TWO DAYS IN RIO...WHAT TO DO...SIMPLE QUESTION, GET A LARGE INTRODUCTION AND GET REASONS TO COME BACK WITH MORE TIME

My mission is to introduce you the best of Rio in two days, as I love challenges I do it for you with lots of pleasure, but I will need your energy and you must be in the mood to be a real part of the city; my mission here is also to make you understand how Carioca lives.

If you do not know, CARIOCA is the name given for a person born and raised in Rio, this word comes from an Indian language and it means CARI = WHITE MEN – OCA = HOUSE. In the very beginning of Rio the Indians saw these white men with heavy clothes who used to live in white houses by the shore, and they call them CARIOCAS.

Back to our two days…RIO IS EASY and you must know it.

And we should start early our first day though I give you 3 options and you have to tell me when you want to start…

8 am, 9 am or 10 am

FIRST DAY
So we will start heading west of the city, going to Barra da Tijuca where we will visit a gorgeous private residential condominium to see a private beach called JOA..beautiful nature and dramatic landscape, it will provide us an idea about the ATLANTIC FOREST, then we will get through Tijuca National Park, visiting waterfalls, lakes and getting very deep inside our thick forest until we get to the Christ.

NOTE THIS TOUR IN THE FOREST IS ONLY POSSIBLE IN WEEK DAYS!!!

After visiting the Christ, a real must see place in Rio we will follow Santa Tereza, the first Portuguese settlement in Rio with its gorgeous big colonial houses, calm streets and thick vegetation everywhere, part of the HISTORY of Rio can be better understood there.

We will continue our day going to Niteroi, a very interesting city located in the other side of Guanabara Bay, we will explore the bay side to have an over view of Rio de Janeiro city from a different perspective, crossing the impressive RIO-NITEROI BRIDGE, also known as Costa e Silva Bridge (13 km long). In Niteroi we will visit BOA VIAGEM PROMENADE and fabulous beaches like Icarai and São Francisco, we will have a quick visit just to see the architecture of the CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM (MAC), the latest construction of our famous architect Oscar Niemeyer, then we will explore part of the VIRAÇAO – Also known as Parque da Cidade - mountain to see such a spectacular view point and you will see the entire city of Niteroi and Rio de Janeiro, our last stop will be in a very typical and pleasant fishermen village of Jururuba where more surprising views will be waiting for us!

We will have lunch in Niteroi in a very local restaurant where you will have the chance to try the best of Brazilian Food, the buffet also includes desert or you will have a second option, a lunch in a real fishermen village, you will have access to many delights of our best see food.

NOTE: LUNCH IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE TOUR.

Tour Guide fee will be 150 american dollars for two people or 250 american dollars for more than two people.

COOL HINTS: After the tour, maybe a little walk in the pleasant market of Copacabana located almost in front of OTHON HOTEL, it is also a nice opportunity to walk in the beach just like many locals do every afternoon. If you finish your tour during the afternoon, you must see the sunset in the rocks of Arpoador close to Ipanema.

SECOND DAY

Now you have quite a cool understanding about Rio but there are still nice places to be seen in the city, and the beginning of our day will be filled with nature and spectacular views for our pictures and also just to chill out relaxing with friends, your partner or anyone you like. Again we must start in the morning and we will go the the surroundings of Sugar Loaf Mountain, in Rio, it is best called as PÃO DE AÇUCAR.

SOMETHING VERY ESSENCIAL FOR THIS DAY – BRING A LOT OF BANANAS!!!

We will walk in places where many tourist simply do not have any idea about its existence, places very close to the Sugar Loaf like Praia Vermelha where the Portuguese navigators set foot in 1501 and we will make a little hiking at PISTA CLAUDIO COUTINHO trail where we will be in contact with lots of treesm shady paths and many many birds and animals. It will be a great chance for us to feed our COUSINS…YES WE WILL SEE THE MONKEYS, but please do not be angry with me if you do not see any…but they hardly disappoint me!!!

Our next step will be a visit to the one of the top 10 most complete Botanical Gardens in the World - in Portuguese we say JARDIM BOTANICO - we will walk along pretty beautiful alleys full of giant trees, an amazon little lake full of flowers and fish, we will see lots of mango and jacko trees, and you will see a magnificent collection of orchids and cactus.

In the end of our tour we will have lunch in one of the busy buffets of Rio’s downtown, together with all kind of working people in our financial area. We have two sacred parts of our downtown that we should explore; the Monastery where you will see the best of our Barroc Heritage; then we will walk through the narrow old streets of Rio visiting CULTURAL CENTRES, Portuguese blue tiles in private business and homes. We will see also the Ferry Boat area, the Royal Palace, the Carmo Street – that is the only catholic church in Latin America that crowned two European kings – the State Congress and the area of PRAÇA QUINZE, this is one of the most important historical sites in the State after Paraty.

As a grand finale, we will end our tour at the Fort of Copacabana, an impressive 1905 construction which will give you unique views of Copacabana and Ipanema, and the hidden beach of Diabo.

We will use my car and we will walk a lot.

The full day tour will be 150 american dollars for two people or 250 american dollars for more than two people. (the car is good for 4 people!)

COOL HINTS: When you get back to the hotel, it is a cool chance for you to walk at NOSSA SENHORA DE COPACABANA AVENUE where the best shops are located. Copacabana has a big variety of stores where you can buy anything you need!!! SHOPPING TIME, or visiting RIO SUL SHOPPING CENTER, the main mall we have in the neighborhood.

NIGHT TOUR

No trip to Rio is complete if you do not dive into the World of our funny nights, and we have space for every one. Rio means Carnaval, Rio means cool conversations in each corner of Ipanema, so many bars and beautiful people everywhere. Rio is SAMBA and all music styles like Forro and so many incredible singers. Music shakes the vain of every blood, no matter if you are rich or poor, you will always find fantastic local musician, and me as a real Brazilian, of course I will take you to the most genuine places where our people really have fun at night. Samba Houses, Samba Rehearsals for the great 2 nights of our Carnaval and visits to the most uncommon markets of the city where food, art crafts and lots of music is FULLY GUARANTEED. We will visit Lapa and Santa Tereza, genuine bohemian neighborhoods, and a visit to the v ery unknown PAVILHAO DE SAO CRISTOVAO.

The chance of getting to know the real night of Rio is right now!!!

We generally take about four hours for a night tour, but of course we can go back to the hotel when you decide, but put your feet out of the hotel and find out more about this wonderful people called CARIOCAS.

The tour guide fee is only one, no matter how many people I take, it is 100 american dollars.

Two days tour and one night tour at least will give you two great samples of Rio that certainly will convince you to come back for more!!!

donrafainrio@yahoo.es is my email, please drop me a line if you wish to have more details and also if you want to get some pictures of this tour!!!