Corcovado

Corcovado mountain (Rio de Janeiro)

The most iconic monument in Brazil is doubtless The Christ The Redeemer, atop The famous Corcovado mountain.

Hugging The Guanabara Bay, and thus downtown Rio, The Christ is a symbol of Brazil itself. From its top you can see , if you look to where He looks, the Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf) mountain, the Marina da Glória, the Flamengo and Botafogo neighbourhoods, the city of Niterói in the other side of The Bay.

A bit to The North, you can see downtown, The Sambadrome and The Maracanã stadium.

Looking to The direction of his right arm, you´ll see Ipanema and Leblon districts, The Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon and The Gávea Rock in the horizon, further West.

Getting up the Corcovado!

You can either hire a shuttle service to the top, a taxi or take the Corcovado train. Personally, I think the arrival by shuttles and taxis are a bit messy. And unless you´ve previously scheduled your return, you´ll have some difficulties to get down the mountain. 

For adventurers and well prepared people, hiking is also possible. In fact, the Corcovado is part of the Tijuca Park, the largest urban forest in the world. The city of Rio embraces this forest, with some notorious peaks and stones, as the Pedra da Gávea (Gávea Rock). Some parts of the Park can be reached by bike, but not Corcovado, because it is very high and inclined. 

So, the best option to get up is by the Corcovado Train, at least for regular tourists and without much time to loose. If that´s your case, I strongly recommend buying the tickets in advance, at this site: www.corcovado.com.br. The site has english and spanish versions. You can arrive at the basis Station located in Laranjeiras district at working hours and buy the ticket directly there, but speacially during weekends and hollidays, it can result in a very long time waiting in line. So, very simply, if you have the ticket bought in advance, you´ll just climb the train at the scheduled time. 

Also, the train is historic and goes up among the forest, with some nice views of the city and, eventually, with samba players singing some of the most known sambas. It is quite an experience. Besides, when arriving, there are some elevators and mecanic escalators to take to the top, what is very convenient for disabled or old people. However, as there´s no scheduled time to get down, you may have to wait in line for the train, but the good thing is you don´t have to mind about the time while appreciating the landscape.  

At the top there´s a snack bar, but it is advisable to take your own food and drinks, because it is always full of people and a bit expensive. Don´t forget taking a sunblock in sunny days, because the only shadow you got there is from Christ´s arms. 

Then, it is all about enjoying the view!