Petrópolis from Rio: The 13 Best Day Trips

1.Petrópolis Day Trip with Optional Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.3 · 203 reviews · 12 hours · from $48Our pick

Travel from Rio to mountain-top Petrópolis for a full day of imperial sights. You’ll visit the Imperial Museum, Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Crystal Palace, Quitandinha gardens, and Santos-Dumont’s former home. Multilingual guides such as Rafael, Julio, and Mama Chris have helped make the history clear. Add lunch and the Bohemia Brewery if you want a fuller day.

“The trip to Petrópolis was a delightful day, and our tour guide Julio was exceptional. He explained everything in Spanish, Portuguese and for 3 of us English. It was packed with different tours and it was photographers dream. The places we visited where fabulous and we're worth every real. Lunch was an all you could eat buffet and large selection of different foods. Although I didn't leave until 9.15 we didn't return until 8.30pm. I definitely would recommend this to tour to any traveller.”

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2.Petrópolis Day Trip from Rio de Janeiro including Imperial Museum and Crystal Palace

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 101 reviews · 9 hours (approx.) · from $93

Travel from Rio to Petrópolis with a multilingual guide, hotel pickup, and Imperial Museum admission. See Pedro II’s summer palace, royal tombs, Crystal Palace, and optional Santos Dumont House, Rua Teresa shopping, or Bohemia brewery. Expect a scenic mountain drive, a packed schedule, and possible pickup delays.

“Enjoyable day. 8-6. Nice to go up into the mountains and out of Rio. The hour shopping wasn’t for us (English) but the Brazilians loved it!”

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3.Imperial City Tour

★★★★★★★★★★3.7 · 95 reviews · 9 - 10 hours · from $68

Spend 9 to 10 hours exploring Petrópolis from Rio by air-conditioned bus. Visit Quitandinha Palace, the Imperial Museum, the cathedral, Crystal Palace, the Flowers Watch, and Santos Dumont’s home. Hear the story of Brazil’s emperors from a live guide in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Add a brewery visit with tastings if you want a relaxed finish.

“A very nice trip outside Rio, in a small city with a different vibe. It is recomandable to read some details about the history of the city and it's importance.”

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4.Petropolis The Imperial City with Beer tour and Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 83 reviews · 10 hours (approx.) · from $59

Spend about 10 hours in Petrópolis with an accredited guide, visiting the Imperial Museum, cathedral, Crystal Palace, Quitandinha Palace, and Bohemia Brewery. The tour includes Rio transport, museum and brewery entry, a buffet lunch, and three beer tastings. Guides such as Rafael may lead in Portuguese, Spanish, and English, but language support can vary.

“My favorite tour from my travel to Brazil! The staff was really kind and responsable. They look for everyone to be ok and on time always haha. Dont miss the visit to Bohemia!! It was the soo cool!”

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5.The Imperial City with Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 59 reviews · 10 hours (approx.) · from $56

Spend about 10 hours visiting Petropolis from Rio, with an accredited guide, executive transfer, Imperial Museum entry, and buffet lunch. See Quitandinha Palace from outside, the cathedral, and Crystal Palace. Guide Julio has earned special praise, but pickup delays, crowded vehicles, and unclear English service may matter.

“Very nice guide. He gave a lot of information and managed the group well. Excellent day with Julio.Auto-translated”

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6.Petropolis Bohemia: Historic tour and visit to the Bohemian Brewery

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 45 reviews · from $58

You’ll tour Petrópolis with an English-speaking guide such as Gabriel, visiting the Imperial Museum, Cathedral, Crystal Palace, and Quitandinha Palace before a guided Bohemia Brewery visit with three tastings. Pickup, lunch, transport, and key admissions are included, but drinks, dessert, and Santos Dumont House entry cost extra.

“The lovely scenery and the brewery were highlights of the tour. Our guide Gabriel was very helpful especially with his English explanations. My only concern was that our trip was confirmed to start at 8:10 per an email about 2 weeks before Read more”

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7.Guided Tour to the Imperial Cida of Petrópolis with Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 44 reviews · 10 hours (approx.) · from $80

Spend about 10 hours in Petrópolis with a bilingual guide such as Chris or Júlio. Visit the Imperial Museum, Santos Dumont’s home, Crystal Palace, and the cathedral, with lunch and transport included. The group may reach 30 people, and some stops or pickup times can change.

