Christ the Redeemer & Rio Skyline 

Overview:

Embody­ing the faith, spir­i­tu­al­i­ty and belief of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Catholics around the world, the icon­ic Christ the Redeemer stat­ue sits some 700 metres above sea lev­el atop the tow­er­ing Cor­co­v­a­do Moun­tain watch­ing over and pro­tect­ing the city of Rio below. View­able from almost every angle with­in the city, the stat­ue has evolved from its cre­ation in the ear­ly 1930’s to become a cul­tur­al and archi­tec­tur­al icon, and along­side its reli­gious con­no­ta­tions a view­ing and explo­ration of the stat­ue not just the chance to expe­ri­ence this unique and empow­er­ing sym­bol, but some of the best panoram­ic views of Rio from its ter­race — which com­bine the make the stat­ue of Christ the Redeemer a beau­ti­ful and awe-inspir­ing won­der of the world.  

Designed in an art-deco style, Christ the Redeemer stands as the fourth largest mon­u­ment to Christ, and it’s icon­ic 30 metre frame out-stretched arms- which stretch for 28 metres, is the result of more than 6 mil­lion tri­an­gu­lar­ly mosaics, each of which was fer­ried up the top of Cor­co­v­a­do Moun­tain by the still run­ning cog train after being shipped from France. With the idea for the stat­ue was first con­ceived in 1850 and then put into prac­tice short­ly after World War 1 – when Brazil’s rulers believed the coun­try need­ed inspi­ra­tion and a sym­bol to restore its faith and reclaim the Chris­t­ian faith fol­low­ing the events of the pre­vi­ous decade.  

Best reached in our view by the still run­ning cog train, the stat­ue can be reached via a small stair­way or esca­la­tors, with a trip to it rec­om­mend­ed first­ly at sun­rise, where you get to avoid the large crowds and watch the glis­ten­ing sun­rise bring stat­ue to life and watch the mar­vel of the Rio sky­line awak­en from the panoram­ic ter­race. As well as by heli­copter at sun­set where you can take in the full beau­ty of the stat­ue against the back­drop of Rio and the reflec­tion of the dwin­dling glow­ing sun – and then final­ly through a view­ing by night, where the stat­ue lights up in either nation­al colours or in deep pur­ple embody­ing the ful­ly sanc­ti­ty and beau­ty of Christ the Redeemer – for a per­fect way to cap off your explo­ration of this awe-inspir­ing won­der of the world.  

Where:  

The icon of Brazil, the Stat­ue of Christ the Redeemer sits atop the sum­mit of Mount Cor­co­v­a­do some 710 metres above the sea lev­el of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil – watch­ing over and pro­tect­ing the city below.  

Getting There:  

With Christ the Redeemer sat atop the Cor­co­v­a­do Moun­tain in Rio de Janeiro, access to this spir­i­tu­al and awe-inspir­ing won­der can be fair­ly straight­for­ward.  

First up you’ll need to get your­self to Rio da Janeiro – which is eas­i­ly done glob­al­ly and nation­al­ly through a series of direct flights into one of Rio’s stun­ning two air­ports, the Rio de Janeiro–Galeao Air­port or the San­tos Dumont Air­port – both of which offer easy access to down­town Rio and your accom­mo­da­tion.  

From down­town Rio there are three options that we’d advise to get to mon­u­ment of Christ the Redeemer, with our favourite being by the tra­di­tion­al and scenic Cog Wheel train.  

Cog Train: 

Allow­ing you to take the same route and trans­port that trans­port­ed the orig­i­nal stones that con­struct­ed the stat­ue, a trip on the tra­di­tion­al Cog train offers you stun­ning views of both the Tiju­ca Nation­al Park and the Atlantic For­est as well as the beau­ty of Rio unfold­ing beneath you as you slow­ly ascend to the start of your jour­ney at this unique won­der of the world.  

