The tourist highlights of Rio de Janeiro combined with a cooking course

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
7
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
8
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
8
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
3
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
10
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
72 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
132nd/454
Top 30%
continent
South America
country
Brazil
Length of time
1-2 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$150 ($125-$350 in 2020 prices)
Time of year visited
March
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Beaches Big city Cooking
All Tags
Beach promenade Cable cars Christian site Cliffs Cool neighbourhoods Foodie focused Partying / Lash Sunsets UNESCO world heritage site Wonder of the World Wonder of the World - Natural
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Summary

The views over stunning Rio de Janeiro Harbour ( . . . one of the Natural Wonders of the World) from Sugar Loaf Mountain, walking along the sands of the world-famous Copacabana and Ipanema Beaches, and heading up the cog train to see Christ the Redeemer (. . . one of the Wonders of the World), Rio has about as many world-class highlights as any city in the world and is a must if visiting Brazil

 

Naturally, with such fame comes crowds, and it’s hard to really avoid them in the main sites where it can be a bit energy sapping as you’re queuing and wedged in with thousands of fellow tourists.  My biggest tip to counter this is to break up your visits to the main sites with a chilled out day on one of the beaches, the real heart of Rio, and to join one of the high-tempo Brazilian cooking courses, in particular with the now famous Simone Almeida’s Cook in Rio located in the Copacabana neighbourhood.  You’ll learn to make 4 traditional Brazilian dishes, but its the enthusiasm Simone provides, to both the food and the endless caipirinhas she plugs you with, that makes this so fun

 

The combination of the world-famous highlights of Rio and the fun of the cooking class made these 2 days in Rio a superb experience

 

I only stayed in Rio for 3 days so don’t feel that I can do this superb city justice with a full review, but the one extra tip I will give is to just be aware of the crime risk.  As with all large Brazilian cities, crime is a problem so use a bit of common sense.  Always carry something to hand over like a basic wallet with some small cash in if, in the unfortunate instance, you do get robbed, and hand everything over you have been asked – thieves in Latin America really don’t mess about.  Take taxis in the evening, and totally avoid the beaches at night.  In fact, the beaches are so huge, that you can actually get robbed in the daytime – fun times!

Highlights
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#1 Taking the cog train up to see one of the 7 Wonders of the World - the Christ the Redeemer Statue

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#2 Taking a cooking course and learning 4 traditional Brazilian dishes with the wonderful Simone Almeida

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#3 The views down on Rio Harbour, one of the Natural Wonders of the World, with Christ the Redeemer in the distance from Sugar Loaf Mountain

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#4 Seeing some of the street art in the Copacabana neighbourhood

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#5 Taking the cable car up to Sugar Loaf Mountain for dynamic views across the city

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#6 Getting tucked into some afternoon caipirinhas either during the cooking class or on the beach for the sunset

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#7 The full views across the city from the Christ the Redeemer Statue

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other World Class Big Cities to visit

London’s top 10 in summer
⭐⭐⭐

3 days checking out Buenos Aires
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Beijing highlights for 2 days – 10 tips
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Three days in Rome
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lima – a weekend of world class restaurants, super cool neighbourhoods and rapid paragliding
⭐⭐⭐

City sights of New York City
⭐⭐⭐

Classic highlights of Paris
⭐⭐⭐

Sydney Harbour and its Beaches
⭐⭐⭐

Palaces, Concerts and Cathedrals in Imperial Vienna
⭐⭐⭐⭐

2 days for the classic highlights of Hong Kong
⭐⭐⭐

A week in Cape Town
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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