Petrópolis Day Trip From Rio De Janeiro Including Imperial Museum And Crystal Palace

The tour guide was scheduled to pick us up from the hotel at 8:00 a.m., but we did not receive a message until 7:30 a.m. on the day of the tour, letting us know that he was already waiting in the hotel lobby. The guide spoke mostly Spanish and Portuguese, which made communication difficult. He also provided very little information about the places we were visiting, so the tour lacked the context and insight we had expected. Lunch was a disappointment as well. The Imperial Museum itself was very nice, but approximately 80% of the information was in Portuguese. Unfortunately, the guide simply dropped us off at the museum and left us to explore on our own without providing any explanation or assistance. The Crystal Palace was okay, but Teresa Street felt like a waste of time and did not add much value to the tour. Overall, the experience was disappointing, particularly given the lack of communication, information, and guidance throughout the tour.

Bus took waaaay to long to exit the city. Guide was excellent but journey was more chaotic than it needed to be. Loved the city!

Marco was our guide on this well organised excursion. He was extremely knowledgeable, and handled the group admirably - especially with explaining everything in different languages - his English being excellent. We enjoyed the lunch stop; the food was very good. The palace was interesting, but slightly underwhelming. We were rather disappointed with the ‘shopping’ stop, as the direction we were recommended was of little interest to us, but apparently is favoured by those wanting typical Brazilian fashion. However the main thoroughfare, (in the opposite direction), which we discovered later, was far more interesting for us. We finished the trip with a stop at the chocolate factory cafe, which turned out to be longer than planned, due to the police incident and unrest that day in Rio. This was handled well by the company, obviously concerned for our safety. Thank you.

Enjoyable day. 8-6. Nice to go up into the mountains and out of Rio. The hour shopping wasn’t for us (English) but the Brazilians loved it!

Very dangerous walking into the museum with booties. I fell when trying to remove them. They should have chairs for senior citizens so you can sit down when you’re removing dishes.

It was a delightful, well-organized trip. The guide - Adriana - was super! It included a trip to the Imperial Museum, Cathedral and Cerveceria.

Do yourself a favour, and take a trip out from bustling Rio, and become confused by the experience of visiting Bavaria for the day. Go for hot chocolate and strudel at Catz cafe, and trip to the brewery, and Imperial Palace.

Our guide Marcos did a great job of explaining the importance of Petrópolis and the Imperial Palace. He was pleasant, attentive and professional. We had an enjoyable day. I would recommend the tour and Marco

The tour guide Carlos was nice and informative. The reason for the low review is that they were 30 minutes late in picking us up without letting us know. Petropolis is 1.5 hours from Rio, yet it took more than three hours to get there due to having to pick up 30 passengers. During the tour, there was no set deadlines or control of other passengers wondering off, on several occasions we had to wait for others. The lunch was okay. But it took 30 minutes after the lunch to finally get going again. By 3pm (mind you the trip started at 8:30am for us) we had only done one attraction and lunch. Then we had to rush the attractions because there was no time. On top of all, one of the attractions was closed by the time we got there and the tour operator did not know. Spent more time waiting for other people and on the bus. I don't recommend for the price.

Fabio, our excellent guide, helped make this trip so stress-free and enjoyable - his friendliness, knowledge and patience with our many questions communicated his love of both Rio and Petropolis. His helpful suggestions where to go and what to see were invaluable and made our whole trip enjoyable.

Well organised and fun! The tour guide Roma was awesome! I was the only English speaking people in that tour but he made sure he translates all the information to me separately so that way I feel a part of the group and learn the necessary things. He seemed passionate about what he was doing and high energy!

For English speakers, the guide was necessary to translate museum descriptions and to help provide context for what you are seeing. Rain unfortunately changed some aspects of our tour (driving more than walking and not being able to get closer to the Crystal Palace). Quick note - the Museum was more than expected, including an easy view of the imperial crown, though the “crystal” palace was only a large greenhouse converted to an event center.

