Rio de Janeiro

WHS#25

Oh, Rio...

I don't really know what to make of this WHS. Now don't get me wrong, I love Rio de Janeiro as much as anyone else. Yes, my visit, like my entire visit to Brazil, was a bit too short to soak everything in, so the experience would've definitely benefited from a longer stay. But I really truly don't understand the OUV of a cultural site like this. Cultural landscapes are one thing; iconic landscapes are another. I feel like Rio's natural landmarks fall under the latter more than the former, and to me, that makes for a weak, if not nonexistent, OUV. Sure, every iconic place is iconic for a reason, but not all of these reasons may be a reason to become a WHS. Niagara is a pretty iconic waterfall, but it sure doesn't hold the natural values that Iguazu or Victoria Falls do. Hollywood is one of the most iconic urban areas thanks to modern performing arts, but we aren't gonna see it on this website anytime soon (except Frank Lloyd Wright's work there, of course, and for completely different reasons). While Rio is certainly one of the most scenic cities in the world, it's not the only one. Capetown, Hong Kong, and La Paz may come to mind, and each of them had to find a way to fully utilize their land as well. In Capetown's case, its iconic natural landmark, Table Mountain, is now WHS, on its own natural merit. The …

Rio is one of these WHS I visually absolutely enjoy, but it is not really clear to me where the UOV lies. However, I enjoyed my visit and was happy that I could combine visiting a new WHS and completing my minor travel goal to visit all New 7 Wonders. The other reviews covered the most important points, so I will concentrate on how to get to the parts of the WHS I visited.

In general I walked a lot. There are “walk Rio” sign posts all around the city and it’s sufficiently marked where to go to get to the next stop. I never felt unsafe and hat no problem using my big camera and my mobile phone in public. After covering Valango Wharf and 2 TWHS on foot in down town, I took the metro to Copacabana. I got off at Cantagalo station and walked the few minutes to the beach. Copacabana is by far the part of the town, where I saw most foreigners and it doesn’t feel like a WHS at all. I still enjoyed walking in the warm water and moved towards the Sugar Loaf for around 1km. I left the beach at the Hilton and walked to the funicular station of the Sugar Loaf. Takes around 45mins and you will cross a tunnel on the way. I arrived at the funicular station around noon. Strangely I was much faster without online reservation. While those who reserved a ticket online were waiting in a …

The issue I have with this site is that it's never really clear when you're actually in a World Heritage area - the designated spots are not distinct enough from the rest of the city. You don't really need to do anything special to see the WHS areas - any normal tourist will go to at least a couple of them. And I don't really see their significance.

Still, Rio is a fascinating city and certainly worth visiting. You'll never regret going if you haven't been before!

As far as arrivals go, not many places are going to top Rio. Our morning flight from Belo Horrizonte brought us over Rio’s incredible cityscape , nestled in amongst rainforest clad rounded peaks. My wife and I were clamouring over the window for our first glimpse of Christ the Redeemer, the Maracana, and Copacabana beach. Our descent into Santos Dumont airport was completed by a dramatic turn in front of Sugar Loaf Mountain. It was an incredible introduction to a unique city.

The world heritage site boundary is actually pretty limited. It excludes the majority of Rio’s built environment, which is covered separately by the four tentative sites that are scattered over a small area in the city centre. As such the outstanding universal value of this cultural landscape lies mainly in its natural features.

Given the limited boundary, it wasn't until late on our second day of touring that we entered the core part of the world heritage site. This was when we went for an evening stroll around the pleasant suburb of Urca, which is tucked up against Sugar Loaf Mountain. The seafront wall provided a nice place to join the locals while watching the sunset, the planes circle, and kids play beach football.

The unique urban landscape meant there were endless times when the best thing to do was gawp at the magnificent views. The best are from Copacabana Fort, from Niemeyer's Niteroi art centre back across the bay, the brooding monoliths that dominate the beaches of …

Just visited (March 2013). I have some mixed feelings connected with Rio's nomination. First of all it is one of those places that don't need UNESCO status to be visited. There are not many other big cities in the world with so remarkable lanscape / location. Truely one of world wonders.

But if we see what was really iscribed these are just parts of the city mostly rainforest located inside the town but inscribed as cultural landscape. Little bit strange. Of course Christ on the top of Corcovado is amazing together with Sugar Loaf (in this case is just a huge rock) and less known Botanical Garden (one of the best I have ever been) but other areas were a little bit dissapointing (dirty Copacabana surrounded by modern buildings, similar Botafogo beach - part of Guanabara Bay). Apart from those top atractions there are just modern buildings although perfectly located

My visit to Rio de Janeiro was a short one, and I was rained out on the first day.

The next morning it was more or less dry. By bus, I went to the Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf). This is the most prominent hill in the landscape of Rio. You get to the top via two cable cars. There may have been 75 people inside and it was pretty busy. At the halfway stop I found the most beautiful: the views of the beaches and the Sugarloaf itself.

A day later the sun was shining again. So a quick taxi ride brought me to the Corcovado, the mountain with the well-known Christ statue. It is reached by a little train, a tourist attraction by itself in Rio. What I found striking was the number of people engaged in the train. It looked like an employment project for the local youth. The train ride took about 20 minutes, passing through the Atlantic rainforest of the Tijuca National Park. A beautiful ride. Up near the statue, there's a beautiful view of the city.

Back at the bottom again I visited the Museum of Naive Art. Definitely worth it, with paintings of Rio and the history of Brazil on show.