Upon arrival at Rio de Janeiro’s international airport, we are met and transferred to our hotel. Check-in is at 3:00 PM, and the balance of the day is free.

Founded by the Portuguese in 1565, Rio became the centre of the Portuguese empire in 1808, when the royal family fled Napoleon and settled here. It remained Brazil’s capital until 1960.

Overnight: Hotel Mirador Rio Copacabana (Standard – 3/4-star)/Hotel Windsor California (Superior - 4-star), Rio de Janeiro (3 nights)

This morning, we drive through Copacabana to Urca, where two cable cars carry us up Sugarloaf Mountain. The first stops at Morro da Urca, and the second continues to the 396-metre summit. When it opened in 1912, this was only the third cable car system in the world. From the top, we look out over Copacabana Beach, Guanabara Bay, and Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado.

We continue downtown to the Metropolitan Cathedral, a cone-shaped modernist church completed in 1979. Inside, four stained-glass windows rise 64 metres from floor to ceiling. Our last stop is the Selarón Steps, a staircase of 215 steps linking the Lapa and Santa Teresa neighbourhoods. Chilean artist Jorge Selarón spent more than 20 years covering it in over 2,000 tiles from more than 60 countries. We then return to our hotel. (B)

We drive to the Cosme Velho district and board the cogwheel train, which has carried visitors up Corcovado since 1884. The ride climbs through Tijuca Forest, which was cleared for coffee farms and then replanted with more than 100,000 trees in the 1800s to protect the city’s water supply. It is now one of the largest urban forests in the world. At the 710-metre summit stands Christ the Redeemer. Completed in 1931, the 30-metre statue has become the symbol of Rio and Brazil and was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. From the top, we look out over the city, Sugarloaf Mountain, and Guanabara Bay. On the way back, we stop at Copacabana, perhaps Brazil’s most famous beach, and at Ipanema, made famous by the 1962 bossa nova song “The Girl from Ipanema,” before continuing to Leblon and returning to our hotel. The afternoon is free, or pre-book one of our optional excursions below (contact Bestway Tours & Safaris for details). (B)

Please note: If the train is not running, we travel up to Corcovado by city-certified vans from Largo do Machado instead.

OPTIONAL: Olympic Boulevard, Museum of Tomorrow and Rio Art Museum (6 hours)
Rio’s port district was rebuilt for the 2016 Olympics, and this excursion shows the city’s newer, more modern side. We walk the car-free Olympic Boulevard along Guanabara Bay and stop at Eduardo Kobra’s Ethnicities, a mural of five faces from five continents painted for the Games. We then visit the Rio Art Museum (MAR), where we tour its changing exhibitions on the city’s art and history and head up to the rooftop for views over the bay. Our last visit is the Museum of Tomorrow. We begin inside its dome with a 360-degree film that journeys through galaxies and the heart of atoms, then walk past six 10-metre towers showing how people are changing the planet.

OPTIONAL: Grande Rio Samba School and Caipirinha Tasting (2 hours)
Samba took shape in the early 20th century in the old port neighbourhoods near Gamboa, where Afro-Brazilian musicians gathered to play. Each year before Lent, it takes centre stage at Carnival, when Rio’s top samba schools compete in a parade judged on their music, dance, floats, and costumes. At Cidade do Samba (Samba City), the schools spend the whole year getting ready. We step inside the workshop of Acadêmicos do Grande Rio, the 2022 Carnival champion, to learn how a parade comes together, go backstage among floats under construction, and try on costumes, before ending with a caipirinha, Brazil’s national cocktail.

Please note: This visit is shared with international travellers and led by an English-speaking guide. The workshop is open daily from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with last admission at 2:00 PM. The caipirinha tasting is included; other meals and drinks are not.

We transfer to Rio de Janeiro’s airport for our flight to Iguassu (at additional cost). On arrival, we are transferred to our hotel and check in.

Set in subtropical rainforest where Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay meet, Iguassu Falls is one of the largest waterfall systems in the world, with about 275 cascades spread across 2.7 km. Most of the falls lie in Argentina, which is why the Brazilian side is known for its wide, panoramic views.

Later in the day, we travel by coach through Iguaçu National Park*, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to the Brazilian falls. We follow a trail past a series of cascades, then walk out along a catwalk close to the base of the Devil’s Throat, where about half the river plunges into a narrow gorge. An elevator takes us back up to the road, and we return to our hotel by coach.

Overnight: Hotel Viale Cataratas (Standard – 3/4-star)/Hotel Recanto Cataratas Thermas Resort & Convention (Superior - 4-star) or Hotel Belmond Das Cataratas (Superior - 5-star), Iguassu (2 nights) (B)

We cross the Tancredo Neves Bridge over the Iguassu River, which forms the border between Brazil and Argentina, and pass through a short customs check. About 80% of the falls lie on the Argentinean side, and here the walkways take us right among them. After a stop at the visitors’ centre in Iguazú National Park, we walk the Upper Circuit, which runs along the top of the cascades, then the Lower Circuit, which brings us closer to the falls from below. The Ecological Jungle Train then carries us to a walkway over the river, leading to the edge of the Devil’s Throat, the most powerful point of the falls. We return to our hotel in Brazil. (B)

Please note: Travellers need their passports, and visas if required, for the border crossing.

We transfer to the airport for our flight to Manaus (cost not included in tour price). On arrival, we are transferred to our hotel and check in.

Manaus sits on the Rio Negro, just upstream from where it meets the Solimões River to form the Amazon. During the rubber boom of the late 1800s, the city grew so wealthy that it became known as the “Paris of the Tropics,” and it was one of the first cities in Brazil with electric street lighting. When the boom ended in the early 1900s, Manaus fell into decline, until a Free Trade Zone created in 1967 turned it into the busy commercial centre it is today.

