RIO DE JANEIRO TOUR GUIDE – PRIVATE GUIDED TOURS OF RIO

I took a tour guide course in 2004 in Rio de Janeiro, and since then I have been working in the field. At some point in time, I have specialized in private city tours, covering the major attractions as well as the lesser-known sites. I have guided more than eight thousands visitors (!), from forty-five nationalities and from all walks of life. If you think a bit about it, those are huge numbers considering that private tours have on average between two and four people.

I have guided solo travelers (male and female), couples, families, groups of friends, co-workers. My tour guide service past clientele includes tourists on vacation in Rio de Janeiro as well as business people who managed to make space in their calendar to visit at least the two major attractions: Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugar Loaf. Many of those visitors had already taken private guided tours in other cities and knew the benefits of them, but some had decided to take their very first private tour in their lives in Rio de Janeiro, and apparently, they did not regret it.

On my records as a private tour guide in Rio de Janeiro, all my figures are either in the thousands or in the hundreds. In other words, I have guided people thousands of times to some attractions, and hundreds of times to others. The overwhelming majority of these visitors have taken my very own private guided tours.

Christ the Redeemer statue? I have guided visitors there thousands of times! Sugar Loaf Mountain? I have guided tourists there thousands of time! Sélaron steps? I have guided foreign visitors there hundreds of times (maybe thousands). Downtown Rio? Thousands of times! Maracana stadium? Hundreds of times! Favelas? Hundreds of times (when I used to do it). Panoramic beach tour? Hundreds of time. Guiding visitors to other tourist and non-tourist sites? Many dozens or hundreds of times! With all modesty aside, I am an expert in guiding visitors on private tours to a number of attractions in Rio de Janeiro. That is to say, I am a professional private tour guide.

I have guided, visited and seen these attractions in all conditions imaginable: crowded, empty, hot as hell, on cold days, raining cats and dogs, in a quick way, slowly, on foot, by car, towed (!), flying over, during major strikes and protests, on holidays, on weekdays, on weekends, early, late, during the day, at night, you name it! No wonder I have perfected my tours to a standard of excellence that I am proud of today. I know most Rio de Janeiro attractions worth visiting as the palm of my hand. I know the when’s and the how’s by heart.

I am a professional private tour guide specialized in Rio de Janeiro. That’s my job. I was born to be a tour guide. Quality guiding services (more specifically, guided private tours) is what I offer to visitors who include Rio on their trip to Brazil.

Guiding is NOT something I do here and there, from time to time, as a side job. On the contrary, I am a dedicated private tour guide always aiming at providing a high standard of service. I take my duties very seriously and I keep myself updated on what’s going on in Rio de Janeiro and at the tourist attractions.

I know that for many visitors, a trip to Rio de Janeiro is a dream coming true and I understand that my responsibility during my private guided tours is high. I know that in many cases there is a lot of expectation behind that tour. Sightseeing is an important part of your trip to Rio de Janeiro and should be done in a proper way i.e. ideally handled by a professional. That’s how I think and I act accordingly.

Rio de Janeiro is not world-famous for punctuality. Rio is famous for Carnival, New Year’s Eve fireworks, great beaches such as Copacabana and Ipanema, breath-taking vistas, iconic tourist attractions, beautiful women, and more, but not for punctuality.

There is a laid-back atmosphere in Rio de Janeiro, and for many locals (if not for most of them), “on time” may mean several minutes late. However, despite of being a local of Rio, I am always on time. In other words, the time that your Rio private tour is scheduled to start is the time that I will pick you up in the lobby of your hotel.

I am very safety-oriented. That’s good news for you because in a large and sometimes chaotic city like Rio de Janeiro, being guided by a private tour guide who is safety-conscious is a plus.

My motto as a professional private tour guide is: I only take visitors to areas or sites of Rio de Janeiro that I feel safe. If by any chance I no longer feel safe to visit a certain attraction, I exclude it from my guided tours. In other words, I prefer to have a smaller tour package but that I feel are safe, than have a larger menu including some not-so-safe areas.

You will probably feel safe in Rio de Janeiro (as most tourist do), and you might feel even safer if you choose to visit the city on a private guided tour led by a professional and experienced tour guide.

The overwhelming majority of the population in Rio de Janeiro does not speak English. The lack of locals fluent in English can be surprising, even in tourist areas such as Copacabana, or at businesses with an influx of foreign tourists such as certain cafés, restaurants, shops, and even at some tourist attractions.

Not all tour guides in Rio de Janeiro speak English. In fact, many guides work for agencies and tour operators that provide excursions only to Brazilians (i.e. guided tours and excursions to Rio de Janeiro City and Rio de Janeiro State, as well as to other destinations in Brazil). The bottom line is that considering the number of tour guides in Brazil, few can speak English very fluently. In my case, my guiding services grew in a way that I specialized in private tours for foreigners visiting Rio de Janeiro, and English is nowadays my second language.

I can assure you that I am proficient in English, which means that I am able to understand 99.99% of what you say without effort, and speak it in a way that you will totally understand me (great diction, pronunciation and grammar guaranteed).

One of the reasons for hiring a Rio de Janeiro private tour guide is to be able to make questions about a wide variety of subjects related to the local culture, the attractions, the people, Brazil, and much more. So, you can rest assured that our conversation will be smooth, with no misunderstandings that could in a way or another affect your Rio private tour, and as a result, your experience.

I am, in a way, obsessed with efficiency and good time management. Bear in mind that time management it is not a quality that all tour guides possess. In spite of the fact that private tours are more flexible and customizable, Rio de Janeiro is a big city and a mindset towards good time management and efficiency is essential.

I am often praised by the end of the tour for how much I was able to pack in a few hours without necessarily rushing the group. To achieve that, I use a number of tricks, techniques and strategies to gain time, some of which are the result of trial and error in the past, but that today, leads to an unrushed yet efficient private tour of Rio de Janeiro.

I have heard from past clients several stories about unfriendly private tour guides they have hired on other trips around the world. Fortunately, Brazilians are, in general, friendly. So are Cariocas (residents of Rio de Janeiro). That is to say, the chances of hiring a reputable yet unfriendly private tour guide in Rio de Janeiro are rather low. However, better safe than sorry.

According to the hundreds of 5-star reviews I have received on my guiding services, many of them (if not the majority) mention my great sense of humor. With all modesty aside, I am proud of that. It is great to show Rio de Janeiro around and at the same time hear a laugh here and there along the way.

Not all tour guides in Rio de Janeiro have a private car and not all private guides have comfortable cars. In fact, Brazilian cars are of rather small size, compared to, for example, cars marketed in the United States. However, there are a number of SUV’s and minivans models in the Brazilian market, and I own one of them. Actually, it is already the 3^rd car I have of the very same model since I started working as a private tour guide in Rio de Janeiro. It is comfortable for three large adults, or for four regular-size adults, or for a couple with up to four kids/young teenagers, as it is a 7-seat vehicle.

I shall mention that people say I am skillful driver.

I have lived in Rio de Janeiro most of my life and I love the city (I am from Rio, but I have lived in different countries for some time in the past). You can easily feel that I love Rio on a private tour with me. I am passionate about the major tourist attractions as well as about the lesser-known spots that I go by myself in my free time.