Every first visitor to Rio de Janeiro goes directly to two of its most important places: The Corcovado where stands the famous Jesus who embraces the whole city, and Pão de Açucar, the Sugarloaf mountain, both of them definitely worth visiting. The Sugarloaf Mountain takes its name from its similarity to the sugar forms exported during the colonial era. It is the mountain which you see behind the Copacabana beach, and has become iconic, such as the Corcovado. In front of it the Guanabara bay opens up to the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the tourists just visit the Sugarloaf Mountain, climb to the hill and leave, but if you spend some time in this area, which is the Urca neighborhood, you will enjoy a nice and historical area of the city.
Until the 19th century there was no residence around here, today you see beautiful houses, the buildings of the Federal University in neo-classical style, and just in front of the Sugarloaf Mountain the Red Beach. When you go to the end of the beach you will see the entrance to a trekking route, which is the Pista Claudio Coutinho, and suddenly from the heat of the city you go inside a cool jungle with the sound of its wild birds and various tones of green. As you walk through the route you see the views of the ocean and the islands on your right, the mountain climbers on steep rocks on your left, this is the greatness of Rio; it takes you from the crowds to deep nature at the same time!