A tour to Christ the Redeemer buys you three things a ticket does not: a lift from your hotel, a guide, and usually a second sight on the same day. The statue and Sugarloaf are on opposite sides of the South Zone, and joining them up yourself means two sets of tickets and a transfer across town in between.
Every tour here includes entry to the monument. Where they differ is in how long they run, how you get up the mountain, what else is on the route and whether you can cancel. To see the statue from the air rather than from its feet, there are helicopter tours.
Guided tours of Christ the Redeemer
Half-Day with Christ, Selarón Steps and Sugarloaf Sunset
Best for: The statue and Sugarloaf at sunset in one afternoon
- 6 hours
- Live guide in English, Spanish, Portuguese or Chinese
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Hotel pick-up and drop-off
- Entry to Christ the Redeemer
- The Sugarloaf cable car
- A stop at the Selarón Steps
- Pick-up
- Hotels only, not hostels or B&Bs, in Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana, Leme, Ipanema and Leblon
- Time at each stop
- Christ the Redeemer 50 minutes, Selarón Steps 25, Sugarloaf 100
- Not included
- Food and drink
- Also
- Runs rain or shine. If too few people book, you are offered another date or a refund
Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Tour with Lunch
Best for: One day that covers the statue, Sugarloaf and lunch, with nothing to add on
- 9 hours
- Live guide in English, Portuguese or Spanish
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Entry to Christ the Redeemer and the Sugarloaf cable car
- An all-you-can-eat buffet lunch
- Hotel pick-up and an air-conditioned van
- The Selarón Steps and the Metropolitan Cathedral
- Also on the route
- The Maracanã and the Sambadrome, seen from outside
- Pick-up
- Most hotels in Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon, with meeting points in Botafogo, Flamengo and the centre
- Not included
- Drinks and desserts
- Not suitable for
- Wheelchair users, pregnant women and anyone with back problems
- Also
- Reserve now and pay later
Christ, Selarón Steps and Tijuca Park Tour
Best for: Seeing the forest and old Rio as well as the statue
- 7 hours, with pick-up between 06:50 and 07:40
- Live guide in English, Spanish or Portuguese
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Entry to Christ the Redeemer, reached early to miss the crowd
- Parque Lage, inside Tijuca National Park
- The Selarón Steps, Santa Teresa and inside the Metropolitan Cathedral
- Hotel pick-up and transport
- Lunch
- There is a lunch stop. The listing counts the meal as included and the description says it is not, so check the option before you book
- Also on the route
- The Maracanã and the Municipal Theatre, from outside
- Drop-off
- Your hotel, or Sugarloaf in time for sunset if you would rather
- Pick-up
- Copacabana, Ipanema, Flamengo and Glória, with meeting points in the centre, Botafogo and Leblon. Hostels included, unlike most Rio tours
- Also
- Reserve now and pay later
Christ the Redeemer Tour with Pick-up
Best for: Letting someone else handle the whole trip
- 4 hours
- Live guide in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian or German
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Hotel pick-up and an air-conditioned vehicle
- Entry to the monument
- Up by road through Tijuca Forest, with a stop at Paineiras
- Pick-up time
- The operator contacts you with it
- Bring
- ID or a copy, children included
- Not included
- Food and drink
- Not suitable for
- Wheelchair users
- Also
- Reserve now and pay later
Best Half Day in Rio: Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf
Best for: Both viewpoints in half a day, at whichever end of it suits you
- 5 hours, starting at 07:30, 09:00 or 13:30
- Live guide in English, Spanish or Portuguese
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Entry to Christ the Redeemer
- The Sugarloaf cable car
- Hotel pick-up and an air-conditioned people carrier
- A guide throughout
- Pick-up
- Selected hotels in Copacabana, Leme, Ipanema and Leblon
- At Sugarloaf
- About 30 minutes at the top, or ask to be dropped back instead
- High season
- From December to March the morning run can stretch to 7 or 8 hours
- The 09:00 start
- Needs a minimum number of people, with a reschedule or a full refund if it does not run
- Not included
- Food, drinks and tips
Guided Tour: Corcovado Train and Christ the Redeemer Statue
Best for: Going up by train, with a guide and hotel pick-up
