Cornelius Amann
October 06, 2026
5/5
Rio de Janeiro Carnival: the Sambadrome, the Blocos and the Summits
6 days in Rio de Janeiro over Carnival weekend: a Sambadrome parade night, a bloco morning with your guide, a samba school rehearsal, Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf early, and Santa Teresa.
6 days · Round trip from Rio de Janeiro · up to 12 guests
Leblon and Ipanema beach from the hills at the western end of the beach Photo: MTur Destinos, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BrunaPrado_Ipanema_Rio_de_Janeiro_RJ_(27092862588).jpg)
The facts
At a glance
- Length
- 6 days, 5 nights
- Start and end
- Round trip from Rio de Janeiro
- Group size
- 7 to 12 guests
- Activity level
Moderate
Easy walking on most days, about 3 to 5 km, with the 215 Selarón Steps walked downhill and two or three hours on your feet in heat and crowds at the bloco. The parade night means sitting on concrete grandstand steps from about 10 pm, with an early ride back at about 1:30 am if you want it, and the afternoon bloco on day 5 is optional.
- Meals included
- 5 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 2 dinners
- Room of your own
- + CAD 1,110 (estimated price)
- Season
- Carnival week only
Highlights
Why this trip
- A night at the Sambadrome for the Special Group parades, with your grandstand ticket included and your guide there all night
- A morning at a bloco, one of Rio's free street parties, with a guide who knows where to stand and when to leave
- An evening in a samba school's hall, close to the drummers as they rehearse for the parade
- Christ the Redeemer on one of the first trains, before the long weekend fills the city
- Sugarloaf by cable car on parade-day morning, while Rio sleeps off Saturday night
- Santa Teresa's cobbled streets and the tiled Selarón Steps, with a sit-down lunch
- Sunset from the Arpoador rock, where the crowd applauds the sun down, then a farewell dinner
What makes this trip different
Free time is part of the plan
Free time and choices are marked on the days they fall.
Solo without the penalty
A room of your own is + CAD 1,110 (estimated price).
Day by day
Itinerary
Tap any stop on the map to open that dayClick any stop on the map to open that day
Arrive in Rio, a first walk on Copacabana
Galeão International Airport to your hotel near Copacabana or Ipanema beach
- Welcome dinner
- Stay in Rio de Janeiro
- Drive about 1 h
Fly into Rio de Janeiro's international airport, Galeão (GIG), where a driver meets you in arrivals for the drive of about 30 km to your hotel near Copacabana or Ipanema beach. It usually takes under an hour, longer in Carnival-week traffic, so plan to land by about 3 pm to join the first walk.
Afternoon
Late in the afternoon your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the hotel lobby and walks you along Avenida Atlântica, the beachfront avenue paved in Copacabana's black-and-white waves, to get your bearings: the nearest metro station, the numbered lifeguard posts that Rio uses as addresses on the sand, where to buy water and a cheap pair of flip-flops.
Evening
Over a welcome dinner at a local restaurant your guide goes through the days ahead: the parade night and the two rides home, what to wear and carry at a bloco, and how to look after your phone and cards in big crowds. The city is already warming up, with drums practising in the squares.
Included
- Pick-up at Rio de Janeiro Galeão International Airport (GIG)
- Orientation walk along Avenida Atlântica with your guide
- Welcome briefing and dinner
Free time: Free until the late-afternoon walk
Activity: If you land later, your guide catches you up at dinner.
Corcovado early, Santa Teresa and a samba school
Copacabana to Cosme Velho and Corcovado, then Santa Teresa and the Selarón Steps; a samba school's hall in the evening
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Rio de Janeiro
- Drive about 1.5 h
We drive to Cosme Velho for one of the first trains up Corcovado, at about 8 am.
Morning
Friday morning is the quiet window of Carnival week: the long weekend has not started and most visitors are still at breakfast. The rack railway climbs for about 20 minutes through the Tijuca forest to the foot of Christ the Redeemer, finished in 1931 and about 30 m tall, at about 700 m, with Sugarloaf, Guanabara Bay and the beaches below.
Afternoon
From there it is a short drive to Santa Teresa, the hilltop neighbourhood of old mansions and artists' studios, which we walk with your guide before a sit-down lunch. We finish down the Selarón Steps, 215 steps that Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón covered in tiles from around the world, then rest at the hotel through the heat of the afternoon.
