LUXE has partnered with pride of guides Context Travel, who run private and small group tours led by an armed cotillion of art historians, PhDs, culture mavens + specialists. They’ll enlighten you via themed itins or bespoke jaunts, so you can spend time taking in the sights, not with your head buried in a book. What’s more, now you can book tours directly through our app. Glam gallivants ahead!
Bohemian Rio: Santa Teresa and Lapa
At once historic and happening, the sinuous streets of Santa Teresa and neighbouring Lapa are the voluptuous epicentre of Cariocan culture. While their ‘20s heyday may be terminado, the deco-dence of architecture remains, and as well as being home to Rio’s fanciest familias, these atmossy nabes are experiencing a flurry of lively new art and foodie openings.
This tour starts with a nose around the grandest mansions, before meandering down the hill towards the rhapsody of modern-day bohemia. Your Context docent will sashay you through the street-art tableaus and Bossa Nova bars before finally arriving at Parque das Ruinas – a former gossip n’ gawp spot for the cognoscenti of old, now a heaving cultural centre with spectacular downtown panorama.
Book directly at contexttravel.com
Founding Rio, the Marvellous City
Think Rio is all bikini babes and beachside caipirinhas? Well não, senhor, it turns out the city of mountains n’ sea is blessed with brains as well as bum bum. Over the last five centuries she’s transformed from colonial outpost to imperial capital, strident republican to humming metropolis – positioning herself as the country’s poster gal in the process. To track Rio’s ascendance, trace a path through historic downtown accompanied by a Context docent de Carioca.
Beginning in the hallowed halls of Santo Antonio, this tour winds through the gilded cathedrals and colonial buildings that were a onetime refuge for the Portuguese royals escaping ol’ Bonaparte. After learning how the Empire was built, there’s a quick pitstop at lavish, mirrored and marbled honey Confeitaria Colombo, once favoured by the republicans. Sweet tooth and revolutionary history sated, on you bumble through municipal sites repping Rio’s modern might, and boulevards à la Haussmann before arriving full circle at Brutalist San Sebastian Cathedral. To intellect and beauty, and to history and modernity – saudé!
Book directly at contexttravel.com
Future of Favelas
As part of their Deep Travel Foundation, Context has partnered with NGO Estrela, working with the children of Rio’s favelas. Together, they’ve created a truly one-of-a-kind expedition for the intrepid and altruistic – a tour of Rio’s sprawling fringes. You’ll visit the city’s largest favela, Complexo do Alemão, as well as the smaller Maracanã, home to the World Cup Stadium and Estrela’s very own urban garden, planted to educate kids about sustainability and healthy eating. The jaunt ends with you kicking a futebol around with said youngsters, while any donation you make to Estrela, Context will match – muito generoso!
Book directly at contexttravel.com
Renewing Rio, Upgrading Porto Maravilha and its Challenges
With the Olympics on the horizon, the world’s gaze is cast upon Rio’s efforts to upgrade her cityscape. This enlightening tour provides an upfront look into the challenges of urban renewal in Porto Maravilha, the historic centre of the slave trade and epicentre of Afro-Brazilian culture. Kicking off with a superb vista of the area from atop the Museum of Art, you’ll dive into the old district via Pedra do Sal and Little Africa before hopping on the cable car to Morro da Providencia, the city’s first favela.
You’ll be led by an architectect or historian who’ll elaborate on the politics and policies of renewal, hosting a walking convo about how the changing city affects the life of its residents. Serious stuff, for sure, but recall this is Rio… there’ll be plenty of samba along the way.
Book directly at contexttravel.com
The Birth of Bossa Nova
Rio has long been muse and musician to many; from ‘70s tropicalia to favela funk carioca – but bossa nova is undeniably, ahem, the boss. Peaking in the ‘60s, the melodic sing-song catapulted Copacabana into the international fame-stream. Give it due reverence by drinking in the sights of the movement’s birthplace, Bottle Alley, before swooning over the Ipanema sunset.
You’ll visit the resto where the tall, tan, young and lovely sauntered by, while your savvy Context docent is on hand, natch, to translate the lyrics and unravel the dance steps, offering nuggets of narrative along the way. What are you waiting for? Vai!
Book directly at contexttravel.com
