Pão de Açúcar

Pão de Açúcar is the mountain on the far right of this photo. The main mountain in this photo is Morro da Urca.

Now let’s get into it.

The first bondinho (gondola) up to Pão de Açúcar is at 08:20 AM and the last bondinho  up is at at 20:40 (8:40 PM). That means the ticket office is open from 08:00-19:50 (8 AM-7:50 PM) and only sell tickets for that actual day. You can also buy your ticket online, especially if you are planning on buying your ticket in advance by at least one day. The price for an adult (22 years old and up) ticket to go up is R$71.

I believe that it is open all year except on some holidays.

The bondinho usually leaves every 20 minutes and holds up to 65 people at once. It does get quite crowded and hot when the car is packed. The good thing is that the ride up/down is less than 5 minutes.

Once you get up to Morro da Urca, most people exit to the left where there is a great view of Christ the Redeemer. That area tends to get quite crowded as everyone wants to get a picture of that view. Morro also has a theater, old bondinhos, and an area with restaurants and stores. Here are some of the views from Morro.

Once you are done looking around Morro, make your way to the other bondinho (not the one you came from) and make your way up to Pão de Açúcar. It’s also another quick, short trip up in a usually crowded car.

Pão de Açúcar also has some stores and food stands, but it is smaller than Morro da Urca. The views from up there are also breathtaking.

My friend and I went up for sunset because someone recommended that to her. It was beautiful being up there at that time, but the views are breathtaking no matter what time of day that you go up.

You can find everything I just said and anything I might have forgotten on their website here: www.bondinho.com.br

Lapa

Lapa is one of the hot spots to go out at night in Rio de Janeiro. We went out there on Friday night and it was already pretty crowded just after 22h (10 PM). All the bars were packed and the clubs still empty.

The first place we went into was La Esquina (website) where we had a couple of drinks and danced. I’m not sure if it always happens but the drinks were STRONG. We left there by 12:30 even though it was starting to fill at that time.

Next we went to a club that I don’t know the name of. It was only a few buildings down from La Esquina and a lot of people staying in hostels were there. They had live samba music for a while and then we left there sometime in the 2 AM hour.

We spent a bit of time in the streets as it is packed with people. By 2 AM I was questioning how cars were still driving on the street there but they were. My friend and I decided that we probably enjoyed being out on the streets more than in any of the buildings. We were standing outside of a club across the street from La Esquina because the music was also playing outside. It seemed that a lot of people were also doing the same thing.

In general, Lapa seems to be especially popular for people who are just interested in going there and hanging out on the street. I don’t blame them. The bars get crowded very easily so you have to arrive extra early for that and the clubs are a bit expensive. We ended up paying R$40 each for each of the clubs we went into. That’s R$80!!!

I would say that if you went to Lapa and stayed on the streets, you would still have a great night.

We left a bit after 3 AM but it seemed like no one was leaving at that time. I know a lot of those places don’t close until 4:30-5 AM so it’s probably busy until then.

If you go under the aqueducts, there are a bunch of tents set up and selling food in case you get hungry or don’t want/can’t find a spot in a bar.

Bibi Sucos

One of the best places I’ve been to for açaí. They have more than just that though. They serve breakfast, lunch, and crepes as well as many other things.

According to my friend who has been to a different location of this restaurant (as it seems to be a chain), she says that not all locations sell açaí. So if you are going to a Bibi restaurant specifically for that, be prepared for the possibility of there not being any.