Budget · 3-hour walk · Rio de Janeiro
Centro and Lapa in three hours
The colonial square, the Belle Epoque cafe and opera house, then the painted steps and the aqueduct arches.
Most visitors see Rio's beaches and its two mountains and never walk the centre, which is where the city actually is. This route is flat, entirely in the old town, and finishes at the Selaron Steps in Lapa. Do it on a weekday when the centre is alive; on Sundays it empties out and is best avoided.
The route, stop by stop
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Praca XV de Novembro
The colonial heart, where the Portuguese court landed in 1808. The imperial palace on it is now a cultural centre.
20 min here Walk here → -
Confeitaria Colombo
An 1894 tea room with Belgian mirrors and a stained-glass ceiling, unchanged. Coffee at the counter costs a fraction of a table.
30 min here Walk here → -
Theatro Municipal
Modelled on the Paris Opera and finished in 1909. Guided tours on weekday afternoons.
25 min here Walk here → -
Arcos da Lapa
An 18th-century aqueduct that has carried a tram over Lapa since 1896. The tram still runs up to Santa Teresa.
20 min here Walk here → -
Escadaria Selaron
Two hundred and fifteen steps tiled over twenty years by a Chilean artist with tiles sent from sixty countries.
30 min here Walk here →
More in Rio de Janeiro
Every walking route in Rio de Janeiro, or the full Rio de Janeiro guide for where to stay and what a day costs.