Sugarloaf Mountain

Granite Peak At The Mouth Of Guanabara Bay, Reached By Cable Car Since 1912; Part Of The Rio De Janeiro UNESCO World Heritage Landscape · Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro

Sugarloaf Mountain is the bare granite dome that stands at the mouth of Guanabara Bay, about 396 metres high, and it is the other half of Rio's skyline alongside Christ the Redeemer. A cable car has carried visitors up since 1912, one of the first in the world, in two stages: from the Praia Vermelha station in Urca to the lower Morro da Urca, about 220 metres up, and from there across a long gap to the summit. The glass cars are modern and the ride is short. From the top you see Copacabana's curve, the bay, Niterói across the water, and Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado opposite. Sunset is the classic time and also the most crowded one. The Morro da Urca has its own restaurants and terraces, and can be reached on foot by a forest trail. At the base, the flat Cláudio Coutinho path runs around the foot of the mountain above the sea, free and full of marmosets. Climbers also go up the rock itself on some of the oldest routes in Brazil. It is touristy and busy, and still one of the great urban views on earth.

Avenida Pasteur 520, Urca, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Open every day from morning into the evening, and the cable cars run continuously through that time, with the last ascent some time before closing. Tickets are sold at the Praia Vermelha station and online; buying online skips the ticket counter but not the boarding queue, which is the real wait. Queues are longest in the hour before sunset and on weekends and holidays, when the wait to board can exceed an hour, and the descent queue after sunset can be just as long. The cable car stops during thunderstorms and very high winds. The free Cláudio Coutinho path at the base has its own shorter hours and closes in the late afternoon or early evening, and the forest trail up to Morro da Urca should be started in daylight. Restaurants on the Morro da Urca keep their own hours, and events there can affect access to parts of the terraces. Confirm current hours and prices before going.

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