- 4.5 to 5 hours, starting at 14:00
- Licensed guide in English or Portuguese, audio guide on the bus in 9 languages
- Non-refundable, cannot be moved
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Hotel pick-up and drop-off
- Return train ticket
- Entry to the statue
- A photo stop outside the Maracanã
- Pick-up
- Most hotels in São Conrado, Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana
- Not included
- Food, tips and entry to the Maracanã
How the Christ the Redeemer tours compare
| Half day, Sugarloaf sunset | Full day with lunch | Forest and old Rio | Statue only | Half day, your choice of time | Up by train | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | 6 hours | 9 hours | 7 hours | 4 hours | 5 hours | 4.5 to 5 hours |
| Starts | Afternoon | Morning | Pick-up 06:50 to 07:40 | Times on the booking page | 07:30, 09:00 or 13:30 | 14:00 |
| Up the mountain | By van | By van | By van | By road, then park van | By van | By train |
| Also included | Selarón Steps, Sugarloaf cable car | Sugarloaf cable car, buffet lunch, Selarón Steps, cathedral | Parque Lage, Selarón Steps, Santa Teresa, inside the cathedral | Nothing else | Sugarloaf cable car | Photo stop at the Maracanã |
| Seen from outside | Nothing | Maracanã, Sambadrome | Maracanã, Municipal Theatre | Nothing | Nothing | Maracanã |
| Guide | English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese | English, Portuguese, Spanish | English, Spanish, Portuguese | English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German | English, Spanish, Portuguese | Licensed guide, plus audio guide in 9 languages on the bus |
| Picks up from | Hotels only | Hotels, plus meeting points | Hotels and hostels | Hotels | Hotels | Hotels |
| Sold by | GetYourGuide | GetYourGuide | GetYourGuide | GetYourGuide | GetYourGuide | Tiqets |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 hours ahead | Free up to 24 hours ahead | Free up to 24 hours ahead | Free up to 24 hours ahead | Free up to 24 hours ahead | Non-refundable, no rescheduling |
| Best for | Two or three nights in Rio | Wanting everything settled in one day | Seeing more of the city than the viewpoints | Anyone who only wants the statue, explained | Fitting both viewpoints round the rest of your day | Wanting the train ride and a guide, with fixed dates |
Types of tour
Half day with the Selarón Steps and Sugarloaf at sunset
The afternoon runs in the right order. You are collected from your hotel, driven up through Tijuca Forest to the statue for about 50 minutes, taken down to Lapa for 25 minutes on the Selarón Steps, and then across to Urca for the two cable cars up Sugarloaf, where the schedule allows around 100 minutes and the sun goes down over the city you were standing above a few hours earlier.
- Entry to the statue and the Sugarloaf cable car ticket are included. Food and drink are not
- Pick-up from hotels only, in Copacabana, Leme, Ipanema, Leblon and Barra da Tijuca
- Vans of up to 19 seats, and a private version if you want the vehicle to yourselves
- Runs rain or shine, and needs a minimum number of people. If it is cancelled for low numbers you are offered another date or a refund
- Children of 4 and under go free if they do not take a seat
Full day with Sugarloaf and lunch
Nine hours, and most of Rio’s famous names in one go. The statue, the Sugarloaf cable car, a buffet lunch, the Selarón Steps and the Metropolitan Cathedral, with the Maracanã and the Sambadrome passed and pointed out from the van. The order can shift with traffic and weather.
What makes this the easier full day is that nothing is optional. The Sugarloaf ticket and the lunch are in the price, so there is no option to read twice and no waiting about while the rest of the group eats. Drinks and desserts are the only things you pay for separately.
- Pick-up and drop-off at most hotels in Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon, with meeting points in Botafogo, Flamengo and the centre for everyone else
- Lunch is an all-you-can-eat buffet, and the operator says it caters for different diets
- Listed as unsuitable for wheelchair users, pregnant women and anyone with back trouble
- Smoking and flash photography are not allowed on the tour
Christ the Redeemer, the Selarón Steps and Tijuca National Park
The one that gets you off the viewpoint circuit. It starts early, at the statue, deliberately ahead of the crowd, then drops into Tijuca National Park at Parque Lage, where the forest meets the city and the old mansion sits below the mountain.
