Why this ride
On the way it passes Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N, Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli, Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between and Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Sítio Roberto Burle Marx and Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 213 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 25
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Rio-Santos Highway
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 25 km this is Rio-Santos Highway, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 25 km
- Named road
- Rio-Santos Highway
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Sítio Roberto Burle Marx
Roberto Burle Marx changed the way the world thought about gardens. The Brazilian landscape architect, painter and plant collector, who died in 1994, designed the wave-patterned promenade along Copacabana beach, the gardens of the Ministry of Education in Rio, and hundreds of other parks and gardens, using native tropical plants in bold, abstract compositions. In 1949 he bought a former coffee estate in Barra de Guaratiba, in the far west of Rio de Janeiro, and turned it into his home, studio and laboratory, filling it with thousands of plant species collected on expeditions across Brazil. Sítio Roberto Burle Marx was added to the World Heritage list in 2021.
Read the complete Sítio Roberto Burle Marx write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sítio Roberto Burle Marx is where the day begins. Next is Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N.
2. Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N
Two granite monoliths stand over the western edge of Rio de Janeiro, and they draw very different crowds. Pedra da Gávea, at about eight hundred and forty metres, is a massive block with a flat face that looks, from some angles, like a human profile, and it has attracted legends, including one about Phoenician inscriptions carved by sailors thousands of years ago. Experts think the marks are natural erosion. Pedra Bonita, a smaller sister, is where hang-gliders and paragliders launch from a wooden ramp, floating down over the forest to land on the beach at São Conrado, in one of the most photographed flights in the world.
Read the complete Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli.
3. Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli
The entrance to Guanabara Bay is a narrow gap between two rock masses, with Sugarloaf Mountain on one side and the fort of Sao Joao on the other, and it is one of the great harbour views of the world. This stretch of shoreline, around Urca, Botafogo and Flamengo, is part of the area that UNESCO recognised in 2012 as a cultural landscape where the city and the natural setting have shaped each other. The words manmade shoreline refer to the reclaimed land along the bay, which includes the Flamengo Park.
Read the complete Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 58 km into the recorded legs you reach Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli. Next is Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between.
4. Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between
Rio is the one big city where a motorbike ride can end in a rainforest. Floresta da Tijuca, now a national park, is one of the largest urban forests in the world, and it is also a replanted forest. In the nineteenth century the original Atlantic forest had been cut for coffee and charcoal, the city's springs were drying up, and the emperor's government started replanting the slopes. What you ride through today is a second-growth jungle that grew back from that effort.
Read the complete Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between, about halfway. Next is Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site.
5. Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site
There is hardly any monument here, and that is part of what makes it powerful. The Valongo Wharf in Rio's port district is a sunken stone landing, unearthed in 2011 under the street when the area was being renovated, and it is believed to be the principal place where enslaved Africans arrived in the Americas. Historians estimate that hundreds of thousands of people came ashore at Valongo in the first half of the nineteenth century, after being shipped across the Atlantic in conditions that many did not survive. It was built in 1811 to move the trade away from the city centre, and was later covered by a new quay built for the arrival of a bride for the emperor. The stones lay hidden for the better part of two centuries.
Read the complete Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site sits at 92 km, about halfway. Next is back through Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between.
6. back through Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between comes up about 128 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli.
7. back through Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 160 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli. Next is back through Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N.
8. back through Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N, late in the day. Next is Sítio Roberto Burle Marx.
9. Sítio Roberto Burle Marx
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sítio Roberto Burle Marx write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 213 km.
Leg by leg
Sítio Roberto Burle Marx to Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N
Sítio Roberto Burle Marx → Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N to Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli
Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N → Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli to Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between
Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli → Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between to Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site
Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between → Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site to back through Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between
Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site → back through Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between to back through Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli
back through Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between → back through Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli to back through Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N
back through Mouth of Guanabara Bay and Manmade Shoreli → back through Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N to Sítio Roberto Burle Marx
back through Pedra Bonita and Pedra da Gávea - Tijuca N → Sítio Roberto Burle Marx is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.