A trip on the Cog train takes rough­ly 25 min­utes and you’ll find reg­u­lar­ly trains leav­ing every 30 min­utes from the Trem do Cor­co­v­a­do Sta­tion at Cosme Vel­ho – which you can reach by Taxi, bus or via the under­ground metro sys­tem – with the near­est sta­tion being Largo do Macha­do – although we’d advise against the metro sys­tem if using the Cog train to reach the won­der first thing in the morn­ing when Rush hour traf­fic can be a bit fran­tic.  

Run­ning from 8am to 8pm and cost­ing either R$67 ($13 Usd – off sea­son) or R$82 ($15.50 – high sea­son) the Cog train is real­ly rec­om­mend­ed as a unique and antic­i­pa­tion build­ing way to reach this stun­ning won­der of the world, with a trip on this train offer­ing both scenic and a tra­di­tion­al way to begin your adven­ture at this won­der of the world.  

Bus: 

For those who don’t fan­cy the Cog train – or pre­fer a more direct route to the stat­ue, to ensure you beat the crowds and don’t miss out on the incred­i­ble reflec­tion of the stat­ue dur­ing sun­rise and sun­set, then there are a series of bus­es across Rio sole­ly ded­i­cat­ed to tak­ing explor­ers to the start of the trek to the top of stat­ue.  

Leav­ing from the main two points of Lido Square – near the famed Copaca­bana beach or by Tiju­ca – near the sprawl­ing shop­ping cen­tre, the bus route takes you direct from these points to the stat­ue and back and are both cheap­er (R$60 / $11  Usd in low sea­son and R$80 / $15 Usd in high sea­son) flex­i­ble and more direct than the Cog train – with tick­ets avail­able online or in per­son – just look­ing for the bright yel­low bus sign at either sta­tion to board the bus.  

By Car: 

While we’d advise against self-dri­ving in Rio if you’re not a local – as its cost­ly and the traf­fic can be chaos, there are a range of Taxi and uber firms that oper­ate across Rio than can fer­ry you from your hotel direct to the base of the stat­ue at any time that suits.  

A more expen­sive options – with prices reach­ing R$185 / $35 at time, and one where we’d advise to be cau­tious and on your guard, a trip by Car up to the base of Christ the Redeemer from down­town Rio de Janeiro is a fan­tas­tic option for those on a strict timescale and who want a direct route to the base of Christ the Redeemer to begin their explo­ration.  

To Avoid — By foot:

Along­side these three options – there is a fourth option to reach the base of Christ the Redeemer that you need to be aware of and need to be sure to avoid.  

It con­sists of a hik­ing tail through the Tiju­ca For­est on a path begin­ning from the Botan­i­cal Gar­dens – while a beau­ti­ful hike and one that takes you through the For­est, the trek has sad­ly become syn­ony­mous with inci­dents of vio­lence against explor­ers and tourists, with mug­gings and worse known to take place on this trail.  

For this rea­son we’d strong­ly advise against hik­ing to the base of Christ the Redeemer and instead using one of the Cog train, Bus or Taxi routes to ensure your explo­ration of this incred­i­ble won­der of the world is as enjoy­able as pos­si­ble.   

 

Best time to Visit: 

A trip to Rio and Christ the Redeemer can real­ly be made or bro­ken by the weath­er and sea­son you vis­it – with a trip to this won­der dur­ing intense heat, a down­pour, intense crowds and per­haps worst of all hazy fog real­ly tak­ing the edge off your enjoy­ment and expe­ri­ence at this won­der. 

For this rea­son, we first­ly advise tim­ing your vis­it to Rio between Sep­tem­ber and March when the weath­er is warm and com­fort­able enough to enjoy the shore­line and stat­ue but not too over­whelm­ing – although it’s best to avoid the time around Christ­mas, New Year or Car­ni­val sea­son if you’re adverse to crowds – with a rec­om­mend­ed itin­er­ary being to arrive before car­ni­val to see the won­der and then spend some time enjoy­ing the best of South Amer­i­ca – includ­ing the Ama­zon and Iguazu falls before return­ing to Rio to top off your trip with one of the great­est fes­ti­vals on the plan­et, The Rio de Janeiro car­ni­val.  

