Tijuca National Park

With warm weather and towering coastal mountains creating almost constant thermals, myriad broad sandy beaches for landing strips and spectacular views over boulder-mountain studded bays, Rio is a hotspot for hang gliding.

The sport is long-established here, and a number of operators offer tandem or solo flights, which take off from the paragliding station atop the giant 520m-high monolith of Bonita Rock (Pedra Bonita).

If you’ve ever wanted to try hang gliding, this is as good a place as any.

At just over 1,000m, Tijuca Peak is the highest of Rio’s boulder-mountains, and the views from the summit are spectacular – with Rio’s stunning landscape of bays and forest-covered mountains at your feet.

The hike itself is one of the best walks in Tijuca National Park – cutting through wildlife-filled forest, before climbing steeply through a long staircase of steps literally cut into the rock face. It’s easily done as a round trip in around 3 hours, and you can visit Tijuca’s waterfalls or even the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado on the way back. Plenty of Rio tour operators offer the hike.

This hulking 842m-high granite monolith, Pedra da Gavea, towers above both Corcovado and Sugar Loaf; the 6-hour hike up through the wildlife-filled rainforests of the Tijuca National Park is ultimately rewarded with some of the best views in Rio.

Even in high season, you’ll share the experience with just a handful of other walkers. The catch is that it’s a half-day hike and a scary rope-secured scramble to the summit, making this a challenge solely for the vertigo-tolerant, fit, agile and wild at heart.

Climb in Rio lead a range of guided climbs up Pedra da Gavea for the more serious mountain climber.