Where and When: Rio de Janeiro, 28 February 2024
0745: Leave hotel and head to Foz do Iguaçu Airport.
0945: Flight from Foz do Iguaçu to Sao Paolo.
1115: Arrive at Sao Paolo. As Foz do Iguaçu is a small airport, there are only a few direct flights to Rio. Hence the reason for flying via Sao Paolo.
1230: Flight to Rio de Janeiro. As we arrive in Rio city airport, I am lucky enough to be on the right-hand side of the plane, giving me great views of two defining monuments of Rio; the Sugarloaf mountain and Christ the Redeemer statue.
1315: Arrive in Rio, drive to hotel. We are staying at the America’s Copacabana Hotel in Rio.
After a quick check-in and dropping off luggage, we head over to Copacabana beach. It is about a 15 minute walk from the hotel.
Tip: When staying in Rio, get a hotel at the beach front – either at the Copacabana beach or Ipanema beach. They are inevitably more expensive, but the views and proximity to the beach makes the price well worth it.
1500: Lunch at Cabanna beach restaurant at Copacabana beach. It is opposite the famous Copacabana Palace hotel.
Apparently, the song was inspired by a conversation between Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman at the Copacabana Hotel, when they discussed whether there had ever been a song called “Copacabana”. This led Manilow, Sussman and Feldman create the famous song, which is set at the Copacabama night club in New York City.
It is rare for famous places to live up to expectations but the atmosphere at Copacabana beach was exactly as I expected it to be – relaxing and bustling at the same time.
The beach is busy, but not overly so. It is late summer here and many are enjoying an afternoon on the beach.
There were many volleyball pitches and sand sculptures on the beach.
The restaurant has live music and amazing food and cocktails, and it was a perfect place to while away the afternoon over a long leisurely lunch.
1730: Late afternoon, we decided to visit Sugarloaf mountain. We lost track of time over lunch so we were cutting it a bit fine to get to Sugarloaf mountain before it closes.
Tip: Uber is a great way to around Rio. They are readily available and cheap.
1800: Thanks to Uber, we make it just in the nick of time before they close the ticket counter at Sugarloaf Mountain.
Sugarloaf Mountain (known as “Pão de Açúcar”, in Portugese), is a peak located in Rio de Janeiro, at the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. The peak is named for its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar.
At its peak it rises 396m above the harbor. To reach the summit, you have to take two cable cars. The first ascends to the shorter Morro da Urca, 220m high. The second car ascends to the top of Sugarloaf.
The views from the top of the Sugarloaf are spectacular. We are lucky enough to catch the sunset over Copacabana beach.
As the sun goes down, the lights come on and we get spectacular views of Imbuhy Beach, Christ the Redeemer statue and Copacabana Beach.
1915: We head back down the cable car (last cable car from the top is at 1940).
On Morro da Urca, there is a small museum about the Sugarloaf cable car.
The cable car was the brainchild of engineer Augusto Ferreira Ramos in 1908. It was opened in 1912 and was only the third cableway to be built in the world. In 1972 the cars were upgraded, allowing it to carry upto 65 people. In 1979 the cable cars featured in an action scene for the James Bond film Moonraker.
2000: Another Uber back to the hotel. Tomorrow, we have a full day exploring Rio, so it is an early night for today
Diary of a Tourist 
Just out of curiosity: can you hike up Sugarloaf, or is the cable car the only way up?
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As far as I knos, the only way up the Sugarloaf is rock-climbing as it is a mostly vertical rockface. I think you can hike up the Morro da Urca (and avoid the stage 1 cable car) and then take the stage 2 cable car to Sugarloaf.
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