Day Trips from Rio de Janeiro to Countryside

Rio is a great place to base yourself for a trip to Brasil and Rio de Janeiro State. Not only because there is so much to do in the city but also because you are well-positioned for some great days out around Rio de Janeiro State. 

Here are some fun days out for you to try. Day Trips from Rio de Janeiro to Countryside, Sun Coast, Green Cost, Historic Cities, Petropolis City, Cabo Frio City, Buzios City, Angra dos Reis City, Paraty City, Tropical Islands. 

There are sightseeings towards the countryside of Rio de Janeiro State that start early morning and finish in the evening. Some of the most beautiful sightseeings are listed below. 

You can arrange for this with some travel agency. Rio de Janeiro and Copacabana districtic has no shortage of travel agencies. If you go along Copacabana Avenue you will see lots of them that offer these guided tours

Day Trip - Tropical Islands

Usually, this kind of seighseeing includes a saveiro cruise through an area where you can see the beautiful coast of Rio, the flora and fauna such as dolphins, birds, parrots, turtles and sting-rays.

Saveiro is the name given to a boat that looks like a schooner.

Others usual features of this type of seightseeing are as following:

The saveiro lands at 2 different beaches (outside the guanabara bay) to the visitors walk around, swimming or sunbath. 

A tray of tropical fruits may be served on board. 

A lunch in restaurant with Brazilian food is usually included.

A bar usually is available on the boat but beverages are not included in tour price.
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Day Trip - Paraty and Angra dos Reis City - Green Coast

Tour by bus toward to the south coast of Rio de Janeiro State.

Paraty is is a great colonial relic, well preserved and  achitecturally unique. 

The town is a truly work of art and is surrounded by pristine jungled mountains and clear warm water.

The tour goes along one of the most beautiful roads in the world.

You can enjoy the ocean view until you get to the historic Paraty city that still remains as it was in the XVII century.

Parati is also lively, has good restaurants and rich cultural life.


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Day Trip - Buzios and Cabo Frio City - Sun Coast

Tour by bus. These cities are next to each other and are  located in the north coast of Rio de Janeiro state. 

Cabo Frio was founded in 1615 after the Portuguese had defeated their Europeans foes in the area. The fort São Mateus was built to protect the area.

Buzios was a small fishing village till the early 60´s, when Brigitte Bardot and her Brazilian boyfriend "discovered" the place. Nowadays it has lots of boutiques, fine restaurants, fancy villas, bars and posh pousadas(inns). During holiday season the population reachs 100,000 and the prices are twice of the rest of Brazil.
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Day Trip - Petropolís City

Petropolis is 1 hour away from Rio, what makes it an ideal day trip. You can take a bus at the Rio Terminal Bus Station if you want to go on your own or arrange for a seightseeing tour with some travel agency. It is a city that lies on the high land of Rio de Janeiro State with a European flavour. 

It was there that the royal court spent the summer when Rio got too hot. You can visit the former  summer Imperial Palace (It is the Imperial Museum now) and other historic and picturesque attractions. It is a place to wander around or ride by horse-carriage through the squares and parks, past briges, canals and old-fashioned street lamps.

Before the invention of air-conditioning, upper classes of Rio used to have a summer house in Petropolis due to Its cool temperature in the summer.

Good food and drinks are served in cozy bar and restaurants.

You can also visit the last home of Santos Dumont (one of the  pioneers of aviation). It is a small, exotic and interesting house designed by himself. 

Santos-Dumont designed, built, and flew the first practical dirigibles. He  became the first person to demonstrate that routine, controlled flight was possible winning the Deutsch Prize on 19 October 1901 on a flight that rounded the Eiffel Tower. He was a daring person and became a celebrity for his deeds in the airs of Paris and one of the most famous people in the world during the early 20th century.

In Paris, in 1906, Santos-Dumont made with an airplane that he built, what is considered the first recorded and public flight of an airplane without external assistance. He took off, flew, and landed without the use of catapults, high winds, launch rails, or other external assistance. In a square of Petropolis there is a life-size replica model of the 14-Bis airplane.
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In the left upper corner of the picture, you can see the picturesque and ingenius Santos Dumont House. In the left bottom corner the Crystal Palace and in the right the Summer Imperial Palace and gardens.

Later on Santos-Dumont conceived and built another aircraft and gave permition to published the drawings throughout the word to everyone learn on how to built an airplane. The June 1910 edition of the Popular Mechanics magazine published drawings of the Demoiselle airplane and remarked that Santos-Dumont's plane was better than any other that had been built to that date, for those who wish to reach results with the least expense and with a minimum of knowledge.