Rio Sunrise and Hanging Out At Trilha Pedra do Telégrafo

Monday, January 19, 2026

Today we had an early wake up call. In order to make it to our sunrise view point, we would need to leave at 4:30am to see the sunrise at 5:20am. We were headed to Mirante Dona Marta for its incredible sunrise view over Rio and Guanabara Bay.

Climbing up the ~5-minute stairs from the parking lot at Mirante Dona Marta to get to the viewing platform, I wasn't prepared for what we found up there. It wasn't the small crowd of ~75 people that caught me off guard. "Photographers" claim most of the area with their light sabers, tapping you to get out of their line of sight. 

There were at least 7 lights hogging over half of the public platform and view. It is total bullshit for everyone else who go up early to catch a glimpse of the beauty.

There is another viewpoint at the opposite end of the parking lot that no one is at - at the helipad. While you can see the sunrise from there, it isn't nearly as ideal. But it does give you a great view of Christ the Redeemer!

Hardly anyone watches the sunrise from the helipad

There is a close up view of Christ the Redeemer from the helipad

The next adventure was added to our itinerary just yesterday. It was very high on my list during the planning phase, but I didn't want to take the chance of going all that way for clouds and rain.

Trilha Pedra do Telégrafo has one of the most unique viewpoints I have ever seen. What makes it so much fun is its illusion that you are standing on the edge of a major cliff.

The ride to the beach village where you start the hike to Trilha Pedra do Telégrafo takes about 45-90 minutes depending on the route your driver takes. We went the long way so arrived at 7:00am. From the village, we should have had a 20-minute walk up the steep street to the trailhead. (Taxis won't drive it.). However, our driver hired us moto taxis to take us up one at a time. The short ride was so thrilling! With curves, incline, speed bumps - and no helmet - we all questioned our ability to hold on. Vivian's driver was checking his phone messages and Jeremy's took a phone call. Chris caught air on a speed bump.

I love that we had the unexpected opportunity to ride on a motorcycle!

The moderately difficult trail to Trilha Pedra do Telégrafo is about 1 mile and takes ~30-45 minutes. It is fairly intuitive until you reach the highest point where the obvious route goes right … to a dead end.

For hiking Trilha Pedra do Telégrafo you will want to wear tennis shoes. It is slightly steep and slippery in areas so definitely don't wear flip flops. Bring water and bug spray.

When you are almost to Trilha Pedra do Telégrafo, continue straight at the tree with the ribbon tied around it.  Don’t follow the trail to the right here. 

The small area at the top of Trilha Pedra do Telégrafo offers an incredible view all the way to Rio; you can even see Christ the Redeemer! A photographer hangs out at the top to pose you and take your picture (for a fee).

The small area - and people waiting in line - at the top of Trilha Pedra do Telégrafo

The illusion of hanging off the rock - when you’re actually only inches off the ground

The last stop of our visit to Rio wasn't on our itinerary either due to its limited open hours. The Royal Portuguese Reading room / Real Gabinete Português de Leitura is one of the most stunning examples of "library porn" on the planet. I really wanted Vivian, a book affectionado, to have the opportunity to see it. Previously a Portuguese colony since 1500, Rio founded the library to house the nearly endless collection of Portuguese texts for its readers. It is stunningly impressive and worthy of a quick look.

Vivian read that the Royal Portuguese Reading is the 4th most beautiful library in the world

At the airport for our 10:15pm flight home, the rain and lightening started with a vengeance. It is forecasted to rain every day for the foreseeable future. I cannot believe how fortunate we have been this trip during the rainy season - having only 2 hours of rain over 19 days! So lucky!

Logistics:

• Getting a ride to Mirante Dona Marta isn't too difficult; the problem is leaving. No ubers will be available at the top of the hill so it is best to arrange a tour or pay the taxi who takes you there to wait for you.
• Our booking.com apartment agency booked the driver for us after mine backed out the day before. They got us a steal of a price for a vehicle to take all 7 of us to both sunrise and the hike, waiting while we did them, and returning back to town for only R$1000 total for the 7 hours. Other quotes came nowhere close, coming in at basically R$1100 for half of the activities.
• At Trilha Pedra do Telégrafo, the line for a photo on the rock can easily take 2 hours! A couple impatiently didn't want to wait their turn for the rock and asked if they could go ahead since they didn't want to use the photographer's services. He kindly explained that they are welcome to take their own pictures but still need to wait in the line.
• At 8:00am on a Monday, we were ~11th person in line and waited ~1 hour, which includes the time it took for our photos.
• You pay (cash or credit) the photographer for all the pictures he takes of you (we paid ~$46 for 42 photos). He uploads them to his website by 10pm the same day - and keeps them there for 30 days. They are 1-2 MB and have a watermark.
  
  
  
• Back down at the trailhead, I texted our driver and he sent the moto bikes up to get us. They don't wait there so I'm not sure how you would get a ride from them otherwise.(Walking down would be fine.)
• At 11:30am on a Monday, the Portuguese Reading Room line went around the corner and took 30 min. We were inside the room for 10 minutes. It is open only on weekdays from 10 am to 5 pm, with free admission.
• We took Ubers everywhere in Rio. Our 1-hour Uber from Ipanema Beach to the airport cost $16.66 (per car).