Along­side tim­ing your trip between Decem­ber and March, we’d strong­ly advise tim­ing your trip coin­cide with a clear day, with the fog round Rio known to descend swift­ly at times, and being sure to check the fore­cast a few days before you plan to vis­it the won­der.  

Final­ly we’d advise, regard­less of the sea­son you vis­it to ensure that you arrive for your first view­ing of Christ the Redeemer at Sun­rise or as close to open­ing time as pos­si­ble – with crowds known to form between 10am-3pm when bused in on tours, which com­bined with the sun being at it’s peak can real­ly damp­en your expe­ri­ence – and then fol­low­ing this vis­it up with a view­ing at sun­set and in the night time, when crowds will be reduced.  

So for the best time to Vis­it Christ the Redeemer be sure to go between Sep­tem­ber – March – start­ing with a sun­rise view­ing and being sure to time your vis­it on a day with min­i­mal fog.  

Explore:   

Sit­ting atop the hill of, which was once well named as Temp­ta­tion Park by the Por­tuguese in the 16th cen­tu­ry, the icon­ic Christ the Redeemer stands 710 metres above the bustling city of Rio de Janeiro below – act­ing as both a sym­bol of faith and cul­tur­al icon, with the views from the ter­race of the stat­ue down to the city below being as equal­ly awe-inspir­ing and won­der­ous as the stat­ues itself.  

Pro­tect­ing and fac­ing Rio since 1922, the 38-metre stat­ue seeks to inspire and remind Catholics of their duties, with the wide open arms and calm and peace­ful face encap­su­lat­ing both the beliefs of Catholics and pro­vid­ing inspi­ra­tion and devo­tion amongst all vis­i­tors.  

Best seen ear­ly at sun­rise or sun­set – when the incred­i­ble stat­ue reflects the warm Brazil­ian Sun with crowds at a min­i­mum, and espe­cial­ly on a clear day, a vis­it to the won­der of Christ the Redeemer takes you beyond the view­ing of the stat­ue and lets you expe­ri­ence the essence of faith and Brazil. The below is our rec­om­mend­ed guide on how to expe­ri­ence this incred­i­ble won­der: 

Getting There: Cog train 

While you have mul­ti­ple prac­ti­cal options to reach Christ the Redeemer and the stat­ue of Jesus, includ­ing uber, tour and self-dri­ve, we’d real­ly rec­om­mend mak­ing your jour­ney to the base of the stat­ue part of your expe­ri­ence of explor­ing this won­der by tak­ing the adven­tur­ous Cog Train – for a unique and enjoy­able way to reach the won­der.  

Book­able in advance online, and cost­ing you either R$67 ($13 Usd – off sea­son) or R$82 ($15.50 – high sea­son) the Cog train is eas­i­ly accessed from the Trem do Cor­co­v­a­do Sta­tion and it’s a thrilling jour­ney through the world’s largest city for­est of the Atlantic City as you wind through the wilds of Tiju­ca Nation­al Park that once fer­ried the very stone’s that make up the stat­ue more than a cen­tu­ry ago to the top of the hill.  

Giv­ing you a real sense of excite­ment, and an ele­ment of tra­di­tion on your jour­ney, you’ll also find the Cog train a safe and con­ve­nient way to make your way to the base of the won­der – espe­cial­ly over oth­er means of get­ting there, which com­bined with the beau­ti­ful views over Rio below you as you slow­ly ascend makes for a great way to start your explo­ration of this won­der.  

Reaching the base of the Statue:

Hav­ing arrived at the end of the line on the Cog train, you’ll find your­self a short walk away from the vis­i­tors cen­tre – which you’ll have to pass through and either pick up or scan tick­ets to get your­self onto the trail that leads to the sum­mit of the won­der and the incred­i­ble stat­ue.  

Tak­ing on the track – you have the option of trekking the 220 steps to the time – which brings the stat­ue clos­er into view and tests your car­dio – or tak­ing esca­la­tors and lifts for a much more relaxed way to the top par­tic­u­lar­ly in the heat.  

