Rio de Janeiro

RIO DE JANEIROSTARTER

Last Light at Arpoador

≈ 3,000 steps1.5 mi · about 2.5 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.

An afternoon along the east end of Ipanema, from the square where the neighbourhood begins to the rock where people clap the sun down. About two and a half hours, all on foot.

RIO DE JANEIROSTARTER

The Foot of the Sugarloaf

≈ 3,500 steps1.6 mi · about 2.5 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.

Sugarloaf without the cable car: the red sand at its base, the free seaside path that runs under it, and the seawall where Urca sits at the end of the day. Two to three hours on foot.

RIO DE JANEIROSTANDARD

Copacabana End to End

≈ 6,000 steps2.7 mi · about 4 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

Four kilometres of the most walked pavement in Brazil, from the poet on his bench to the fishermen on the rocks at Leme. Half a day, flat the whole way, best started before the heat.

RIO DE JANEIROSTANDARD

Stone Squares of the Old Centre

≈ 3,000 steps1.5 mi · about 4 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

Five open squares in downtown Rio, from the colonial waterfront up to Cinelândia, none of which asks for a ticket. Half a day on foot; go on a weekday, when the centre is working and full.

RIO DE JANEIROSTANDARD

The Port and Pequena África

≈ 4,500 steps2.1 mi · about 4 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

The rebuilt waterfront and the streets behind it where samba was made, including the wharf where roughly a million enslaved Africans were landed. Half a day on foot, in daylight, and worth going slowly.

RIO DE JANEIROADVANCED

The Forest Road and the Wild Coast

≈ 4,500 steps + 35 mi by car2.2 mi on foot · 1 day or moreAdvanced II · 10 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

Two days and a car. Day one runs the forest road across the Tijuca massif to the hang-gliding ramp; day two follows the coast road west until the buildings stop and the beaches go quiet. All free ground, all daylight work.

RIO DE JANEIROADVANCED

The Ground That Looks at Christ

≈ 4,000 steps + 8.4 mi by car2.0 mi on foot · a full dayAdvanced · 7 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

A full day climbing out of Lapa through Santa Teresa to the free viewpoints that face Corcovado, without buying a ticket to the statue itself. Walkable as far as Largo dos Guimarães; take a taxi for the last two.