By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Beginning Monday, August 15th four new buses offering sightseeing tours will begin to make their way around the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Run by Rio Ônibus in partnership with Riotur, the four buses of the ‘Sightseeing Rio’ tours will each offer a panoramic view of many of the city’s sites, with one of the four being a double-decker open roof bus.
Operating from Mondays to Sundays from 8AM to last departures at 6PM, the buses will begin the tours in Praça General Osório in Ipanema. They will then make their way through the city’s Zona Sul (South Zone), Centro (Central) and Zona Portuaria (Port Zone) areas, ending at Praça Mauá. Tour guides will speak both Portuguese and English as they highlight the many sites along the route.
The tour’s many attractions will include the neighborhood of Arpoador, Forte de Copacabana, Copacabana Beach, the Futuro Museu da Imagem e do Som, Pão de Açúcar, the Enseada de Botafogo, Parque Carmem Miranda, Casa Julieta de Serpa, the neighborhood of Glória, the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro (MAM), Praça XV, Candelária, Praça Tiradentes, the neighborhood of Lapa and the Boulevard Olímpico in Praça Mauá, among others.
Passes for the buses will be R$80 each, with children age seven and under riding for free. Each tour member will receive a bracelet to be used as identification as a member of the tour and for re-boarding the buses.
For additional information see the Rio Ônibus website.