Rio and the Amazon

Rio first, with Sugarloaf opened at dawn before its gates, the studios where Carnival is made and a helicopter over the bay. Then flights inland to Alta Floresta and a boat up the River Cristalino, for four days of river and forest from two 50-metre towers above the canopy, with guides who specialise in birds and nature photography.

Length: Seven nights
Pace: Two stays
Style: City, rainforest, wildlife, helicopter
Route: Rio de Janeiro to The southern Amazon

Rio de JaneiroThree nights
The southern AmazonFour nights

The granite dome of Sugarloaf Mountain over green water, with cable-car wires above.

Days 1 to 4 · three nights

Rio de Janeiro

A helicopter over Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf, and a bike ride along the beaches of Ipanema, Leblon and Copacabana. Sugarloaf by cable car, or by private access at dawn, from 4 a.m., long before the gates open, with breakfast at the top. A mountain hike, the old centre, Santa Teresa and Pequena África, and a day with the samba: the streets where it was born, the Carnival studios behind the scenes, a private percussion workshop with local musicians and an evening at a samba house.

Where you stay

Copacabana Palace, A Belmond Hotel

Copacabana Palace has faced the beach from Avenida Atlântica since 1923, when it opened for the centenary of Brazilian independence. Its 140 rooms and suites sit around a half-Olympic outdoor pool, with Pérgula for Brazilian cooking and Mee for pan-Asian dining.

Tall rainforest trees along the bank of a wide, calm river.

Days 4 to 8 · four nights

The southern Amazon

Flights to Alta Floresta, then a short drive and a boat along the Teles Pires and Cristalino rivers to the lodge. Sunrise from the 50-metre observation towers as the mist lifts and macaws pass overhead, canoeing for giant otters and tapirs, and birding on the forest trails among about 600 species. A private guide, a specialist in birds or nature photography, can be arranged subject to availability, and a climb into the uplands gives the long views.

Where you stay

Cristalino Lodge

Cristalino Lodge stands by the River Cristalino in a forest reserve of 11,399 hectares, reached by road and river from Alta Floresta. Two 50-metre observation towers rise above the canopy, more than 30 kilometres of trails run through the forest, and a deck over the river is there for swimming.

Arranged on request

Sugarloaf before the gates open

Private access to Sugarloaf Mountain at dawn, from 4 a.m., long before the public, with breakfast at the top for up to eight guests.

Behind the scenes of Carnival

A walk through the neighbourhoods where samba was born, the Carnival creative studios behind the scenes, a private percussion workshop with local musicians and an evening at a samba house.

A box at the Maracanã

In the Brazilian Cup season, a behind-the-scenes tour of a traditional Rio football club, its locker rooms, trophy halls and player tunnel, then a match from a private box at the Maracanã.

Dawn above the canopy

Daybreak from the top of one of Cristalino's two 50-metre towers, as the mist clears and macaws, aracaris and spider monkeys show in the canopy.

A guide of your own

Cristalino's bilingual guides specialise in birds and nature photography, and a private guide can be hired, subject to availability.

Subject to availability.

Ways to make it yours

A day in the Tijuca Forest above Rio.
Rio's architecture with a private guide, from the Monastery of São Bento and Confeitaria Colombo to the Museum of Tomorrow.
Two nights at Iguaçu Falls on the way home.

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.