[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="420"]Petropolis-tour A day trip to Petropolis, near Rio de Janeiro / source[/caption]
When you think of Rio, what comes to your mind? Probably beaches, samba performances and hot – really hot – weather. But Rio is not only that and there’s a side to it you probably didn’t even imagine existed, with castles, mountain villages and colder weather. You can find it all in Petrópolis, a city 65km away from the Marvellous City. The perfect place to spend a day if you are travelling to Rio, have some free time and would like to take a break from the beach – if that is even possible.

Any Rio travel guide will tell you about the historic importance of Petrópolis, which was chosen as the official summer residence of Imperator Dom Pedro II. So, our goal with this post is to tell you what to do and how to get to Petrópolis, so you can enjoy this other side of Rio, a symbol of the Imperial Brazil.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="420"]Petropolis-tour Brazilian royal family in Petrópolis (Dom Pedro II at the center) / source[/caption]

There are buses to Petrópolis from the Rio Bus Terminal throughout the day (many people live there and work in downtown Rio). Once you get there, the best thing would be to grab a taxi or a municipal bus to do things, but that can be hard if you don’t know the city. So it’s recommended for tourists is to take a guided tour to Petrópolis from Rio. That way you don’t have to worry about anything but enjoying the trip.

A typical day trip to Petrópolis starts in Rio and takes you 65km up through Serra dos Órgãos, a big mountain range surrounded by rainforest as you can see on the picture below– by the time you get to Petrópolis, you may even think the trip was already worth it just for the beautiful ride up.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="420"]Petropolis-tour Scenic road to Petrópolis through Serra dos Órgãos / source[/caption]

Before arriving in the city itself, the tour to Petrópolis makes a stop at an incredible viewpoint on the road and you may also see some small waterfalls, depending on the time of year. Once you get to Petrópolis, one of the first points of interest you’ll see is Quitandinha Palace, an amazing construction, that used to be a hotel casino and nowadays is a cultural center.

 
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="420"]petropolis-tour Quitandinha Palace: looks like Switzerland, but it is in Brazil! / source[/caption]

The highlight of any Petrópolis tour is however the Imperial Museum (that is depicted in the first photo of this post). It used to be the Royal Family’s summer residence and was reformed some decades ago. It has an amazing collection of articles, pictures, paintings and clothes that help tell the history of the time when Brazil was a monarchy. It is definitely a must-see for anyone interested in Latin-American history, especially because many analysts believe the fact that Brazil was an empire has a lot to do with its differences to its neighbouring countries and its international position nowadays.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="421"]tour-petropolis Royal throne and much more to see in the Imperial Museum / source[/caption]
After being amazed by the Imperial Museum, you can take a look at the Cathedral, a few blocks away. Another must-see on a day trip to Petrópolis is the house of Santos Dumont, the inventor of the airplane. This place is like an engineering master class in itself and it is worth a visit - even if you think the Wrightbrothers actually invented the airplane. Also, there is another point of interest just beside it, the Flowers Clock.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="420"]petropolis-tour Pintoresque Santos Dumont house: a must-see in Petrópolis / source[/caption]
Other places to visit in Petrópolis are: the Crystal Palace, the Chocolate Factory and Teresa Street, where there are a lot of stores selling Brazilian clothes at low prices. If you have some extra time and like the city, we recommend you to spend a whole weekend there, especially if you are travelling to Rio with your loved one. The city and its surroundings (like Itaipava and Araras) have a lot of romantic hosting options.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="420"]petropolis-tour Crystal Palace in Petropolis / source[/caption]

To book a day trip to Petrópolis, or to for other day tours from Rio de Janeiro, visit our website!