Which places can you not afford to miss? The most tourist places in Rio de Janeiro
Christ of Corcovado:
I have a fair bit to tell you about Christ of Corcovado or Christ the Redeemer. Firstly, I'll do a theoretical introduction to give some context as to what it is and why it's so important. The majority of us just know it as a huge statue of Christ; one of the new 7 wonders of the modern world since 2007, although it still hasn't been declared a UNESCO world heritage site.
The Corcovado mountain, on top of which sits the Christ statue (it's also known as Christ of Corcovado), belongs to the Tijuca National Park - the biggest urban forest in the world.
As I said, it's a 38 metre tall statue of Jesus (it's actually a bit taller thanks to the 8 metre pedestal that it stands on), whose lookout point offers one of the most spectacular views of the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro; so at 710 metres above sea level, we have a panoramic of the whole city. As well as being a privileged place from which you can enjoy the city, it is also a very appreciated and valued place for religious believers.
It's an obligatory stop for anyone travelling to Rio. The quantity of tourists per year is overwhelming, and not only foreign tourists as you would understandably think, but the large majority of the tourists who come to the lookout point to see the majestic statue are Brazilians, from all parts of the country.
It's been standing since 1931. I was intrigued by how, in those days, they were able to build something so big (although I'd think the same imagining it being built nowadays). It turns out that to construct it, they made a collection between the inhabitants of Rio so they could help erect the famous Christ statue, laying the first stone in 1922 and continuing its construction until 1931.
The Christ of Corcovado also has lights which allows it to be seen from any point in the city. As the sky darkens, a bright spot on the mountain starts to appear and the shape of Jesus with his arms open can be seen so clearly.
In order to visit the Christ statue, I have to...
To visit the statue, the first thing you have to know is that you have to arrive early. It's so essential if you don't want to spend your whole day waiting around in queues which subsequently, would mean that you wouldn't have the opportunity to see anything else for the whole day.
Once at the entrance of the "tourist attraction", you will probably find a never-ending queue (which can last hours). However, you'll have to endure that so you can buy your entrance ticket and so you can access the lookout point.
At the place where you pay the entrance fee, there is a small cafe, which undoubtedly is doing pretty well seeing as there are occasions when you have to wait in line for hours. Here is a touching photo of a sleeping child that we saw.
Once you have your entrance, you have to wait again for one of the vehicles to be free so you can reach the mid-way point of the journey up (they don't allow you to walk up).
Once you have reached the half-way point, you have two options:
- Complete the rest of the journey on foot
or
- Wait in a never-ending line again to catch a second vehicle which will take you to the lookout point.
So, if you don't mind walking, then that's what I would recommend; it's not too demanding and it's worth it. You'll get to the top via a pathway which wraps around the mountain whilst enjoying the views each time you get to a higher point.
Once you get to the very top, you still won't see the lookout point straight away. At the entrance you will find, as with all tourist attractions, various bars and souvenir shops, as well as another line of people (why wouldn't there be one) waiting for one of the vehicles to take them back down to the city. Can you imagine the constant traffic that there must be when there's thousands and thousands of tourists and each cable car can take around 12 people at a time?!
This is the view of the Christ statue from that point.
Well actually, this is the point where you have to climb 226 steps which take you closer to the great statue. Before arriving, you have the option to make a stop and go to this small lookout point. Even though it's a little bit lower than our destination, the views don't disappoint.
I'm sure that once you've got to the top, the first thing you'll do is look higher and higher to see the very top of the statue... It really is tall. It's practically impossible to take a photo where you can see the whole statue of Jesus. There are so many people trying to find the right angle which everyone searches for, but it's not at all easy.
Although the lookout point is jam-packed, it's worth walking through the crowds to get closer to the different lookout points to see the incredible views which are on offer.
You can see the whole of Rio de Janeiro, the whole lagoon and even Niteroi, another city within the state of Rio de Janeiro. It's famous for housing the well-known Niteroi Contemporary Art Museum of the architect Oscar Niemeyer.
If you look closely, in the background of the second photo, in the middle of the sea, we can see the bridge which connects the city of Rio with Niteroi. It's 14km long!
I hope that this has motivated you to visit the Christ the Redeemer statue (that is if you haven't already been! ). It's very easy to get there, but you have to pay close attention to the opening times and depending on the time of year, there will be more or less people. It just so happened that we took advantage of a long weekend that meant that Thursday was a national holiday... It was horrible coexisting on the lookout point with so many people. But even so, it's worth the pain! Enjoy!