After a lunch stop it runs through the centre: the Maracanã and the Municipal Theatre from the road, inside the Metropolitan Cathedral, then the Selarón Steps and the hill streets of Santa Teresa.
It is also the most flexible about where you are staying. Pick-up covers Copacabana, Ipanema, Flamengo and Glória, with meeting points in the centre, Botafogo and Leblon, and hostels count, which most Rio tours will not do. At the end of the day you choose between your hotel and a drop at Sugarloaf in time for the sunset.
- Entry to the statue is included, and the early arrival is the point of the start time
- A lunch stop is built in, but the listing and the description disagree over whether the meal itself is paid for, so check the option you are booking
- Pick-up falls between 06:50 and 07:40 and the operator confirms the exact time by email
Statue only, with pick-up and a guide
The short one. An air-conditioned vehicle collects you, climbs through the forest to the Paineiras Visitor Centre, and hands you over to the park’s own van for the final stretch, which is how every vehicle tour reaches the top. The guide stays with you at the statue, and then you are driven home. Four hours in all.
- Entry included, food and drink not
- The operator contacts you to fix the pick-up time, so check your email and phone the day before
- Bring ID or a copy for everyone, children included
- Listed as not suitable for wheelchair users
Half day with Sugarloaf, morning or afternoon
The flexible one. Three departure times, at 07:30, 09:00 and 13:30, so you can take the statue before the crowds or keep the morning for the beach and go after lunch.
You drive out along Copacabana and Botafogo, past the Palacio Guanabara and the old coffee barons’ houses in Laranjeiras and Cosme Velho, then change onto the national park’s own vehicles at Paineiras for the climb to the statue. Sugarloaf follows, with about half an hour at the top.
Both entries, the guide and the transport are in the price. If you would rather skip the cable car you can ask to be dropped back at your pick-up point instead.
- Pick-up from selected hotels in Copacabana, Leme, Ipanema and Leblon
- The 09:00 departure needs a minimum number of people; 07:30 and 13:30 run regularly
- From December to March the operator warns the morning run can stretch to seven or eight hours
- Around Carnival the afternoon half can be rearranged at short notice
Guided tour that goes up by train
The only tour here built around the Corcovado railway. It starts at 14:00 with hotel pick-up in Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon or São Conrado, stops outside the Maracanã for photographs, and then takes the train up and down with a licensed guide, who works in English or Portuguese. On the bus there is an audio guide in nine languages, so a visitor who speaks neither still gets the commentary.
- Entry and the return train ticket are included. Food, tips and entry to the Maracanã are not
- Non-refundable, and it cannot be rescheduled, so it is one for fixed plans and a settled forecast
How to choose a Christ the Redeemer tour
How many days you have
With two or three nights in Rio, a combined tour gives you both great viewpoints in one outing and leaves the other days free. With a week, do the statue and Sugarloaf separately, each on the clearest day you can find, and you will see more at both.
How much the weather worries you
A tour fixes your day and your hour, and the summit does not care. Every GetYourGuide tour on this page can be cancelled until 24 hours before, which is long enough to see a forecast. The Tiqets train tour cannot be cancelled at all. If your only free day looks doubtful, a plain train ticket and the summit’s live camera give you more room to move.
How long you want at the top
Tours move on a timetable, and the usual complaint is too little time at each stop. Around 50 minutes at the statue is enough for the view and the photographs on a clear day. It is not enough to wait for a cloud to lift.
Whether you want the train
Every tour here goes up by road except one, because the vans are easier to schedule. If the rack railway is part of the appeal, the Tiqets tour is the only guided trip built around it, and it cannot be cancelled. The alternative is to skip the tour and ride the railway on a plain train ticket.
How to book
Pick the tour, then check its options
Several of these have more than one option under the same name, with or without lunch, by van or by train, shared or private. The inclusions change with the option, so read the one you are paying for.
Give the hotel you will be in that morning
Pick-ups are from hotels in the South Zone. If yours is not listed, or you are in a rented flat or a hostel, the operator names the nearest pick-up hotel.
Watch for the operator’s message
Exact pick-up times are sent by the operator, usually the day before, by email or phone. Be in the lobby early, because a van with 19 people on it does not wait long.
Bring ID for everyone
A passport or ID card, and for children too. Some tours accept a copy, but the original is the safe choice.