Slow­ly ascend­ing, you’ll see incred­i­ble views of Rio open up below you as you head up Cor­co­v­a­do and as you reach the top you’ll see the stat­ue come into view and a won­der of the world appear before you.  

 

The Statue: 

Hav­ing arrived at the stat­ue, and hav­ing of course grabbed some pho­tos from the ini­tial van­tage point, you’ll be struck by how the stat­ue appears to hov­er over the side of the Cor­co­v­a­do moun­tain and mak­ing your way through the crowds you’ll also be struck by the unique archi­tec­ture that has gone into the stat­ue that reflects the rev­er­ence and spir­i­tu­al­i­ty of this reli­gious icon.  

This is per­haps most evi­dent in the unique shape of Christ the Redeemer, with Christ stand­ing upright and arms wide – in a sign of both open­ness, hope and wel­com­ing – in keep­ing with the catholic faith. It’s also evi­dent in the posit­ing of the stat­ue, look­ing out not only over Rio but care­ful­ly posi­tioned to face the east and the ris­ing sun – reflec­tive of Christ wel­com­ing a new day whilst, thanks to it’s posi­tion atop the Cor­co­v­a­do being vis­i­ble from all parts of the Rio below.  

Mov­ing clos­er to the stat­ue and you’ll find your­self approach­ing the base upon which Christ the Redeemer sits. Thin­ner in con­struc­tion com­pared to the stat­ue and designed in an octag­o­nal shape to allow appre­ci­a­tion of Christ from all angles the base is tru­ly spe­cial as under­neath lies one of the most inspir­ing and beau­ti­ful chapels on the plan­et the small Chapel of Our Lady of Apare­ci­da – which is so named after the lead­ing saint of Brazil.  

Fea­tur­ing a dai­ly mass at 11am  – which is accom­pa­nied by singing out­side on Sun­days – and also being a unique spot for bap­tisms and wed­dings, the chapel is hol­low and small and was con­struct­ed in 2006, with the inte­ri­or evolv­ing to include while angel­ic walls and a mar­ble floor – with the ceil­ing fea­tur­ing fres­cos that rep­re­sent a clear blue sky with accom­pa­ny­ing catholic reli­gious imagery.  

For those of the catholic faith, the chape of Our Lady of Apare­ci­da is no doubt a spe­cial place, with the stalls and bench­es fac­ing the altar offi­cer­ing a spe­cial place for reflec­tion and prayer in one of the holi­est chapels on the plan­et.  

Exit­ing the chapel, and you’ll be able to glimpse up to the top of Christ the Redeemer – whose inte­ri­or is sad­ly off lim­its to the pub­lic. Star­ing up you’ll notice the care­ful archi­tec­tur­al design and crafts­man­ship, as well as the pol­ished mosa­ic of 6 mil­lion soap­stone tiles – which are reg­u­lar­ly paint­ed, and which stretch to the head of Christ stretch­ing 30 metres into the Brazil­ian Sky.  

Tak­ing a moment to both admire and cir­cum­nav­i­gate the stat­ue to appre­ci­ate the sym­bol­ism and beau­ty of the won­der of Christ the Redeemer and spend­ing time to read the var­i­ous­ly expla­na­tion pan­els that line the stat­ue offer­ing an insight into its unique his­to­ry and con­struc­tion, the next stop on your vis­it to this incred­i­ble won­der will be the ter­race of Christ the Redeemer – where you can enjoy stun­ning 360-degree views over the whole of Rio de Janeiro.  

Sat on the edge of the Cor­co­v­a­do Moun­tain, some 700 meters above the sea and beach­es below, the ter­race is a sky­walk that lets you take in the view of the stat­ue as it tow­ers over and looks down upon Rio de Janeiro – giv­ing you the exact view of the incred­i­ble city as Christ.   