We were not doing it, car come late had to cancel, never been refundedbad, bad, horrible experience g

Guide was knowledgeable, gentle and caring… she was also fun! Totally recommended for a day full of different activities

I love history which is why we decided to do this "9hr" historical tour. Our guide Luchiana is knowledgeable in the history she was explaining, however there was a lack of professionalism. They started off by being 45 min late to pick us up. When we made a stop to a chocolate store many of us had issues ordering but could not get assistance from our guide as she was on her phone. We did not get to visit the Crystal palace since it is under maintenance. That is understandable but as a guide she should be informed and notify the buyer or offer some kind of discount. Also, the itenarary lists a visit to the Bohemian beer factory. The guide said this tour does not include that. When I showed her the trip advisor itenerary she was not interested at looking at it and was rude with her response. Again, no accountability or apology, forget about any offers of a discount or anything else for that matter. At the end of the trip she made sure to mention tips for the tour. That may not bother some people but it did not sit well with me being that the tour was already lacking. The tour was really only 6hours long. I would not recommend this tour.

We did this day trip a few days before Carnival. Julio,our guide, did an excellent job of educating us on the history of royalty at Petropolis and walked us through the museum that once was the Royal palace. We then spent a short time at a local cathedral and had a nice lunch stop at an inexpensive buffet. Because of heavy traffic around Rio due to Carnival, it was a very long day, but our driver was very creative in finding alternative routes which provided local street views.

Great to see an area outside of Rio. The museum was fabulous. The drive into the mountains was beautiful.

We had an amazing day in Petróplis - the tour bus picked us up exactly on time and our tour guide TT was the life and soul of the party. TT spruced things up from the moment we got on the bus - she just had so much energy and enthusiasm for life. It was incredible. The trip itself could have done without the Imperial Museum as it was a bit too long , but overall it was a great day out especially if you want to do something different from Sugarloaf, Christ the Redeemer etc. Would recommend.

The bus arrivarrivped on time although there was a lot of traffic. The guide was good had to do the talk in 4 different languages. He was very informative and took time to answer questions. Down side lunch was not included for us we could have played rs45 for the buffet but we dont eat a meal at lunchtime so was left for 45mins to sort ourselves out in an area where there wasn't a lot to see or do. At the end of the tour some of the group went on a brewery tour (extra) the rest of us where taken to a shopping street clothes and such which To be honest could have done without. All in all it was a good trip and we both enjoyed it.

We had a wonderful day discovering Petropolis, the imperial city of Brazil. We had a wonderful tourguide, full of energy, fun, attentive to the needs of all participants of the tour. She spoke perfect Spanish and English and very good French. We were able to visit all the sites of Petropolis (and even had time to give a look at the house of Stefan Zweig that was not included in the tour but that we could go visit thanks to the advice of our guide). We highly recommend this day tour. Nous recommandons chaudement cette excursion.

We really enjoy our tour guide. She is on time and very good with her explanation. We enjoyed her fun personality and energy. We will want to have her again for future tours.

This is a great trip if you have the time to get out of Rio for the day and learn about Brazil's history. The driver and guide were very nice, the van clean and the trip was a relaxing day. We also got to do some shopping in Petropolis, was fun.

Our guide, TT, is full of energy and she does a good job of explaining the history of Petropolis and the artifacts in palace. However, the tour could be shorter if we skip the shopping side trip and the lunch time is shorter. Make sure you confirm the pickup time at least one day in advance. I send them a message the night before and didn't receive a confirmation until only about 30 minutes before they come and pick us up and it was 45 minutes earlier than what my reservation say when I booked the tour 1 month ago.

This was an excellent day out, with a guide who no only had an impressive amount of historical knowledge, she was incredibly entertaining as well. The historical stories of the naming of Rio de Janeiro, the landing of the Portuguese, the royal family’s relocation to Brazil during napoleon is era all beautifully informed by chi chi our guide, using wonderful pictures/maps of the era.... Singing traditional songs, getting us fully into the Brazilian spirit... fabulous day, fabulous guide would totally recommend this tour..

This was a great one day tour of Petropolis. Our tour guide, Chi Chi was excellent and very knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend it!!

It was a rainy cold day so we decided to see the Imperial city. Such a beautiful city and the palace was very interesting. No cameras allowed and you slide on carpet like shoes. The grounds are well manicured too.

