Clouds around Sugar Loaf Mountain and Urca Hill.
It is possible to tour Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado Mountain and Sugar Loaf Hill on a budget; there a few tour operators in Rio de Janeiro who offer such tours on 15-passenger minibuses, aimed at backpackers and the budget-conscious travelers.
Typically, they pick up groups, couples and solo travelers in one or more hostels, and then finally proceed to visit Christ the Redeemer statue, a couple of other attractions (a favela, Sélaron steps, Santa Teresa, or the central area [downtown]), and finish with Sugar Loaf.
Rio de Janeiro is no longer cheap. On the contrary, it is getting very expensive. In fact, Rio de Janeiro is more expensive than many metropolitan areas in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia.
Christ the Redeemer statue on the tip of Corcovado Mountain.
As the FIFA World Cup 2014 (will take place in 12 cities in Brazil) and the Summer Olympic Games 2016 will take place in Rio de Janeiro, it is likely that prices will go up even more.
If you are planning a trip to Rio on a budget, plan ahead, and bear in mind that many nice things to see, tours and activities you may want to do cost — sometimes more than expected. Get ready to be surprised by the international prices, rates, and fares.
Let’s take, for example, the admission fees, which are far from budget. The 20-minute cog-wheel train round-trip ticket costs 49 reais per person (Brazilian currency), which is roughly US$ 22. The rides on the Sugar Loaf cable cars (gondolas are taken 4 times, for only 3 minutes each time) costs 62 reais (approximately US$ 27). In fact, by the time you read this post the fares may be already higher.
Cable coming down from Sugar Loaf.
Although Rio is no longer overall cheap, there are still many ways of making great deals and buying bargain-priced food, drinks, activities, clothes, shoes (like the Havaianas flip-flops), souvenirs, Samba concerts, party tickets, Carnival rehearsals, and more.
If you are budget-conscious, get your copy of My Rio Travel Guide, the most practical Rio de Janeiro guidebook. This guidebook is not specialized on travelling on a shoestring, but offers many hints, tips, recommendations, and updated advice on how to spend less and still have a great time in Brazil.
For example, in chapter 3, you can follow the step-by-step easy instructions on how to visit not only Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugar Loaf, but also a dozen other interesting sites, by yourself or with your traveling companions, rather inexpensively, in just one day and a half.
Click below to get your copy and have an awesome time in Rio!
