Half Day In Rio: Christ By Train, Maracanã, Cathedral & Selarón

This was a great trip. Pick you was on time. The train ride was good but not as exciting as I thought it would be. Not much to see on the journey. The train is always super crowded. If you pay extra for the train you should have a seat. From the station where the train stops, there are 220 steps to reach the top. There’s an elevator and a long line to take it. We walked up. It was super crowded up at the top and no room to walk or take pictures. The sun was beaming, I stay about 10 mins and came back down using the elevator. The guide was very nice spoke good Spanish and English. This trip included other stop like the Cathdral which was amazing to see. It also included lunch which we did not do. Also a stop to the colorful stairs. Again a super crowded place. You really can’t appreciate the places when there’s no room to walk around. Except for the Cathedral which we really enjoy because it was beautiful, the other two stops were not so enjoyable for us but it was good visiting these popular places.

Vivian Araujo was a wonderful guide. She made sure to keep an eye on each guests and make sure we were enjoying the tour. We had a companion who has difficulty walking and she was able to accommodate him without issue. She was well informed about the various sites and was incredibly competent with her job. A fantastic joy to be with and would highly recommend her and this tour.

5/5 — An Incredible Tour Experience! I had an amazing experience with Emma, from start to finish, she was knowledgeable, friendly, and made the entire tour unforgettable. Her passion for the culture and history really came through, and shared so many interesting facts that I would’ve never discovered on my own. What stood out most was how attentive she always making sure everyone felt comfortable and included. Emma went above and beyond to answer questions and even gave fantastic local recommendations for food and hidden gems. Book your city tour with Emma from C2 Rio city tours whenever in Rio De Janeiro !

Logistics timings throughout the trip were spot on. Darkened windows and curtains, though open, are probably needed in high season but they restrict visibility and the ability to link the guides commentary to what you are seeing. The need for 4 different languages appears to restrict the level of information that can be delivered. As for the various sights: 1/ whilst iconic and a must do when in Rio, Christ the Redeemer is underwhelming. 2/ the Maracanã is even more underwhelming and the statue there of the Brazilian captain from the 1958 and 1962 World Cup wins didn’t resonate with me despite me being the oldest person on the trip and a more avid football history fan than most (if you are aged less that 80 you almost certainly won’t know his name) 3/ the new cathedral is much more than underwhelming, it is outright ugly though with semi-interesting aretefacts internally 4/ the Selarón steps and immediate vicinity worth most worth the visit This is not criticism of the tour operator per se but rather a reflection on disappointing tour locations. My use of “disappointing “ is something of a euphemism, I could easily have replaced it with any or multiple of scruffy, unkempt, shabby, boring, graffiti-strewn and ugly.

Took us around town to several tourist sights. Well done and recommended. They picked me up at my hotel.

The trip was great, Pedro gave us insights about the city and the places we passed through, the train to the Christ statue was easy and fast, with enough time to take pictures (it was crowded). After that going to the Maracaná Stadium and the Seleron Stairs was easy and fast. Pedro also advised a great place to eat nearby which we really liked.

Very bad experience. Zero empathy. I do not recommend it. My 80-year-old mother was unable to participate in the tour because she has difficulty walking, and she arrived at the meeting point 8 minutes after the agreed time.

Terrible, dont do it. You are only paying for a bus that drives you to locations that are free. At the maracana you connot enter, the stairs are free to enter, the church is free yo enter, the sambadrone is closed and you cant even get off the bus. BETTER USE UBER METRO OR TRAIN TO DRIVE TO THESE LOCATIONS

Tour guide very knowledgeable. He kept calling me Alex Supertrump even though that’s not even close to my name but it was great, it added a very humourous one to the trip. Thanks again P.

We booked an 8am tour 18 hours before the scheduled departure time. Viator confirmed. They had 18 hours to tell us there’s a problem. They asked us to be ready to leave our hotel at 8AM. We waited in the lobby, but no guide showed up. I contacted them right at 8am, letting them know we were ready for pickup. It was not until 8:08 am that the tour company reached out, informing me our tour was cancelled. This tour has the badge of excellence, but they cancelled our tour without even saying anything. When it was too late for us to book something else that day. We planned our day around this tour, and those plans are ruined. this is our last day in Rio. I’m shocked that a tour company with such good reviews would do this. They’re not worthy of the badge of excellence. This tour company sucks, and I suggest all people avoid them at all costs. Do not be fooled by the other reviews. They will abandon you.

We got an amazing guide Alan Denis. Very professional and knowledgeable. A very kind person. I would encourage anyone to have him as your tour guide .

When we arrived the guide told us we could only do one of the six parts due to the preparations of carnaval. Something that could have been mentioned well in advance of the start of the tour. If that was the case we would have planned something else and now we lost half of our day.

Cheerful tour guide (Priscylla) is not only fluent in at least 3 languages ( Portuguese, Spanish & English) but also provides lots of interesting information in 3 languages sequentially for multi national groups. She is kind, friendly, energetic, with sense of humour and knowledgeable. Will definitely recommend her! 👍

Newton was awesome!! The Private tour experience was definitely worth it! He was very accommodating and he was very patient. Thank you for the best views and photo opportunities!

This tour was a great choice, I loved the Way that Monica explained the locations and the History of it. I enjoyed the tour and highly recommend. She shows excellent skills in English, Spanish and obviously Portugués. Thanks for the good time. You deserve the 6 stars.

This was a great tour, even in the rain, and the guide was excellent. However, our hotel was in Ipanema and we were the first pick up. It took an hour to get to the final pick up point, Hilton Copacabana. I would check this with the tour operator before booking as the final pick up point was less than 10 minutes in a taxi from our hotel and would have made a more leisurely morning.

