Ancient Rio and Santa Teresa Tour with Hotel pick-up and drop-off

We have recently undertaken this tour with two amazing persons. Alejandro the tour guide and Greg our driver. We didn't know what to expect on a very very busy day in Rio. It was carnival week so you can imagine what it was like. Rio was rammed with people. Alejandro met us at the cruise terminal. We must say we were very apprehensive at first when Greg started to drive through some of the roughest parts of Rio. We were told not to film which didn't put our anxiety to ease. But after this we thoroughly enjoyed our four hours tour of Rio. These two Gentlemen are amazing. They took us to place that you could never find on your own. Alejandro English was excellent even though he didn't think it was. He explained things in details and told us of his experience of living in such a busy city. He took us to a park that he said not many people knew about. It was below Christ the Redeemer. The view was sensational. You could seen all the major sites of Rio. We also had a pleasant surprise of a helicopter flying around CtR and landing feet from where we standing. Even Greg the driver was amazed. He said he had lived in Rio all of his life and didn't know this park existed. Greg …...he is the best driver we have ever had anywhere in the world. How he didn't hit other cars or the drunken masses roaming the streets, we will never know. All the time we felt safe with this man at the wheel. He even took us down a narrow street that was nearly vertical. His driving skills are amazing. This trip was one to remember and we would like to thank you both for such a great four hours in your company. You are a credit to what you do. We would highly recommend this trip and if possible use these two gentleman. Thanks Greg for the bottle of drink you gave us......we haven't tried it yet but we soon will

We were there at the Carnival time so many places that we wanted to see were closed. Our guide Jonathan was on time and he was good.

Our guide Teresa(?) was 15 mins late. Her English is wanting and heavily accented. She sat at drivers side and spoke without mic mostly to the front so we did not hear /understand much of what she said. Then she did not narrate much on the places/scenes of interest. Very often we had to ask her what it all was. She started saying it would be a 4-hour tour. The drive was slowed by traffic and blockos due to the carnival and we only made 2 stops, once near the peak for pictures and the other for restrooms, only because we asked. The entire cruise felt like a drive through. We did not even see the famous staircase. Finally at the end of 3 hours we were dropped back at our hotel. It was not a disappointing experience and we all felt like we had wasted our time having travelled thousands of miles to Rio.

Definitely advise everyone not to do this tour during the carnaval week. Downtown is all jammed with people so we can not see anything on our tour. The tour cuts down from 4 to 3 hours. I wasted of time. I advise the tour operator not to offer this tour during this week.

Our guide was very pleasant and knowledable, a very good tour, slave steps were something else. it was nice to see the old Rio cathedral archetectually much nicer.

Bianca was a wonderful guide on a fairly interesting tour. I so wish she could have taken us on the Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer tour as well.

I booked this tour because it included a ride on the subway and the tram, with a walk around Santa Teresa. We were put in a tour with 4 other people who did not want to walk and wanted a city tour in a van. I complained to the operator and guide, but they refused to do the tour I booked. I finally appealed to Viator who returned my money. This operator should not be used by anyone.

We booked this tour a day or two before we arrived in Rio. As such, we ended up being the only two people on the tour, which makes for an exceptional experience. We were picked up at our hotel (Windsor Leme) in an air-conditioned van. The tour guide (my memory is terrible but I believe it was Monica) had a very good command of English and we had no issues understanding her. We visited several unique neighborhoods in Rio, as well as the Selaron Steps and the Sao Bento Monastery. It was a hot day and our guide made sure we didn't walk too much, having the van meet us in strategic locations. Her knowledge of the area was extensive and she was a delight to talk with. We really enjoyed our tour and would highly recommend it.

Our guide was a little late in arriving but he made up by showing us unique places and a stop for a beer at a lovely place in Santa Teresa. Just loved it. Great time !!!

Excellent city tour with a great guide. On time, spoke perfect English, knowlegable. Knew about the history of Rio as well as the culture. Eduardo drove us around the city with numerous stops to explain the sites as well as to take photos. 5 star tour with a 6 star guide. Brian