Overview
Available languages
5 hours
Mobile ticket
Sugar loaf hike is an exciting way to reach the summit and enjoy the views while combining hiking and rock climbing!
Sugar Loaf Natural Monument, one of Rio’s most famous icons, consists of two hills. The higher one is the Sugar Loaf (396m / 1030ft), and the lower is Urca Hill (220m / 722ft).
The Costão Trail, which takes us to the top of Sugar Loaf, requires a quick climb (15m / 49ft), considered easy by the experienced and indicated for beginners. All safety equipment are included!
The view of Copacabana Beach, Urca district, Guanabara Bay, Cristo Redentor and surroundings, is priceless.
* Tour details:
Starting time: 07am (everyday) / 01pm (weekdays)
Tour duration: 4hs (approx)
Hike level: advanced (level 4 of 5)
Rock climbing section: 3º BR / 5.5 US / 3+ FR
Trail length: 4km / 2,5miles (total)
Elevation gain: 400m / 1312ft
Trail duration: 2:30 hours climb / cable car + 30 minutes trail descent
Additional Info
Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
Travelers should have a high level of physical fitness
Wear light clothing and hiking shoes, bring a small backpack with water, snacks, mosquito repellent, sunscreen, cap or hat, sunglasses, cash for extras.
Important: During the hike, there is a short rock climb, easy, quick, totally safe and indicated for beginners (no previous climbing experience is required).
Hike length: 5 km / 3,1 miles (total)
After 5pm, the descent from Morro da Urca to the beach is done by cable car (not included), due to the closing time of the trail.
RioXtreme shall not be responsible for any kind of loss, accident, incident, sickness, or injury. It is advisable that the traveler should avail of travel insurance as there can be chances of potential risks and hazards. Also, by booking this tour the traveler declares that are mentally and physically able to participate. No refund is applicable after starting the tour.
What To Expect
The Sugar Loaf compound, one of Rio's most famous icons, consists of two hills. The higher one is the Sugar Loaf (396m / 1030ft), and the lower is Urca Hill (220m / 722ft). The Costão Trail, which takes us to the top of Sugar Loaf, requires a quick climb (15m / 49ft), considered easy by the experienced and indicated for beginners. All safety equipments are included! The view of Copacabana Beach, Urca district, Guanabara Bay, Cristo Redentor and many more, is priceless. On our way down, we take the cable car to the Urca Hill (included) and then a short and easy trail back to the beach. * During the hike, there is a short rock climb section, totally safe and indicated for beginners. * After 5pm, the descent from Morro da Urca to the beach is done by cable car (not included), due to the closing time of the trail.
Options
Meeting point option in Urca
Without transfer: In front of the monument in the middle of General Tibúrcio square - Urca district. https://goo.gl/maps/eSdXDawwKy6UuWj97
What‘s Included
Accredited mountain guide
Descent by Cable Car (1st part)
Climb equipment
Extras
Descent by Cable Car (2nd part)
Private transportation
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Reviews
7 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
Great experience
Freedom10141062349,Oct 12, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Absolutely great experience with a guide who can’t be better. The tour is challenging but the the views and our guide Marius and the wonderful conversation with him was absolutely worth to do it.
Great tour with great guide highly recommend!!!
733giannaa,Jan 7, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Didi was great and very patient with us as it was our first time rock climbing. We had so much fun and his english was amazing. He had great conversations and learned alot about Brazil. The tour itself was hard but well worth all the effort but it was definatly difficult not much trail more climbing the mountain on rocks although we felt very safe with Didi by our side! It was rewarding exciting and beautiful views. Much better than taking the cable cars. I highly recommend!
Phenomenal Tour and Top Notch Service
Sergio B,Apr 7, 2022
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00I did the Sugar Loaf hike tour with Weber and it was fantastic. He was extremely knowledgeable and ready to help whenever the path got more technical. I highly recommend them, and will be doing other tours with them next time I'm in Rio.
Excellent
udis2022,Jan 12, 2022
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Guide Bruno and Driver Sapo....double note 1000! Attentive... Responsible people dedicated to everything.
Excellent guide, beautiful views
BenjaminJ1072,Nov 24, 2019
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We did the Sugar Loaf Hike on a weekend - the views were beautiful, and the hike up is a great way to see Rio and wonder a bit off the beaten track. Our guide was excellent - friendly, knowledgeable, punctual, reliable and very professional. If a small adventure is your thing, then go with RioXtreme!
Awesome Experience!
Blake W,Oct 23, 2019
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Weber was great and took good care of us the whole time! He knew what he was doing and was great to talk to while we hiked/climbed. His English was great! The hike was beautiful despite there being a large cloud over the top of Sugar Loaf. Very adventurous and rewarding. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for an alternate way to get up Sugar Loaf.
What a way to earn those caipirinhas!
melwol,Sep 14, 2019
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00After several days of being gluttons and lying around on the beach, we were looking for an activity that actually burned calories. Hoping to see Rio from a different perspective and apart from the more conventional tours clogging up all of the main city sites, we signed-up for the Sugarloaf hike with Rio Extreme. The RioExtreme website was easy to navigate, even in English; the reservation was straightforward to make and payment processed via PayPal (250 Reals/person). Instructions were sent shortly thereafter regarding what to wear, what to expect, etc. The only thing to note was that there was an additional charge for pick-ups outside the Zona Sul (60 Reals/return). We lucked out and had a tour/tour guide all to ourselves as we started later than planned - RioExtreme was very accommodating about our need to start at 09:00 rather than 07:00, but it’s definitely advisable to start as early as possible. The heat on the peak was pretty intense late morning/early afternoon and we went in winter! The hike was challenging but manageable for anyone in decent shape. The standout feature of the trip was the “climb” up a third-grade rock face. For the two of us with next to no rock-climbing experience, this was a pretty formidable experience, especially with the ocean waves crashing over rocks not that far below. Our guide Weber (so great!) was incredibly patient as we slowly made our way up and the total hiking time took around 4 hours 45 minutes. Given how much needs to be coordinated during the hike though - i.e. equipment set-up, breaks, this tour probably works best with a smaller sized group. Overall, it was a great experience and pretty decent cost-wise in terms of value. Be sure to pack lightly, wear quality shoes, apply sunscreen, bring water and small snacks, wear a hat…and apparently there are poisonous snakes on Sugarloaf but we didn’t see any. :)
Related Experiences
Operated by RioXtreme