The tour guide was right on time. She met us at our hotel and guided us every step of the way. She showed us the best places take pictures at each spot. She got us the best seats possible at every chance. She was great with our teen boys and as well as our 3 yr old. We could not pick a better your guide. Anytime we are back in Rio we will definitely call her again. She is the best person to show us Rio. Thank you Geisa!

Great tour seeing everything you could want in Rio! Our tour guide Jal was fantastic he knew the history to everything, he was a great photographer for us and he made the tour fun and interesting.

This is a great way to see the highlights of Rio. Priscilla is an outstanding tour guide with a lot of knowledge delivered in a fun way! We have tons of great pictures and memories.

The organisation was perfect. Pick up very punctual. Our guide Aline speaks perfect Spanish and English (congratulations!). The explanations came to the point and she gave the right information without loosing time with unnecessary details. The driver was very professional and nice the whole time. Just a suggestion: if the weather is cloudy in the morning, it could be a good idea to change the programm and start with the next step and leave the Corcovado for the end.

The experience was incredible. It was very well organized. The guide Adriano was very professional and organized. I recommend this experience.

It was quite impressive how Renato was able to switch from one language to another very quickly! The tour was very organized, and they picked us up on time! If we could do it again, we would have gone to the attractions by ourselves because we don't like to wait around for others.

Our half day tour was wonderful, with a perfect organisation and a special guide Aline, who was very professional and nice (and the good driver Antonio too, if I well remember his name).

The tour was really good... I had only half day available so I took this tour... everything was well organized and the guy who made the Tour (Renato Marino) made sure everyone enjoyed the tour. I should be back soon I will take a full day tour with same company and guide..

Priscilla was absolutely amazing as our tour guide. She casually moved between multiple languages throughought the trip. She was thorough, energetic, funny and just an all around joy. We loved the 1/2 day trip and loved our tour guide! We recommend both.

What a great experience!! Our tour guide, Renato Marino, was amazing. He offered so much information about Brazil and the places we visited. He also helped us transition to another great tour guide to continue our journey to the Sugarloaf mountain. I can’t remember his name but he was also fantastic. They were both very helpful and the sites were amazing to see! Thank you!

Excellent experience, some small delays but otherwise everything was okay

The tour was on schedule halfway through. But even though the tour said it would be over in five hours, we stopped at a restaurant not mentioned in the itinerary at the end and started eating lunch. I had plans, so I wanted to go back to the hotel, but they all walked into the restaurant and I was left in front of it. We had no choice but to take the Uber back to our hotel. Going to a restaurant was completely unannounced, and it was a lousy tour, not dropping me off at my hotel after 13:00.

The agency complies with the tour and are punctual. Do not enjoy the activity because the time you are given for the ladder and Christ stops are insufficient. Then you end up worried about the weather instead of enjoying the attraction. They should clarify that in the detail of the schedule so they can decide with that information whether or not to take the excursion.

An excellent more than anything the guide recommended multiple layers and efficient what we were looking for

It was an intense first day in Rio

An excellent experience that I would repeat again!! She was the only Argentinean 😂🇦🇷 I was definitely amazed and above all I want to highlight the kindness and gentleness that our Luciana tour guide had for me and the group! Everything was definitely beautiful! Muito obrigado❤️

Very good experience, although they could not come to me in my accommodation it was a very good experience. (The guide....the best)

Very good experience and very good coordinator with all the details and very abundant lunch. Very nice scenery.

All very well. We visited the sites that are planned, Climbing Christ by Train was very nice. When you go to the Maracana and salsodrome it's a little raisin. In the Cathedral these few minutes. On the stairs there were many people who enjoy themselves little. The guide very friendly, I comment on several details of the points visited. Recommended.

Great experience to hang out with family and friends, amazing places to visit and great views. And the guide Santos who is a lively person and knows how to conduct the tour well, a great professional

People don't buy! Everything you can do just because the times in each place are 10 to 15m, with the amount of people in season you don't get crazy to take pictures quietly, if they go wrong you can't repeat. More you spend it inside the “van” than anything else, our coordinator SANDRA was the worst, 0 patience waiting. Lunch and entrance to the sugar loaf is not included and paying for these comes THE TRIPLE!, And not to mention that our VAN crashed and we gave ourselves terrible shake there were no apologies and on top of that we delay waiting for another when they are super strict with “the delays” taking photos because of their 15m when there are lines of 20 people or more

Very nice visit in particular to the Cathedral of Sao Sebastiano whose interior is sumptuous. a big thank you to Leandro who was a very attentive guide.

It was great!! We especially enjoyed the walk to Christ the Redeemer! The guide very friendly and attentive. We will definitely repeat it!

Jonas and the driver earned 20 points out of 10. Very good tour. From the departure of the hotel to the return they took care of every detail. Super recommended.

Alexander our guides a genius as does the driver. An experience worth recommending. All on time but without getting along like crazy.

Excellent excursion, very friendly the guide solved everything in terms of tickets and make the whole tour easy and the place is beautiful

Excellent attention from the guide Flavio and the driver. The places visited are beautiful. GREAT EXPERIENCE. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Congratulations.

Excellent guide is Alexia, very careful of the group and cheerful. He conveyed values from Brazil, very clearly. Excellent tour!!!!

Excellent! Newton was friendly, considerate and very predisposed. All amazing. Lunch, a luxury! Super recommended

Excellent attention at all times, meet 100% tour expectations, the guide is very good and always meet schedules.

The best thing was the attention of carla as a guide and Christian as a driver we are very happy and we would return again and again a thousand times with C2RIO TOURS & TRAVEL

All amazing highly recommended to spend the holidays with family and be living together, s good price and guided sii

Unforgettable experience, it's a must, 100% recommended. Flavio our guide was fantastic and the attractions left me speechless. FABULOUS