The tour showed a different facet of Rio which is just as interesting as the city itself so the 1.5 hours to get there are worth it. Having said that there were a couple of issues, maybe this was our perception as we had a perfect tour the day prior! The driver did well under difficulty traffic conditions however he appeared in no way interested in anything other than driving and never left his seat even when parked and waiting for us. The guide was very pleasant and her knowledge was great but communication was difficult, we requested an English speaking guide as we have no knowledge of Portuguese. Although she spoke English her accent combined with having no microphone and having to yell over the sound of the engine and other people talking made it very hard to hear anything said. So although an interesting tour where we learnt a little when speaking one on one to our guide, we all thought a microphone would improve the situation no end.

Honestly if the tour guide TT hadn't been so funny and entertaining I don't know that I would have enjoyed this tour so much. She and the Imperial Museum are what made it worthwhile. The other sites on the tour were somewhat meh. And the hour spent shopping I could have done without, absolutely nothing of interest on that street. I would have enjoyed more time walking in the historical area by the imperial museum. It looked much more charming than anything on the street for the shopping area.

Tania, as a guide, was as bright and a colorful as Rio itself. Her knowledge of the history, and fun way of presenting it, kept everyine entertained and involved. She handled a diverse group of people very well, and managed to include me, the only English speaker, in all her explanations with ease. The city of Petropolis is full of beautiful landmarks, not too far from Rio, and well worth the visit.

My wife and I have been to Rio de Janeiro many times and have seen the most known sites. We visited Petropolis on 06/24/18, what a beautiful city. We loved the city the temperature was very much like the temperatures in the bay area. The air is so fresh and the layout and the structure of the buildings was so beautiful. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting Santos Dumont's house, seeing how he lived and learning more about him. Also the palace is so beautiful. Upon admission you are provided a fuzzy pair of large slippers, guests are allowed to slide and skate about the palace. The palace is well preserved, very clean and absolutely lovey. Lastly, i want to acknowledge our amazing tour guide-she kept the energy of our group up, we had lots of fun and thoroughly enjoyed visiting Petropolis. Next time we are in Rio we will spend a few days in Petropolis.

this was a great tour. Saw so many things. Everything was great and learned about the history. The church was amazing and the imperial museum. This is a must see tour if you are in the area.

<p>First rate trip to see the highlights of Petropolis. The hotel pickups in Rio at the start of the tour included too man stops. But, once we were on the way our guide, Tanya, was great. She efficiently and effectively communicated to a diverse group in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The tour was well organized once we reached Petropolis. We saw or visited most of the highlights before a late 2:30 pm delightful, bargain-priced lunch next door to the cathedral. It was smart of Tanya to suggest waiting until after lunch to visit the Imperial Museum. By then the crowds had thinned out and we were to tour at a leisurely pace. Tanya was exceedingly accommodating in having the driver drop me off close to the port so as to reboard my ship. The tour was well worth the price, and the guide was worth her weight in gold.</p>

<p>Well I was the 1st stop for pick up and we did about 9 pick ups this took over an hour out original pick up time was 8:10 but the arrival of the tour guide was :20 mins later due to inclement weather. Call it a drive by, stop in a few places for 3-5mins photo opportunity and move on type of trip</p>

<p>enjoyed the trip, very outgoing tour leader. Packed day, quite long.</p>

<p>Very good saw lots of things beautiful screeners. Tour guide was great. Carol australia</p>

<p>Petropolis is a fascinating place if you are interested in history. The guide was very knowledgeable about the different places we visited and could answer our questions. It is also a very picturesque place and we had plenty of opportunities for photographs, except in the Imperial Museum where it is not allowed. My only issue were there were times when things could be more organized. We were left in downtown for shopping for over one hour, and everyone felt that was a waste of time.</p>