Evening
In the evening we drive to a samba school's quadra, the hall where its drummers, singers and dancers rehearse for the parade, to hear a full bateria up close.
Included
- Corcovado train and Christ the Redeemer, on one of the first departures
- Santa Teresa on foot with your guide
- Sit-down lunch in Santa Teresa
- The Selarón Steps
- A samba school rehearsal at the school's quadra, or a visit to a school's hall and workshop if no rehearsal falls on our dates
Easier option: Skip the Selarón Steps and ride back to the hotel after lunch; the vehicle meets the group at the bottom.
Free time: Afternoon free
Activity: About 3 km on foot, on cobbles and steps. Schools do not always open their quadra on the Friday before Carnival. Which school and which evening is set from that year's rehearsal calendar; if no rehearsal falls on our dates, we visit a school's hall and workshop with a member of the school instead, in the late afternoon. Rehearsals start late, often around 10 pm; leave whenever you like and the vehicle takes you back.
Carnival Saturday: a bloco with your guide
A morning bloco in the Zona Sul, then lunch in Ipanema
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Rio de Janeiro
- By train
Carnival Saturday, and the blocos take over the streets.
Morning
These free street parties, each with its own band, songs and costume theme, start from early morning all over the city, and the city publishes the official list a few weeks before. From that list your guide picks a morning bloco in the Zona Sul, usually in Ipanema, Leblon or Botafogo: big enough to feel the scale of Carnival, small enough to move in. We go together on foot or by metro at about 8 or 9 am, while it is cooler, dance along behind the band for two or three hours and leave together from a meeting point set before we go in. Wear something light, a costume if you like, and closed shoes.
Afternoon
Lunch is a sit-down meal in Ipanema, out of the sun, a chance to compare costumes.
Evening
The afternoon is yours: Ipanema beach is a few blocks away, or sleep before the evening, when blocos and parties carry on late across the city.
Included
- A morning bloco with your guide
- Sit-down lunch in Ipanema
Easier option: Watch the bloco pass from the edge for an hour, then go ahead to the lunch restaurant with your guide's directions or a taxi.
More active option: Your guide suggests a second, larger afternoon bloco for anyone who wants more, with a meeting point to go together.
Free time: Afternoon and evening free
Activity: Two to three hours standing and dancing in heat and dense crowds. Carry a copy of your passport, a little cash and one card in a front pocket.
Sugarloaf at opening, the Sambadrome at night
Copacabana to Urca and Sugarloaf, then the Sambadrome in the evening
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Rio de Janeiro
- Drive about 1.5 h
Evening
Sunday morning, after the first big night of Carnival, is the calmest time in Rio, and we use it for Sugarloaf. We take one of the first cable cars from Praia Vermelha in Urca, first to Morro da Urca at about 220 m and on to the 396 m summit, with the bay, Copacabana and Christ the Redeemer around you and few people beside you. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Urca, at the foot of the rock, then back to the hotel to rest, because tonight is long. At about 7:30 pm the group sits down to an early, light supper near the hotel, and at about 9 pm we leave for the Sambadrome, the parade avenue designed by Oscar Niemeyer and opened in 1984, by metro or our vehicle, whichever that year's road closures make quicker. The parades start at about 10 pm. From grandstand seats you watch the Special Group schools with your guide: each brings thousands of dancers, hundreds of drummers and towering floats down the avenue in about an hour. A first ride back leaves around 1:30 am with a local escort; the group returns with your guide at the end, towards dawn.
Included
- Sugarloaf cable cars, on one of the first departures
- Sit-down lunch in Urca
- Early supper near the hotel before the parade
- Sambadrome grandstand ticket for the Special Group parades
- Transport to and from the Sambadrome, with your guide all night
Easier option: Take the early ride back from the Sambadrome at about 1:30 am with the local escort.
More active option: Walk the Pista Cláudio Coutinho, the flat path around the foot of Urca hill by the sea, before the cable car.
Free time: Afternoon free to rest
Activity: If our tickets are for the Monday night, days 4 and 5 move one day later. The sector is named when the tickets are confirmed; seats are concrete steps, so bring a cushion. Food and drink are on sale inside.
A slow day, Arpoador at sunset
Copacabana and Ipanema, then the Arpoador rock
- Breakfast and dinner
- Stay in Rio de Janeiro
Morning
A slow morning after the parade: sleep in, and the hotel keeps breakfast late for the group.