You’ll also be treat­ed to awe-inspir­ing and sim­ply stun­ning view of the icon­ic city below – includ­ing the famed Mara­canã sta­di­um, home to so much of Brazil’s foot­ball his­to­ry, the cen­tro the Copaca­bana beach and stretch­ing beyond the city into the hori­zon – which is par­tic­u­lar­ly beau­ti­ful at both sun­rise and sun­set.  

Tak­ing time to take in the incred­i­ble view – and with one last look at the stun­ning won­der of the world, it’s time to descend – and by which time you’ll have prob­a­bly worked up a bit of an appetite and, giv­en the heat, like­ly be in neat of a drink.  

So before set­ting back off on the cog train or grab­bing a taxi you also have the option of descend­ing down to the low­er lev­el of steps where you’ll find a large clear see through build­ing which hous­es a series of restau­rants, cafes and a cou­ple of sou­venir shops –– which makes for a great spot to kick back and take in and reflect on the beau­ty of the won­der of the world before you while enjoy­ing a well earned drink.  

Helicopter tour at sunset:

Along­side ensur­ing you give your­self enough time to explore the stat­ue dur­ing the day – prefer­ably at sun­rise – we’d also advise mak­ing time see the incred­i­ble stat­ue at sun­set and sun­rise where Christ the Redeemer lights up and glows against the back­drop of the stun­ning South Amer­i­can sun­set – and there’s no bet­ter way to see it than from above in a heli­copter while also tak­ing in the incred­i­ble sky­line and shore­line of Rio de Janeiro.  

Offer­ing stun­ning views, a heli­copter tour both give you a chance to view the won­der with­out the crowds and allows you to see the full scale and spir­i­tu­al­i­ty of Christ the Redeemer perched atop Cor­co­v­a­do over­look­ing the city of Brazil below.  

Avail­able as both a 6‑minute flight – for $90 Usd or half an hour for $300 – you can expect most tours to cir­cum­nav­i­gate Christ the redeemer at least twice, giv­ing you a chance to see it from all angles at its absolute best – with some flights also pro­vid­ing both com­pli­men­ta­ry pho­tos and giv­ing you a chance to perch with you feet dan­gling over the edge of the heli­copter- for a true adren­a­line expe­ri­ence.  

 Tak­ing you also over the beach­es and shore­line – a heli­copter tour at sun­set is a mag­i­cal and inspi­ra­tional way of see­ing this incred­i­ble won­der at its absolute best offer­ing stun­ning pho­tos and tru­ly spe­cial way to end your day explor­ing the spir­i­tu­al and sacred won­der of the world that is Christ the Redeemer.  

 

How long to stay:

We’d rec­om­mend bud­get­ing a full day to ful­ly explore Christ the Redeemer – giv­ing you enough chance to take in the stun­ning stat­ue at Sun­rise, Sun­set and at night.  

Being sure to check the weath­er fore­cast in advance and arrive on a clear day, you can expect your first sun­rise vis­it to last around 3 hours if depart­ing by Cog train, with the Sun­rise and night-time vis­it either com­bined as one 2 hour trip – or done as one long heli­copter trip – with these mul­ti­ply and dif­fer­ent­ly timed vis­its, which can of course be split over mul­ti­ple days giv­ing you a chance to expe­ri­ence and appre­ci­ate this won­der from all of its unique per­spec­tives.  

Top Tip:

Unfor­tu­nate­ly, any trip to Rio de Janeiro brings with it safe­ty con­cerns, with tourists advised to avoid cer­tain areas of the city and be on their guard for pick­pock­ets and poten­tial con­fronta­tions. While the area around Christ the Redeemer is safer than most areas of the city – and is high­ly policed giv­en it’s role as a major tourist attrac­tion, we’d strong­ly advise being aware of your sur­round­ing and tak­ing extra care when vis­it­ing the won­der.  

It is also for this rea­son of secu­ri­ty that we strong­ly advise against tak­ing the trek from the Par­que Lage to reach the base of Chris the Redeemer, with the route being noto­ri­ous for inci­dents of tourists being tar­get­ed by gangs.  

