Sugar Loaf in Rio de Janeiro Brazil Tour Description Prices Location Transportation
Sugar Loaf

EThe Sugar Loaf, together with the Christ of Corcovado, is one of Rio de Janeiro´s. More than a million toursist come here every year to enjoy breathtaking views of the entire region. It is located on a small peninsula at the entrance of the Guanabara bay, forming two steep hills (morros): Urca with 220 meters and the Sugar Loaf with 575 meters.
A cable car takes joins both hills with the base station. Access is located across the General Tiburcio square and tickets for both legs are sold at the ground station for $8 per person. The station holds a basic infrastructure comprising souvenir stores, toilets, an information office, schedule boards and photographs of the cable car history. The service runs every 30 minutes from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm.

The first leg of the ride ends at Urca. The excitement of the travelers is felt from the very beginning due to a totally glazed cabin that allows passengers to get a fantastic aerial view of the region. In Urca there is a wide platform with trails in the middle of deep vegetation and natural observation posts located at different heights. From there, you can see the Copacabana beach, the port, the Christ of Corcovado, the Guanabara bay and Niteoroi. It is on this platform that you can find restaurants, fast-food bars, souvenir stores and toilets.

If you want to enhance your Rio experience, there is a helicopter ride leaving from Urca. The shortest ride lasts 7 minutes and costs $43 per person, flying over Corcovado, the Sugar Loaf and the beaches. Climbing lessons are also offered on the hillside facing Botafogo, It is not too high but very steep.

The second leg goes to the top of the Sugar Loaf. It is also a marvelous ride with even more breathtaking 360-degree views from the region. There is a trail with native forest around the top of the hill and, as in Urca, fast-food shops, souvenir stores and toilets can be found on this platform. Prices are moderate, so you can sit down and enjoy the view while eating or drinking.

After getting back to the ground station, we recommend to stop and have a drink at the Vermelha beach and take a half-hour walk along the Claudio Coutinho trail, which starts at the northern side of the beach and is open from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm. This trail surrounds the Sugar Loaf, offering splendid views of the open ocean.

Another good advice for visiting the Sugar Loaf is to get there in the afternoon to watch the sunset and the splendor o Rio at night.

If you are planning to stay in Rio, for a day or do not have much spare time, we suggest visiting either the Corcovado or the Sugar Loaf. Which one is better? They are both excellent options, but the Sugar Loaf offers more observation decks and open spaces, allowing tourists to spend a peaceful and enjoyable day. The The Corcovado. receives crowds of tourists all year round, making it hard to find a quiet place to rest or take pictures. In both cases, it is better to get there in the early morning to avoid the crowds, the intense heat and the air pollution which covers the view later during the day.

How can you get there?

The ground station is located on Pasteur Avenue, in barrio de Urca, Access to the premises is by car or bus since a lot of public lines stop a few blocks away from the station. A city tour bus called Turístico City Río -orange and blue line- has a stop at General Tiburcio Square, across the station.
Another good option is to get off at the Botafogo beach and walk along the Yatch Club and several traditional buildings of the area, such as the Medical School and the Benjamin Constant Institute. The walk lasts approximately half an hour.

A bit of history

The Sugar Loaf is considered not only of tourist interest but also of great historical significance. At the foot of the hill is where Rio de Janeiro was originally founded in 1565. The first incursions to the top date back to 1817. The Sugar Loaf Aerial Track Company was founded in 1910 in order to make the first cable car of Brazil, inaugurating in 1912 the leg to the hill of Urca. The exhibition at the cable car station shows photographs of the first wooden trams with curtains on their windows carrying only 23 passengers. When looking at these photographs we can only imagine how complicated it must have been during those early days to build the whole infrastructure.
In 1972 renovations were finished allowing cars to hold 115 passengers per ride.

Time: at least 4 hours
Estimate price: cable car u$8 per persone
Best time to visite: all year round
Hours: from 8:00am to 10:00pm
How to get there: access to cable car on 520 Pasteur Avenue
TE: 2546-8400 / 2541-3737

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Sugar Loaf in Rio de Janeiro Brazil Tour Description Prices Location Transportation