Afternoon
Carnival Monday carries on all over the city, and early in the afternoon your guide takes anyone who wants to an afternoon bloco near the hotel, or points you to a quieter stretch of beach, such as Leme at the eastern end of Copacabana, and a long lunch on your own at a beach kiosk. Around 6 pm we walk to the Arpoador, the granite point between Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, to watch the sun go down at the far end of Leblon, behind the Dois Irmãos peaks. When it disappears, people on the rock applaud, a long-standing Rio habit.
Evening
Then the group sits down together to a farewell dinner, with time to swap photographs from the Sambadrome and decide who is going out again. Afterwards the streets are yours: Carnival nights run late, and the hotel is a short walk or taxi ride away.
Included
- An afternoon bloco with your guide (optional to join)
- Sunset from the Arpoador rock
- Farewell dinner
Easier option: Skip the bloco and spend the afternoon at the hotel or on the beach, meeting the group at the Arpoador.
Free time: Morning free, evening free after dinner
Activity: The Arpoador rock is a short, uneven scramble from the promenade; you can watch from its foot instead.
Carnival Tuesday and home
A free morning in Copacabana, then Galeão International Airport
- Breakfast
- Drive about 1.5 h
Carnival Tuesday, the last day of the festival.
Morning
After breakfast the morning is free: a last swim at Copacabana, a walk along the sand past the vendors carrying parasols hung with hats and sarongs and the grills of queijo coalho, cheese toasted on a stick, or one more morning bloco on your own with your guide's tips on where to find one. Hotel checkout is usually around noon, and we keep your bags until you leave. A driver takes you to Galeão airport (GIG), about 30 km away.
Evening
On Carnival Tuesday, roads close for blocos, so allow at least an hour and a half for the drive and leave the hotel about four hours before an international departure; your guide checks the timing with you the evening before. Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm to keep the morning. If you want to stay on, ask us and we can price extra nights at the same hotel.
Included
- Drop-off at Rio de Janeiro Galeão International Airport (GIG)
Free time: Morning free
Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm.
- Rio de Janeiro5 nights
- Overnight stop
- Day trip
- By boat or train
Wildlife and weather: Carnival falls in Rio's hot, wet summer: expect humid days around 30°C or more, warm nights and short heavy storms late in the day. The parades go ahead in the rain, so a light poncho is worth packing.
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Before you book
Right for you?
Good for you if you want
- Travellers who want Carnival with the hard parts handled: the parade ticket, transport on a night of road closures and a guide all night
- First-timers in Rio who want Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf as well as the parties
- Solo travellers who would rather go into the crowds with a group
- Night owls happy to sleep in after the parade
Not for you if you want
- Anyone who dislikes crowds, noise and late nights: Carnival is all three
- Travellers who want to parade with a samba school in costume; it is not part of this trip
- A quiet beach holiday: Rio's beaches are at their busiest over Carnival
- Travellers who want to see more of Brazil: our Rio, Paraty and Iguazú trip runs outside Carnival
Book flights after we confirm your seat.
5 nights
Where you'll stay
Your hotels are named in your trip confirmation.
- Rio de Janeiro5 nights
One price
What's in the price
Included
Accommodation
- 5 nights in Rio de Janeiro, at a central hotel within a short walk of Copacabana or Ipanema beach and about 10 minutes on foot from a metro station
- Rooms shared, or your own for a supplement
Transport
- Pick-up and drop-off at Rio de Janeiro Galeão International Airport (GIG)
- Our own air-conditioned vehicle and driver for the touring days and the parade night, with metro rides where road closures make them quicker
- The Corcovado train and the Sugarloaf cable cars
- Two rides back from the Sambadrome: an early one at about 1:30 am and one at the end
Your guide
- A See Sight Tours guide for the whole trip, at the blocos, the samba school and through the parade night
- A local escort for the early ride back from the Sambadrome
Activities
- Sambadrome grandstand ticket for one Special Group parade night (sector named when tickets are confirmed)
- Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado
- Sugarloaf
- Santa Teresa on foot and the Selarón Steps
- A samba school rehearsal at the school's quadra
- A morning bloco with your guide
- An afternoon bloco with your guide (optional to join)
- Orientation walk in Copacabana
- Sunset from the Arpoador rock
Meals
- Breakfast daily (5)
- Sit-down lunches on days 2, 3 and 4 (3)
- Welcome dinner, an early supper before the parade and a farewell dinner (3)
Not included
- International flights to and from Rio de Janeiro
- Brazil e-visa fee, where your passport needs one
- Travel insurance
- Meals not listed, including food at the Sambadrome and the blocos
- Drinks
- Tips
- Costumes and Carnival accessories
- Extra nights after Carnival
- Personal expenses
Extras
- Room of your own
- CAD 1,110 (estimated price)
When you can go
Dates and prices
Pick your start date when you request to book. We check that date and confirm it in your quote.