Along­side watch­ing out for your safe­ty we’d again advise to ensure you time your trip to Christ the Redeemer for max­i­mum enjoy­ment – being sure to avoid a cloudy day where views will be min­i­mal and to get there ear­ly to ensure crowds are at a min­i­mal – with queues being known to form between 9am – 3pm due to an influx of tours that fer­ry peo­ple to the won­der.  

We’d also strong­ly advise for max­i­mum enjoy­ment and to cut down on your entry time to ensure you buy your tick­ets for Christ the Redeemer entry in advance, with tick­et num­bers some­time lim­it­ed and large queues again known to form around the entry to Christ the Redeemer which can add fur­ther delays to your trip.  

Final­ly along­side being sure to take in the won­der at all three of the spe­cial times, sun­rise, sun­set and night time – and tak­ing on a heli­copter tour if your bud­get allows – you can expect Christ the Redeemer and all of Rio to be a lit­tle hot, so we’d advise as a final top tip to make sure you come pre­pared with a bot­tle of water, a good hat and plen­ty of sun­screen – to ensure  

Cost:  

Hav­ing cost your­self to Rio de Janeiro you’ll need to get your­self to the Trem do Cor­co­v­a­do Sta­tion at Cosme Vel­ho – which will cost you R$4.30 ($1Usd) for a trip on the Metro from across Rio – and then onto the Cog Train which will take you up the top of Cor­co­v­a­do Moun­tain and to Christ the Redeemer and will cost you either R$67 ($13 Usd – off sea­son) or R$82 ($15.50 – high sea­son).  

Hav­ing reached the entrance to the won­der, you’re next cost will be the entry tick­et to Christ the Redeemer – which can be bought on site or in advance (which we’d rec­om­mend) with entrance between 8am and 7pm allowed and cost­ing R$24 ($4.50 Usd) in the high sea­son and R$12 ($2.50 Usd) in the low sea­son.  

Along­side the entrance fee for a close-up view of the won­der, for those want­i­ng a bird’s eye view and a tru­ly spe­cial moment and awe-inspir­ing pho­tos of both the won­der and the Rio de Janeiro sky­line and shore­line, then we’d strong­ly rec­om­mend a heli­copter tour over Christ the Redeemer – which is avail­able as either a 6‑minute flight – for $90 Usd or half an hour for $300 – where you can expect to cir­cum­nav­i­gate Christ the redeemer at least twice and take in all the stun­ning angles of this won­der of the world.  

Bud­get­ing again for the Cog Train back and a cup of cof­fee and a meal sat in one of the restau­rants star­ing in the won­der, you can expect a trip to Rio de Janeiro to come in at around either R$265 / $50 Usd or R$265 / $350 Usd if you allow for the half hour heli­copter tour.  

Fun Fact:  

While the icon­ic Stat­ue stands now in a famous shade of white – when not lit up in nation­al colours to mark a momen­tous occa­sion – it was orig­i­nal­ly green in colour but sad­ly lost its orig­i­nal colour over time. With its colour being not the only thing that time has tak­en away with the stat­ue – with direct light­ning strikes tak­ing away the orig­i­nal eye­brow, upper lip and a por­tion of the stat­ues hand.  

Best photo spot: 

Although stand­ing as an icon­ic stat­ue perched atop the hill of Cor­co­v­a­do and vis­i­ble from across the city, pho­tos of Christ the Redeemer can by a lit­tle tricky to cap­ture – thanks to both the crowds, the pro­por­tions and posi­tion­ing of the stat­ue fac­ing the city from its sum­mit – and espe­cial­ly with the weath­er, which can obscure the stat­ue view from both a heli­copter and the top of the Cor­co­v­a­do hill.  

For this rea­son cap­tur­ing incred­i­ble pho­tos of this won­der that will stay with you for­ev­er requires care­ful plan­ning – and a bit of luck. First up do be sure to check the fore­cast when vis­it­ing to ensure you avoid and clouds and we’d also advise explor­ing three sched­ul­ing options for get­ting pho­tos of the won­der, at sun­rise, sun­set and after dark.  

