In the city of Rio de Janeiro you can combine two of Rio's most popular tours on

a full-day excursion packed with breathtaking views. In the morning, you'll enjoy a
panoramic city tour and have the opportunity to ride a cable car to the top of Sugar
Loaf Mountain. After lunch, you'll travel through the Tijuca Rain Forest by cog train to
the statue of Christ the Redeemer on top of Corcovado Mountain. This tour is an
excellent option if your time in Rio de Janeiro is limited, giving you the best of Rio in
one great day.
You can buy a tour of four hours at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden and the
Tijuca Rainforest, here you can See a variety of exotic plants at the world-famous
botanical garden, and ride in a jeep over to the Tijuca Rainforest for an easy, 15-minute
hike through the forest, taking in breathtaking sights and looking for wildlife!
If you love football, you won't want to miss the chance to see a soccer match in
Rio de Janeiro! Come watch one of Brazil's passions and watch the best teams in Rio
fight for the win.

Rio de Janeiro is on the far western part of a strip of Brazil's Atlantic coast (between a strait east
to Ilha Grande, on the Costa Verde, and the Cabo Frio), close to the Tropic of Capricorn, where
the shoreline is oriented eastwest. Facing largely south, the city was founded on an inlet of this
stretch of the coast, Guanabara Bay (Baa de Guanabara), and its entrance is marked by a
point of land called Sugar Loaf (Po de Acar)a "calling card" of the city.[22]
The Centre (Centro), the core of Rio, lies on the plains of the western shore of Guanabara Bay.
The greater portion of the city, commonly referred to as the North Zone (Zona Norte), extends to
the northwest on plains composed of marine and continental sediments and on hills and several
rocky mountains. The South Zone (Zona Sul) of the city, reaching the beaches fringing the open
sea, is cut off from the Centre and from the North Zone by coastal mountains. These mountains
and hills are offshoots of the Serra do Mar to the northwest, the ancient gneiss-granite mountain
chain that forms the southern slopes of the Brazilian Highlands. The large West Zone (Zona
Oeste), long cut off by the mountainous terrain, had been made more easily accessible by those
on the South Zone by new roads and tunnels by the end of the 20th century.[23]
The population of the city of Rio de Janeiro, occupying an area of 1,182.3 square kilometres
(456.5 sq mi),[24] is about 6,000,000.[25] The population of the greater metropolitan area is
estimated at 1113.5 million. It was Brazil's capital until 1960, when Braslia took its place.
Residents of the city are known as cariocas. The official song of Rio is "Cidade Maravilhosa", by
composer Andr Filho.