca, and Confeitaria Colombo. Guides such as Rafael and Danielle have been praised for friendly, clear storytelling, and your group can request itinerary changes.

“Although we saw some great sites, the guide made us feel like he needed to be somewhere else, and our 2 1/2-hour tour ended after 1 1/2 hours. It was not an inexpensive tour so we left feeling taken advantage of (and perhaps not seeing everything we were supposed to see?). Perhaps a price adjustment is in order.......”

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7.Christ Redeemer by Train & City Highlights Morning Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 74 reviews · 5 hours · from $92

In five hours, you’ll ride the Corcovado Train through tropical forest to Christ the Redeemer, then tour Rio’s major sights by air-conditioned bus. Guides such as João and Alberto lead the multilingual outing, with hotel pickup in Copacabana, Leme, Ipanema, and Leblon. Expect a fast-moving overview rather than long visits at each stop.

“João était un guide génial ! Ses explications étaient intéressantes et il veillait toujours à ce que tout le monde le comprenne, en parlant portugais, espagnol et anglais. L'activité est conforme à la description. Cependant, on passe peu de temps par site visité. Ce qui est prévisible, vu le programme chargé à compléter en 5 heures. En définitive, un très bonne expérience de découverte des beautés de Rio, grâce à un super guide, João.”

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8.Private City Tour with Hotel Pickup

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 49 reviews · 8 hours

Spend eight hours exploring Rio with Rodrigo of ExploRio Tours in a private five-seat car. Choose English, Spanish, or Portuguese, visit Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, and Selarón Steps, then adjust the day for places such as São Bento Monastery, Maracanã, Mirante Dona Marta, or La Rocinha. Hotel pickup and drop-off are included.

“The trip was amazing! Our guide Rodrigo was incredibly likeable and energetic with visible love for Rio. He provided us with many local information and History of Brazil. He adjusted the trips pace to our grandma and took us to every possible elevator in the area. Not only did he show us the main atracctions but also presented us the Carioca way of life and mindset. Thanks to starting the trip early we skipped most of the lines. We were also able to try local barbecue and dishes in Steak House. It was an amazing experience and I would definetely recommend it to anyone who would like to get to…”

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