With sun­rise giv­ing you the chance to cap­ture Christ the Redeemer with min­i­mal crowds and min­i­mal sun – mak­ing for a unique and crowd free shot as Rio below wakes up to be greet­ed by their cul­tur­al and sacred icon. For sun­set – and we’d advise tak­ing the heli­copter option if it’s with­in your bud­get, you get to see the beau­ti­ful Brazil­ian sun­set over the sky and coast lines of Brazil set against the stat­ue which glows with the set­ting of the sun – mak­ing for an incred­i­ble shot. Final­ly for after dark – you can expect Christ the Redeemer to be lit up – often in shades of Pur­ple if it’s not a cul­tur­al or sig­nif­i­cant hol­i­day / event as the icon­ic stat­ue tow­ers of Rio below stand­ing proud above the city, which makes for a great way to cap­ture the essence of the spir­i­tu­al­i­ty and sym­bol­ism of this won­der.  

For spots to cap­ture the pho­tos, there are four key spots that we’d rec­om­mend: 

1.) The first unsur­pris­ing­ly is up close and per­son­al to the stat­ue which is best seen at sun­rise, where you can take in the full scale of the stat­ue and admire its design and appre­ci­ate its splen­dour. You can expect crowds – and peo­ple repli­cat­ing the pose – and don’t be afraid to angle your cam­era to ensure you cap­ture the full scale of the stat­ue. With the view from up close and per­son­al giv­ing you a tru­ly stun­ning shot and a great way to start your day explor­ing this won­der. For those that do get here ear­ly enough to see the sun­rise – expect to see the whole of the bay light up behind Christ the Redeemer – which makes for a stun­ning and glow­ing pho­to.  

2.) The sec­ond view is not of just the stat­ue itself – but also the whole of the stun­ning Rio sky­line and coast­line, as you jour­ney out onto the Ter­race of the stat­ue and the peak of the Cor­co­v­a­do moun­tain for a breath tak­ing view spot of the won­ders of Rio includ­ing the stat­ue, the Copaca­bana beach, the Mara­canã sta­di­um and the Tiju­ca Rain­for­est. 

See­ing you perched more than 700 metres above and with views that stretch to the top of the hori­zon – we’d again being here as ear­ly as pos­si­ble for sun­rise – or for those who don’t opt for a heli­copter tour being here at sun­set – where the extra­or­di­nary views of Rio are light up by the gor­geous reflec­tion of the sun – mak­ing for a tru­ly mem­o­rable shot.  

3.) The third view see’s you take in the stat­ue at night, and for this we’d again advise get­ting up close and per­son­al if pos­si­ble and being at the stat­ue for both sun­set (6pm) and the dark­ness after­wards, or alter­na­tive­ly tak­ing in the view of the stat­ue from the ground lev­el look­ing up from one of Rio’s many beach­es.   

Set against the back­drop of the night stars of Rio, you can expect Christ the Redeemer stat­ue to be lit up in pur­ple from shin­ing lights at its base, cre­at­ing an atmos­pher­ic and holy icon stand­ing watch over the hus­tle and busy of the nightlife of Rio below – which makes for an incred­i­ble chance to cap­ture the full dynam­ic of Rio with the stat­ue meet­ing the city for a unique shot.  

4.) The final view is cap­tured in a more expen­sive man­ner – as you take on a thrill-seek­ing Heli­copter ride which gives you mul­ti­ple view­points of Christ the Redeemer – includ­ing a full view of the stat­ue from the front, look­ing behind over the city and a full panoram­ic view of the sky­line of the high­lights of Rio de Janeiro includ­ing the icon­ic stat­ue.  

Start­ing from $90 Usd for a six minute tour and going up to $300 for a half hour, you can expect to pass over the many incred­i­ble beach­es of Rio, with the heli­copter tour best done in our view at sun­set – where you’ll get the beau­ty of the sun set­ting over the coast­line com­bined with the Stat­ue glow­ing for a tru­ly spec­tac­u­lar shot and an incred­i­ble way to cap off explor­ing the won­der of the world of Christ the Redeemer.