“This is a full day trip, you will be going into higer elevations. Bring fizzy water as you will be taking a winding road and may feel nausea. Mama Chris is the perfect host for this trip, she is full of life and entertaining! I would certainly take a night club tour if she hosts it! Emerson, is a skilled driver on this long tour with difficult roads. I would recommend that visitors bring a copy of their photo ids and a print out of the specifics they paid for on this tour as they may be other visitors with different stops than yours on this tour. Bring water and…”

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8.Imperial Petrópolis – Historic Tour + Teresa Street and Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 44 reviews · 9 hours (approx.) · from $57

Spend about nine hours traveling from Rio to Petrópolis by air-conditioned vehicle. Visit the Imperial Museum, cathedral, Crystal Palace, Quitandinha, and Santos Dumont’s quirky home, then shop on Rua Teresa and enjoy a free buffet lunch. Guides such as Adriana Drika and Aldo have earned praise for clear, attentive explanations.

“Very interesting tour. We learnt a lot about Brazil history. The guide was very good and invest time for wide background and explanations. We were the only English speaking in the tour and we got special attention from the guide”

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9.Petrópolis Trip with Palace, Imperial Museum & Brewery

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 42 reviews · 9 hours · from $55

Travel from Rio to Petrópolis with a bilingual guide in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. You’ll see Quitandinha, the Imperial Museum, Crystal Palace, Saint Peter of Alcantara Cathedral, and Santos Dumont’s home from outside. The $55 shared tour lasts nine hours, includes transport and tickets, and may replace the brewery with the Wax Museum.

“Educational trip, our tour guide Julio was funny and attentive. He's also multilingual - speaks Spanish, English and Portuguese.”

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10.Historic Petrópolis From Rio: The Imperial City –Palaces, Architecture & Culture

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 32 reviews · 10 hours (approx.) · from $296Top rated

Travel from Rio to Petrópolis with a private guide and included city pickup and drop-off. Visit Quitandinha Palace, the Imperial Museum, the cathedral, Santos Dumont’s house, Crystal Palace, Bohemia Brewery, and Rua Teresa. Guides such as Bruno and Newton add context on Brazilian history, culture, food, and local life.

“Imperdível! Guia Newton muito atencioso e conhecedor. Petrópolis tem uma história arquitetônica riquíssima, vale muito a pena conhecer a Cidade Imperial.”

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11.Petrópolis Tour departing from Rio de Janeiro

★★★★★★★★★★3.2 · 13 reviews · 9 hours · from $48

Travel from Rio to historic Petrópolis with round-trip transport, a live guide in English, Spanish, or Portuguese, Imperial Museum entry, and buffet lunch. The route includes Quitandinha, Crystal Palace, and Santos Dumont’s house. Guide Julio has earned praise for his lively historical explanations, but mixed-language groups and long pickup times can affect the day.

“Escolhemos uma excursão que não incluía visita a cervejarias e nem compras, apenas lugares históricos. Entretanto, logo que a viagem começou percebemos que o roteiro mencionado não era exatamente o que nós havíamos escolhido. Metade do nosso grupo teve que esperar 1h e meia o pessoal que pagou para visitar a cervejaria e o guia nos orientou a aproveitar o tempo fazendo compras. Quando finalmente fomos ao nosso último destino, a casa de Santos Dumont, só foi possível tirarmos uma "foto" da parte externa, pois o museu já estava fechado, fecha às 17h. Achei mal organizado pois enquanto uma parte do grupo estava na cervejaria os outros poderiam ter feito…”

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12.Private Tour with Museum Ticket

★★★★★★★★★★4.2 · 9 reviews · 8 hours · from $170

Travel from Rio to Petrópolis for a private, eight-hour tour led in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. Visit Quitandinha Palace, the cathedral, Imperial Museum, Santos Dumont’s house, and Crystal Palace. Hotel pickup, drop-off, and the Imperial Museum ticket are included, while lunch, drinks, and optional palace or brewery tickets cost extra.

“We had a very good time with Edison who showed us really interesting places and gave as a lot of insights to Brazilian history. His English was very good so that it was a real pleasure to listen to his explanations. We enjoyed the trip and can recommend the guide as well as the tour - especially if you want to learn something about Brazilian history and culture.”

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13.Full-Day Tour to The Imperial City of Petrópolis

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 6 reviews · 10 hours · from $96

Spend 10 hours traveling from Rio to Petrópolis with a multilingual guide such as Tanya Uhlala. Visit the Imperial Museum, Saint Peter of Alcântara Cathedral, Crystal Palace, and the Santos Dumont area, with time for lunch and shopping. Museum entry and hotel transfers are included, while other attraction fees are extra.

“Overall we enjoyed the tour. Petropolis was a wonderful destination. Would have preferred spending more time sightseeing and less on shopping, lunch and breaks.”

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