Dan R.
Yelp
When planning a trip to Rio, Sugarloaf will undoubtedly be compared to Corcovado, home to Christ the Redeemer, given they are the two major mountaintop photo ops in town. Both offer breathtaking views at opposing vantage points, though that's really where the similarities stop. They each come with their own vibe, speed, and purpose. I reject the notion you only need to do one or the other, which you may hear from some folks, and which is about as terrible as the advice I received claiming the 45-minute regional train ride to Versailles was "too far" and "not worth the extra travel time" prior to my Paris trip (don't worry - I knew to ignore them and went anyway). But I digress. We're in Rio. And in my book, both are must-dos.
To close out the contrasts to Corcovado and move on, Sugarloaf is easier to access, is less crowded, and feels a bit more curated from a park perspective. Sugarloaf is actually made up of two adjacent rock formations: Morro da Urca and Sugarloaf proper, in ascending elevation order. Cable cars take you from beach level to Urca and then Urca to Sugarloaf, and it's a surprisingly streamlined (and safe!) process. These two legs take mere minutes in, from what I can tell are, well-engineered, sleek, up-to-date, glassed-in cabins.
The panoramic views are gorgeous, as expected, making a strong case for Rio de Janeiro being the most gorgeous city on the planet - and you essentially get two-for-one views given the stops on both mountains. What I wasn't expecting, however, was the park-like atmosphere, especially on Sugarloaf proper. The cable cars will drop you off near shopping kiosks and fast food stalls, but once you start embarking on the trails circling the peak, you feel serenely removed from any sort of Brazilian bustle down at sea level. This is a gorgeous, clearly well-funded park system with lush forest lining the walkways and cliffside oceans views at every turn, complete with marmosets scurrying about (or in our case, hiding entirely, since we were somehow the only ones in our group unable to catch a glimpse of the critters).
For an excursion to a mountaintop, the journey's really a breeze, and the views over the sailboat-speckled Botafogo Bay are spectacular. I mean, the whole thing is literally and figuratively a walk in the park. For those reasons, when I return to Rio (a when, not an if), I will likely do Sugarloaf all over again, tiny monkey sightings be damned.