Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, also known simply as Rio, is the capital and largest city of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Rio de Janeiro, also known simply as Rio, is the capital and largest city of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the second-largest city in Brazil after São Paulo, and the largest by international tourists. It has a population of 6 million in the city proper, and 13 million people in its metropolitan area as of 2025. It is also the sixth-most-populous city in the Americas.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Rio de Janeiro
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Christ the Redeemer
Christ the Redeemer is an Art Deco statue of Jesus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, created by French-Polish sculptor Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with French engineer Albert Caquot and Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida who sculpted the face. Constructed between 1922 and 1931, the statue is 30 metres high, excluding its 8-metre pedestal, and faces east.
4.6 km · colossal statue of Jesus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · Wikipedia - 02Maracanã Stadium
Estádio do Maracanã, officially known as Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Located in the Maracanã neighborhood, it is owned by the Rio de Janeiro state government and managed by the clubs Flamengo and Fluminense.
2.5 km · stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · Wikipedia - 03Corcovado
Corcovado is a mountain in central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a 710-metre granite peak located in the Tijuca Forest, a national park.
4.6 km · mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, known for the Christ Statue · Wikipedia - 04Museu Nacional
The National Museum of Brazil is the oldest scientific institution of Brazil. It is located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where it is installed in the Paço de São Cristóvão, which is inside the Quinta da Boa Vista.
2.2 km · museum of UFRJ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · Wikipedia - 05Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro is a public research university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the country and one of Brazil's centers of excellence in teaching and research.
5.7 km · university in Brazil · Wikipedia - 06Rio–Niterói Bridge
The Rio–Niterói Bridge, officially the President Costa e Silva Bridge, is a box girder bridge spanning the Guanabara Bay, connecting the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is currently the second longest bridge in Latin America, after the Metro Line 1 bridge, and the 48th longest in the world in 2020.
6.7 km · bridge in Rio de Janeiro · Wikipedia - 07Tijuca National Park
The Tijuca National Park is an urban national park in the mountains of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The park is part of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Preserve, and is administered by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation.
9.1 km · Brazilian national park · Wikipedia - 08National Library of Brazil
The National Library of Brazil is the depository of the bibliographic and documentary heritage of Brazil. It is located in Rio de Janeiro, the capital city of Brazil from 1763 to 1960, more specifically at Cinelândia square.
3.1 km · Brazilian national library · Wikipedia - 09Rio de Janeiro Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian, better known as the Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro or as the Cathedral of St. Sebastian of Rio de Janeiro, is a cathedral of the Catholic Church and the seat of the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro.
2.5 km · cathedral in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · Wikipedia - 10National Museum of Brazil fire
The National Museum of Brazil was heavily damaged by a large fire which began about 19:30 local time on 2 September 2018. Although some items were saved, it is believed that 92% of its archive of 20 million items was destroyed in the fire.
2.2 km · 2018 museum fire at Rio de Janeiro · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
Corcovado, the 710 m (2,330 ft) granite peak located in the Tijuca Forest in central Rio is known worldwide for the Cristo Redentor statue. The funicular train up to Cristo Redentor is definitely worth the view. The queue for the train, in Cosme Velho, can get rather long though. There's also a hiking trail that begins at Parque Lage and gets there (see Hiking and Trekking on the 'Do' section below).
From Wikivoyage: Rio de Janeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Still the greatest reason for visiting Rio seems to be the Carnaval. This highly advertised party lasts for almost two weeks and it is well known for the escolas de samba (samba schools) that parade in Centro, on a gigantic structure called Sambódromo (Sambadrome). During Carnaval, Rio has much more to offer though, with the blocos de rua, that parade on the streets.
From Wikivoyage: Rio de Janeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
In Rio de Janeiro you can probably find something to fit any craving. A good approach to local food is "comida a kilo" – buffet style restaurants where you pay by the weight of the food on your plate. Don't miss the most famous Brazilian dish, feijoada (fay-zho-AH-da), a black bean stew filled with big chunks of meat, like sausage, pork and beef.
From Wikivoyage: Rio de Janeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Rio de Janeiro
- Airports
- Santos Dumont (SDU), 4 km · Rio de Janeiro Galeão – Tom Jobim (GIG), 12 km
- Stations
- Santos Dumont Airport, 4.4 km
- São Paulo → Rio de Janeiro360 km · quickest by air, 4h 27m · R$320–500
- Belo Horizonte → Rio de Janeiro341 km · quickest by air, 4h 59m · R$330–510
- Campinas → Rio de Janeiro397 km · quickest by air, 4h 17m · R$310–480
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Rio de Janeiro
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Rio de Janeiro. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get in]] Ferries (barcas) connect neighbouring Niterói to Rio de Janeiro and arrive at Praça XV (see down), in the city centre.
- Get aroundAmong the public transportation modes, there is subway, heavy rail, light rail, bus rapid transit, local buses, microbuses, cable cars and ferry boats.
- Get aroundFerry boats depart from Santa Teresa Tram, Centro Corcovado Rack Railway, Zona Sul Sugarloaf Cable Car (Zona Sul) Buses are still the cheapest and most convenient way to get around the South Zone (Zona Sul) of the city due to the high number and frequency of lines running through the area.
- Get aroundExcept for minibuses, buses now have two doors: passengers get in through the front door and get off through the back (it was otherwise until 2001–2002).
- Get aroundBuses 511 (Ataulfo de Paiva) and 512 (Bartholomeu Mitre) are also popular as they take you to Urca for the station to take the cable car up the Sugarloaf mountain.
From Wikivoyage: Rio de Janeiro, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01102 km
- 021,152 km
- 032,454 km
- 042,557 km
- 052,728 km
If you know how people move in Rio de Janeiro – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro is 11 km from Niterói, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- Copacabananeighborhood of Rio de Janeiro6.7 km
- Ipanema Districtneighborhood of Rio de Janeiro8.1 km
- Botafogoneighborhood of Rio de Janeiro5 km
- Leblonneighborhood of Rio de Janeiro8.2 km
- Rocinhaneighborhood in municipality of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil9.6 km
- Flamengo Districtneighborhood of Rio de Janeiro4.1 km