<p>The mini bus transport was clean and comfortable, our tour guide TTUHLALA was brilliant, she kept us entertained and informed even though we were the only British couple on the tour. <br/> The Petropolis trip started at a chocolate store, which was okay then on to the shopping centre in Petropolis which was not for us. From there we visited the Crystal Palace, quite interesting. We made a short trip to Santo Dumont's house 8 reals entrance fee where a video explained the inventors life. We then had a buffet meal 40 reals good food and value. Next was a visited to the Cathedral followed by the museum Royal Summer Palace, for us this was the highlight of the tour and our guide kept us informed throughout. A worth while day trip made more enjoyable by our guide TT.</p>

<p>Great tour outside of the city. Nice seeing the Museum and Crystal Palace. Long drives but worth it. Hey when stopping for lunch the guide wanted everyone to eat at a local restaurant. But my husband and I noticed a brewery with a beer garden right by where we stopping for lunch. Which lunch is on your own. So we walked over to the Brewery. Free brewery tour and great beer and food to enjoy after. So happy we did this extra stop at Bohemia Brewery in Petropolis. If you a beer fan, this is a must check out at lunch time!</p>

<p>The only trip we have been disappointed with. We were seated over the back wheels and i hit my head on the roof twice. The seat belt was broken and very uncomfortable. The tour guide had three groups. Spanish at t6he front, Portugese in the middle and English at the back. She struggled with English and although we couldn't understand her we were compelled to pay attention and we misses a lot of the scenery. We would recommend this tour only with a better tour guide and road worthy vehicle.</p>

<p>Really good. The guide kept calling places while we were on the tour to make sure that we were not caught in crowds at any of the locations. She was funny and knowledgeable. Kept the tour moving without feeling rushed.</p>

<p>The place was really interesting. I wish they've allowed us to take photos of the Imperial Museum. However, the tour was great.</p>

<p>Excellent choice! Wonderful trip and competent guide! It was a pleasure to spend one day in Petropolis, far from the madding crowd in Rio!</p>

<p>Excellent but could have spent less time in shopping area and more time looking at the really interesting places. Needed stronger travel medicatioN to cope with the winding roads of the ascent might be worth making this clearer in your description of the day.</p>

<p>the tour was fine, it was the tour diretor Tonya I did not like.. Even though<br/> I had requested the tour in English, she spoke mostly in Portuguese as <br/> most of the other people spoke both languages. She would talk 5-10 <br/> minutes in Portuguese and then just a few words in English. As a <br/> result I missed seeing one of the tour highlights because she did not<br/> tell me when we were to see it. Also she caused undue stress on me<br/> when on our way back the bus stopped and people started to get off<br/> I did not know why as she spoke in Portuguese. When I asked what<br/> we were doing she just told me to stay on the bus for the time. Turned<br/> out it was the free time about 40 minutes to look around the city, but she<br/> could not be bothered to explain that in English. When I came back to<br/> get the bus, no bus and no around causing me to think the bus had <br/> already left without me. She gave no apologies.</p>

<p>This was a good tour. Interested parties should be aware that there is a fairly long drive between Rio and Petropolis. Google Maps will say that it's 1 hour 15 minutes from Copacabana, but there are hotel stops to make to pick up fellow tourists. The countryside was pretty, but it would have been nice to have some dialog over the speakers or headsets to describe what we were looking at along the drive.</p> <p>The Imperial Museum was truly impressive! It's good to see how the 0.1 lived in the 1800's. My fiancee was particularly taken with the opulence of the solid gold baby cribs.</p> <p>The Cathedral Sao Pedro was an excellent stop to see the final burial sites of Brazilian royals. </p> <p>The Crystal Palace is actually more of a community venue for music, not a palace that was ever lived in. Some reviews panned it for not being an actual palace, but it's a reasonable stop on the tour as long as your expectations are in line.</p>

<p>The guide we had was truly a delight and well versed in the history of Rio de Janeiro. It was though she made the vacation....Rio at its best!</p>

<p>Good tour as it was nice to see a different part of Brazil and learn its history of the Portuguese royal family. Lunch was superb. Disappointing you couldn't take pictures inside the Impetial Museum.</p>

<p>excellent knowledgeable guide speak many language,keeps everyone entertained.</p>

<p>Great trip. Tété was our guide and she was fabulous. Effortless transition from Portuguese, to Spanish to English. This is exhausting work, but Tété brought humour with her knowledge and everything went extremely well.</p>