Downtown Ancient Rio Tour with Hotel pick-up and drop-off
Description
We take you on a journey through time. If you enjoy history and culture, this is the perfect tour for you. In this half-day tour, we will visit the Cinelandia Square, a place surrounded by the Municipal Theater, the National Library, the National Museum of Fine Arts and the Municipality Chamber of Rio. We will also visit the Praça XV, a place surrounded by the Palácio Tiradentes, the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro, the Paço Imperial and Arco dos Teles. We will go through the Arco dos Teles to go to the CCBB and reach the Mosteiro de São Bento.
Tour Options
Itinerary
From the Cinelandia Square you can see the most important historical and political buildings in Downtown Rio: the Municipal Theater, the National Library, the National Museum of Fine Arts and the Municipal Chamber of Rio.
Inaugurated in 1909, the Theatro Municipal is one of the most importante theaters of Brazil and Latin America. The Theatro Municipal has drawn international artists and important names from Brazilian culture, including dancers, musicians, opera singers, and performing artists. Since the 1930s, the Theatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro has maintained its artistic independence, and is the only Brazilian institution to have its own choir, a symphony orchestra, and ballet company.
The biggest library in Latin America was founded in 1810 by D. João VI, the King of Portugal. It is an imponent building with an archive of almost 9 millions items in downtown Rio that holds rare books, manuscripts, original letters written by Princess Isabel, the first newspapers printed in the country, and two copies of the precious Mainz Psalter Bible, printed in 1492.
Designed in 1908 by architect Adolfo Morales de los Rios to host the National School of Fine Arts, heir to the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, this building was built during the urban modernization carried out by mayor Pereira Passos in the then Federal Capital.
The square is located in the historical centre of Rio de Janeiro and is surrounded by the Palácio Tiradentes, the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro; and the Paço Imperial. The Praça XV Station is a ferry terminal servicing a number of destinations in the city of Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi
Located in what was once the downtown market of the city, it has small streets and alleys full of bars and small restaurants.
Important cultural center that was once a bank.
Important church in the center of the busiest avenue of the city.
The statues, the walls, the golden leaves and even the floor were designed to be admired by everyone.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Pickup is available from most hotels in the areas of Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana, Flamengo and Downtown (Centro). Contact us back to adjust the pickup time. For Barra da Tijuca/ Recreio we provide pick-up for an additional rate.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- We contact you back in order to provide proper pickup time. Check your emails and/or cell phone.
- Comfortable clothing and walking shoes are recommended for this tour.
- If requested, you must present a copy of your ID.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 19 travelers per Minivan.
- Contact us to confirm the pickup time according to hotel location.
Reviews(23)
Lovely tour-Santa Teresa would have been missed if we hadn’t done this tour. The Colombo coffee shop was amazing
Very nice tour and we visit interesting places. Everything was on time. I recommend this tour.
Great little tour if you want to see some hidden gems of Rio. The guide certainly knew her way around. Well worth doing
Great tour of different parts of the city, including Christ the Redeemer, downtown, Selarom Steps, to Sugarloaf Mountain.
Millene was a fantastic guide. She tailored the trip to suit our family of four, ( including allowances for one with limited mobility) She showed us the highlights of old Rio, from the churches to the theatres - ending up with at a traditional coffee shop for pastries and drinks (coffee, tea and Guarana ) and was very engaging and a most knowledgeable guide.
Great experience with Monica. Careful, precise and helpful. He told me many interesting things about Rio and drove with professionalism. Recommended!
Monica is a Brazilian of Italian origins very well prepared, she fully satisfied all our curiosity. She was very good at identifying our interests by making us discover the neighborhood of Santa Teresa rich in street art and very beautiful murals. We only had half a day and Monica was very helpful in showing us the main things in Rio. Thank you.
Meilin was excellent she knew so much history I learned a lot about Rio and its history and saw some amazing sights downtown. Highly recommend if you like history and old buildings!
Enjoyable experience, but quite a mix. Our guide Marcos was a lovely person. He was extremely flexible. We visited on a Sunday when most buildings and attractions were closed, but Marcos drove us to Santa Teresa and Seleron steps, which were not initially programmed in the tour. A helpful suggestion would be for Viator to inform visitors that buildings and attractions are closed on Sundays, and to make alternative arrangements for the city tour, rather than leaving it to the last-minute initiative of the guide. Our guide would have preferred to leave us in Santa Teresa, to allow him to finish his tour early, but all three tourists asked to be dropped off at their hotels, as per tour description. Marcos remained courteous and polite, but was frustrated due to personal time commitments. Marcos drove like a lunatic to drop us off at our hotels, with violent braking and much beeping of horn. All in all, we visited the parts of Rio that we wanted to see and were grateful for Marcos' flexibility. A learning point would be for the tour to be better organised and less chaotic.
The driver was 45 minutes late and did not speak English, which was selected when I Booked the tour. We ended up getting out of his vehicle and taking a taxi to some of the sites that we wished to visit. Because of the delay, some of the other sites we wish to visit were closed. Refunded the cost of the tour once we complained
