Sugar Loaf and Corcovado

The obvious places to see in Rio are also the most beautiful: Sugar Loaf and Corcovado mountains look at each other from across the arch of Guanabara Bay and provide two excellent vantage points to take in the city’s extraordinary landscape, the ocean, the rain forest and the mountains. If you can, go on a clear, sunny day, in the early morning or late afternoon, preferably at the beginning of your trip—both sights will give you all the information you need to appreciate Rio on all its many levels. Sugar Loaf/Pão de Açúcar is accessible by a tram from its Urca base station. Sightseeing helicopter flights depart from Morro da Urca, the small hill adjacent to Sugar Loaf and a half-point stop for the tram.