Rio de Janeiro Highlights Tour

We welcome you at Rio airport, and take you to your hotel.

Free afternoon to explore the city.

Known as ‘The Wonderful City’, Rio de Janeiro offers attractions that have given the city its international fame.

Whoever visits Rio soon finds that their calendar is always full. In your free time you can visit exhibitions, theatre performances, concerts, dance and music to sports events catering to all tastes. Also it has numerous other attractions such as the urban Tijuca Forest with small waterfalls and various trails, beaches such as Ipanema and Copacabana and neighbourhoods with their own character.

After breakfast, we depart to explore Corcovado peak on a guided tour.

Located inside the Park of Tijuca Forest, a visit to Corcovado is an unforgetable experience with panoramic views of the city from the feet of  the statue of Christ the Redeemer.

Return to the hotel. Free afternoon.

Breaksfast, free morning to relax on the beach.

Check out at 12pm and transfer to the airport for international flight.

Or maybe an extension? There are many options easily accsesible since Brazil shares borders with all South American countries except Chile and Ecuador.

Brazil is the largest country in South America with a huge offer for the adventurous traveller: Rainforest and wildlife, culture and gastronomy, beach and sport, mountains and rivers.

Rio de Janeiro, to many, is the gateway to Brazil. It is a vibrant city, located in a spectacular geographical setting. This is the ultimate place to finish off a holiday, chilling on its world famous beaches, taking in the sights, sounds and sunshine.

Choose to extend your stay in the area combining Rio with Paraty, a quaint, well preserved colonial coastal village; or Buzios a charming, buzzing and fun coastal town; or Ilha Grande, an island with no roads where you can really enjoy the wonders of nature.

Further afield, the state of Bahia in the north east of the country is another strong draw. The colonial  capital, Salvador, with its colourful architecture, history and fiery culture is a great place to explore. Inland, Chapada Diamantina is ideal for trekkers, who head to with its plains, table-topped mountains, rivers, waterfalls and natural pools. Remote, with palm lined beaches lapped by turquoise waters, Praia do Forte is an idyllic place in which to to put up your feet and relax. 

The mighty Iguazu Falls on the shared border with Argentina are another massive draw.

The Pantanal – wetlands in the West of the country are an animal lover’s paradise. The World’s largest wetlands is teeming with wildlife including giant anacondas, capybaras, caimans and jaguars. 

The mighty Amazon River is another attraction and can be explored by boat or from a comfortable eco friendly lodge. 

Not only does Brazil offer stunning sights but it also has a cultural vibrancy unmatched anywhere else. Music and dance are part of the Brazilian DNA. A varied gastronomy and a warm welcome will make any visitor immediately at ease.

Brazil shares a border with every country in South America except for Ecuador and Chile – ten in total and has great transportation links so can easily be combined with one or more other countries.

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world. It is framed by two of the world’s largest river systems: the Amazon in the North, and the Paraná river in the South.

The Amazon basin covers some 60% of Brazil’s surface, and holds 20% of the world’s fresh water supply, being the largest hydrographical network in the world with 55.000Km2 of rivers.

It has the world’s largest rain forest but also includes savannah and wetlands.

Like the Amazon, the Paraná flows through several neighbouring countries. It drains the world’s largest swampland, the Pantanal in West-Central Brazil.

The Brazilian Highlands form the rest of the country, except for a coastal strip some 9,000km long.

Brazil contains a number of climatic zones from the Amazon region where the temperature averages 27ºC, to the dry Northeast where temperatures can exceed 40ºC, to the south near Uruguay where average temperatures are 17-19ºC. 

Brazil’s twenty-six states and the Federal District (Distrito Federal) are divided conventionally by eco-systems into five regions.

• North: the tropical rainforest with Pico da Neblina 2,994m (9.823ft) the country highest point (major cities: Manaus, Belém, Santarém,)

• Northeast: Atlantic Forest Zone called Mata Atlántica. (Major cities: Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza)

• Southeast: it has less than 10% of the original forest cover remained as a result of clearing for farming, ranching, and charcoal making. It has mountains, valleys and caverns. (Major cities: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro)

• South: Rainforests along the coast (Mata Atlântica), tropical in the north and west (Araucárias) and prairie-like vegetation in the south (Pampas). Little native vegetation still remains due to deforestation. (Major cities: Curitiba and Porto Alegre)

• Centre-West: Pantanal wetlands in the west with one of the biggest swamplands in the world, and equatorial rainforests in the north. (Major cities: Brasilia, Goiânia, Campo Grande, and Cuiabá)

Most of Brazil lies in the tropics hence a tropical climate.

However, the southern upland plains enjoy a temperate climate – it can be better to go during the hot season (Dec-March).

The rainy season in the south and south east runs from Nov-March

In the northeast of the country, the rainy season runs April-July.

Wherever you are, most showers usually last no more than one hour or two, with subsequent sun reappearing.

Andean Trails has 25 years of experience of putting together the best South America holidays.

We pay a fee to the CAA for every licensable passenger we book since we hold an Air Travel Organiser’s Licence granted by the Civil Aviation Authority. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for an advance booking.

We also offer ATOL (Civil Aviation Authority) protected holidays to give our customers peace of mind when booking and travelling.

When you buy an ATOL protected air holiday package from Andean Trails Ltd you will receive a Confirmation Invoice from us confirming your arrangements and your protection under our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 6275.

You can read more about ATOL, who is covered and what protections you have if not ATOL-covered, on our ATOL page.

What is ATOL?

The CAA’s ATOL scheme offers protection to your money and your holiday if you book with us. Not everybody is covered (see ‘Who is covered?’ for more), as you must purchase an ‘air package holiday’ with Andean Trails to be protected.

And  ‘air package holiday’ is defined as including a flight and some ground services (hotel, transfer, trek etc). This is also known as an ‘ATOL-protected holiday’.

Who is covered?

To be covered by ATOL, you must book a flight and some ground services with us and be from the UK. If you are from the UK and only book ground services and no flights, you are not covered by ATOL (see below for more on how non-ATOL clients are covered).

If you are outside the UK and buy flights with us, you will be ATOL protected IF any of the flights booked with Andean Trails touches/stops in the UK at any point during your holiday package booked with us.

If you buy your flights elsewhere, please check with that agent if you are ATOL protected. Be careful with online flight purchases and make sure you know what protection you have, if any, before paying for flights.

Not all holiday or travel services offered and sold by us will be protected by the ATOL scheme. Please ask us to confirm what protection may apply to your booking.

For land only holidays not involving any air travel, in accordance with “The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992”, all UK passengers booking with Andean Trails Ltd. are fully protected for the initial deposit and subsequently the balance of all money paid to us, arising from cancellation or curtailment of travel arrangements due to the insolvency of Andean Trails.

I’m not ATOL covered, what protection do I have?

If you are not ATOL covered, any payments you make to us go to a Trust account.

We can only access this money once your tour has been completed, meaning that if anything happens to Andean Trails Limited while you are on holiday, then your money is secure and you can either complete the trip or be able to make it home.

If you pay for your holiday with a credit card, some offer payment protection – please check with your cardholder.

You also should have cancellation protection written into your insurance (which we recommend you have at the time of booking) in case you need to cancel.