Prefer to travel without a group or guide? Ask us about arranging hotels, transport and city tours for you to travel independently.
Before you book
Booking terms
Nothing is charged now. Full terms and the cancellation schedule come with your quote, before you accept.
Business addresses
See Sight Tours Trips (USA): 3172 N Rainbow Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89108, United StatesSee Sight Tours Trips (Canada): 5305 50 Avenue, #1091, Red Deer, AB T4N 4B6, Canada+1-888-961-6584Guest reviews
What guests say
Reviews from guests on our day tours.
Jane
October 06, 2026
5/5
Susan
October 06, 2026
5/5
Tom L
October 05, 2026
5/5
MandL83
October 05, 2026
5/5
Darren O
October 05, 2026
5/5
Good to know
Questions
What does the price include?
Five nights in a central hotel near Copacabana or Ipanema beach, breakfast daily, three sit-down lunches, three dinners, airport transfers both ways, your See Sight Tours guide throughout, a Sambadrome grandstand ticket for one Special Group night with transport both ways, Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, Santa Teresa, a samba school rehearsal and two guided blocos.
When does the Rio Carnival trip run?
Once a year, over Carnival week. Carnival moves with Easter, so it falls in February or early March. The trip runs from the Thursday before Carnival to Carnival Tuesday, with the parade on the Sunday night. We publish each year's dates once the Sambadrome schedule and our tickets are confirmed.
Which parade night do we see, and where do we sit?
One night of the Special Group, the top league of samba schools, from grandstand seats. We plan for the Sunday night; if our tickets are for the Monday, the trip moves a day later. The sector is named when the tickets are confirmed, and we never promise one before that.
Do I have to stay at the Sambadrome all night?
No. The parades run from about 10 pm towards dawn. A first ride back to the hotel leaves around 1:30 am with a local escort, and the group returns with your guide at the end. Either way, the next morning is free for sleeping in.
How big is the group?
The small-group trip runs with 7 to 12 guests. That size matters at Carnival: a group of twelve can stay together in a bloco, fit into one carriage on the metro and meet at one point after the parade.
Who leads the trip?
A See Sight Tours guide travels with the group for the whole trip, including the blocos, the samba school evening and the parade night. A local escort takes the early ride back from the Sambadrome. We name your guide when your dates are confirmed.
How fit do I need to be?
Moderately. The walking is easy, about 3 to 5 km a day, but Carnival is hot, crowded and late. The bloco means two or three hours on your feet in the sun, and the parade night means sitting on concrete grandstand steps. The early ride back and the optional afternoon bloco let you pace it.
I'm travelling solo. Do I pay more?
Only if you want a room of your own, from CAD 1,110 more, which reflects what hotels charge for a room over Carnival. If you would rather share, tell us when you request to book and we will try to pair you with another solo guest. We confirm the room and the price before anything is charged.
How does booking work?
Choose the year's departure and small group or private, then send a request to book. We confirm within 24 hours, and no payment is taken when you send the request. Sambadrome tickets and Carnival hotel rooms are limited, so it pays to ask early.
Can we travel privately or on our own dates?
Privately, yes: your party only, with your own guide and vehicle, on the Carnival nights you choose. The dates still have to fall on Carnival. For Rio outside Carnival, see our Rio, Paraty and Iguazú trip, or ask us from the dates section for an independent quote.
Do I need a visa for Brazil?
If you hold a Canadian, US or Australian passport, yes: Brazil brought back visas for these countries in April 2025, applied for online as an e-visa before you fly. Many other passports, including most European ones, do not need one. Check the rule for your passport when you book.
Is Carnival in Rio safe?
Carnival is enjoyable with ordinary care; the main risk is pickpocketing in dense crowds. Carry a copy of your passport, a little cash and one card in a front pocket, keep your phone out of sight, and leave the rest in the hotel safe. Your guide sets a meeting point before every bloco.
See Sight Tours has been providing travel services across North America since 2006. Operating in 20 cities across Canada and the USA, the company specializes in small group tours that offer personalized, high-quality experiences for travelers.
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