How to plan your stay during Rio Olympics 2016

Rio – Cultural Itinerary (7 days)

Day 1

12:00 pm – Arrival at Rio International Airport

12:30 pm – Pick up your luggage and pass through passport control

12:50 pm – Go to the hotel (I assume you have an arrangement for transportation. If not, let me know and I’ll give you some tips)

1:30 pm – Check in at the hotel (Recommendation: Atlantis Copacabana – BRL 250 per day with breakfast).

In the above screenshot, as you can see, the hotel is very well located. In between Copacabana and Ipanema beaches and a walking distance from Ipanema/General Osório metro station.

3:30 pm – Because of the travel, you must be very tired. Therefore, I chose not to suggest you long distance tours for today. Thus, you will want to go to ‘Forte de Copacabana’. It’s a 8 minute walk according to Google maps. At the Fort, you will be able to have something to eat, while admiring the view from Copacabana beach and the Sugar Loaf Mountain.

The Fort offers a lot of history for the tourist. It opened in 1914 as a defence point of the Guanabara Bay, the fort has 12 feet thick walls and houses the Army History Museum. Check its website for more details and entrance fee: http://www.fortedecopacabana.com/historical-museum-of-the-army-and-copacabana-fort.html

6:00 pm – After the fort, go to Arpoador rock (11 minute walk from the fort, check map above). It has the most beautiful sunset in the city. The beauty of its landscape attracts people of all profiles and tribes. Your students will have the opportunity to mingle with local people here, watch how they behave and things like that.

7:00 pm – Dinner. I suggest going to ‘Delírio Tropilcal’ restaurant. It serves delicious healthy food. It is owned by the legendary Brazilian National volleyball coach, Bernardinho.

It’s not a very short walk, but if you go by the beach you’ll find it very pleasing. If you want, you can check the ‘Girl From Ipanema’ bar. It’s on the way to the restaurant. Ipanema is the birth place of the Bossa Nova music.

9:00 pm – Back to the hotel.

Day 2

9:00 am –You won’t have breakfast at the hotel today. Go to ‘Confeitaria Colombo’ (the most traditional place in Rio’s downtown) to do so. Colombo was the favourite place for writers and politicians to eat in downtown in the 30s-40s http://www.confeitariacolombo.com.br/siteen/

How to get there? Take the metro to ‘Carioca station’. The metro fare as of today is R$ 3,50.

11:00 am – Go to the ‘Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil’, the most famous art

gallery in Rio. Entrance is free. http://culturabancodobrasil.com.br/portal/rio-de-janeiro/

1:00 pm – Behind ‘CCBB’ you will find ‘Casa França Brasil’, another art gallery worth checking. Also free. Right next to them you will see ‘Candelária’ church. It’s very famous.

1:30 pm – Explore the tiny old streets behind ‘CCBB’ by foot and find a place to eat.

3:00 pm – Go by foot towards ‘Teatro Municipal’ from ‘Paço Imperial’ (http://www.pacoimperial.com.br/). The Theater is located at Cinelândia Square. There you will also find the Museum of Fine Arts (http://www.mnba.gov.br/1_historico/historico.htm) and the National Library. Very beautiful constructions. You should visit the museum, the library is not necessary. Museum fee: R$ 8,00

5:00 pm – Go by foot to the Museum of Modern Art (http://www.mamrio.com.br/), if there’s an interesting exhibition, check it out. Fee: R$ 14,00. After that, go for a walk in Flamengo’s park towards Flamengo neighbourhood. There you can see a memorial for the Brazilians who fought in WWII.

6:30 pm – Walk to Gloria’s metro station. Take the metro back to the hotel and rest.

8:00 pm – Explore the hotel surroundings and find a place to have dinner.

9:30 pm – Back to the hotel.

Day 3

08:00 am – Breakfast at the hotel

09:00 am – Take metro to Botafogo station. Then walk to Favela Santa Marta.

10:00 am - Visit to Michael Jackson’s slab:

This is one of the best places to visit while you are in Rio beside Sugar Loaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer Statue. To read more about this place click here.

12:00 pm – Go to the Botanical Garden, stopping at Parque Lage first. Take a bus. Check the map below for bus lines. The bus fare is R$ 3,40.

http://www.eavparquelage.rj.gov.br/index_e.asp

1:00 pm – You can have lunch at either Parque Lage or the Botanical Garden. http://www.jbrj.gov.br/

1:30 pm – Visit the Botanical Garden

3:30 pm – Go for a walk around the lagoon. There are several decks around it (my favourite one is at ‘Parque dos Patins’). Choose one to stay and relax.

5:30 pm – Go back to the hotel to rest. Take a bus.

8:00 pm – Go see a Samba show at Lapa, the heart of Samba culture in Rio. I suggest going to ‘Carioca da Gema’ http://www.barcariocadagema.com.br/bar.htm Fee: around R$ 30,00

The map says it takes almost an hour to get there. It is actually faster than that. And it’s a Saturday night, so there won’t be any traffic at all.

Day 4

10:00 – Breakfast at the hotel. It’s a Sunday.

11:00 – Go to the beach. Copacabana or Ipanema. You are right in the middle of both.

1:00 – Have lunch at a restaurant by the beach.

2:30 pm – Back to the hotel for a shower and rest

6:00 pm – Since it’s a Sunday, there should be a Football (Soccer) match at legendary Maracanã Stadium. Tickets are around R$ 50,00. You can go by metro until ‘Maracanã Station’. Couldn’t be any easier to get there.

8:00 pm – Back to the hotel. Use the metro again. Have dinner in Ipanema.

Day 5

8:00 am – Breakfast at the hotel

9:00 am – Take a bus and visit the Sugar Loaf mountain http://www.bondinho.com.br/site/en/ Fee: R$ 62,00

12:00 pm – Lunch break

12:30 pm – Visit chosen Company and/or University.

7:00 pm – Dinner / Back to the hotel

Day 6

08:00 – Breakfast at the hotel

09:00 – Take a bus and visit the Corcovado Mountain (tickets are bought online only here: http://www.corcovado.com.br/ingles/index.html Fee: R$ 62,00

12:00 pm – Lunch break

12:30 pm – Visit chosen Company and/or University.

7:00 pm – Dinner / Back to the hotel

Day 7

07:30 am – Breakfast at the hotel

08:00 am – Go to Copacabana beach. Students could try some water sports such as Stand up paddle. Boards are easy to rent. Around R$ 50,00 for an hour.