Depending on flight times, pre-book one of our optional excursions below (contact Bestway Tours & Safaris for details).

OPTIONAL: Bird Park (2 hours, including transfers)
Available in Iguassu before our flight, if time allows. The Parque das Aves is dedicated to protecting birds of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. Along a 1.6 km forest trail, we walk inside large aviaries to see macaws, toucans, and flamingos up close, among more than 1,000 birds from about 140 species. The park also has a butterfly house, a hummingbird aviary, and a reptile area.

OPTIONAL: Fauna and Flora Ecological Tour (4 hours)
Available only if our flight arrives in Manaus by 3:00 PM. We visit the Bosque da Ciência, a forest park run by Brazil’s National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), where scientists work to protect the Amazonian manatee. Along its trails, we see animals living freely in the park and native trees such as mahogany. We then visit the Army Zoo, home to more than 70 species of Amazonian animals.

Overnight: Hotel Blue Tree Premium Manaus (Standard - 4-star Superior room)/Hotel Blue Tree Premium Manaus (Superior - 4-star Deluxe room), Manaus (1 night) (B)

We transfer to the pier in Manaus and travel by boat to the Amazon Ecopark Lodge on the Rio Tarumã, a tributary of the Rio Negro. On arrival, we are welcomed with fresh local juices. Our home for the next two nights sits deep in the rainforest, with nearly 10 kilometres of trails among orchids and giant trees. Rooms each have their own porch, a private bathroom with hot shower, air conditioning, and screened windows.

During our stay, guided excursions on foot and by canoe may include jungle treks, the lodge’s orchid garden, a lake that is home to river turtles, a visit to the home of a local riverside family, fishing, and a canoe outing after dark. Along the way, there’s a chance to spot monkeys, caimans, toucans, and more.

Please note: The lodge package is shared with international travellers and led by English-speaking guides. Activities follow the lodge’s own schedule, set on arrival, and may change due to weather and availability.

Overnight: Amazon Ecopark (Standard room)/Amazon Ecopark (Superior room), Amazon (2 nights) (B, L, D)

We board a traditional double-deck riverboat and travel down the Rio Negro along the Manaus waterfront. From the water, we see the city’s port, its historic customs house, and the dome of the Amazonas Theatre, the opera house built during the rubber boom. Along the banks, stilt houses show how local families live with the river’s seasonal rise and fall.

We continue to the Meeting of the Waters, where the dark Rio Negro joins the sandy-coloured Solimões River to form the Amazon, which flows on to the Atlantic Ocean. Because the two rivers differ in temperature, speed, and density, their waters run side by side for several kilometres without mixing, a clear line of black and tan across the river. We return to the lodge. (B, L, D)

After breakfast, we transfer back to Manaus for a panoramic city tour of the old centre, built with the wealth of the rubber boom in the late 1800s. Along the way, we see São Sebastião Square, the customs house (shipped in pieces from Britain and assembled on the waterfront), the clock tower known as “Little Big Ben,” Matriz Square and its cathedral, and the Municipal Market, an iron building from 1883 modelled on Les Halles in Paris.

We stop for photos at the Amazonas Theatre, the city’s famous opera house. Opened in 1896, it was built with Italian marble, French roof tiles, and Scottish steel, and its dome is covered in 36,000 ceramic tiles in the colours of the Brazilian flag. We then continue to our hotel.

Overnight: Hotel Blue Tree Premium Manaus (Standard - 4-star Superior room)/Hotel Blue Tree Premium Manaus (Superior - 4-star Deluxe room), Manaus (1 night) (B)

This morning, we transfer to the airport for our flight to Salvador da Bahia (not included in tour cost). On arrival, we are transferred to our hotel and check in.

Founded by the Portuguese in 1549, Salvador was Brazil’s first capital and is one of the oldest cities founded by Europeans in the Americas. It sits on a peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of All Saints, named by explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who sighted it on All Saints’ Day. For more than three centuries, Salvador was a major port of the Atlantic slave trade. African traditions still shape the city’s music, food, and faith, making it the heart of Afro-Brazilian culture.

Overnight: Novotel Rio Vermelho (Standard - 4-star)/Hotel Vila Gale Salvador (Superior - 4-star), Salvador da Bahia (2 nights) (B)

Our half-day city tour traces Salvador’s colonial and Afro-Brazilian history, taking in both the newer and older parts of the city. We begin in Barra, where Santo Antônio Fort and its lighthouse, one of the oldest in the Americas, look out over the Atlantic. We continue through the traditional neighbourhoods of Corredor da Vitória and Campo Grande, one of the main stages of Salvador’s Carnival, to Municipal Square, with views over the lower city and the Bay of All Saints.

From here, we walk into Pelourinho*, the Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its name means “pillory,” after the whipping post that once stood in its main square during colonial rule. Today, its cobbled streets are lined with brightly painted colonial houses and baroque churches, many dating from the 1600s to the 1800s. Our walk ends at Terreiro de Jesus, the square that is home to the city’s cathedral. The afternoon is free, or pre-book our optional evening excursion below (contact Bestway Tours & Safaris for details). (B)

OPTIONAL: Bahia by Night Dinner and Show
Bahian cooking is unlike anywhere else in Brazil, built on West African ingredients such as palm oil, coconut milk, and seafood. We enjoy regional dishes at a traditional restaurant, followed by a music and dance show celebrating the Afro-Brazilian traditions that shape Salvador today.

Check-out is at 10:00 AM. We are transferred to the airport for our onward flight. Perhaps consider extending your trip to beaches of Buzios or the safari highlights of Brazil’s Pantanal – contact Bestway Tours & Safaris for details and ideas. (B)