The 13 Best Petrópolis Day Trips from Rio de Janeiro

1.Petrópolis Day Trip with Optional Lunch

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

Travel from Rio to cool, hilltop Petrópolis with a multilingual guide. Visit the Imperial Museum, Quitandinha Palace gardens, Crystal Palace, Saint Peter’s Cathedral, and Santos-Dumont’s former home. Add a buffet lunch and Bohemia Brewery visit, then stop for German snacks and chocolate.

“Guide arrived on time, she was well spoken and gave us Fantastic tour through Petropolis. I loved every bit of it! Highly recommend!”

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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 by guided minibus, visit Pedro II’s former palace and royal tombs, and see the Crystal Palace. Hotel pickup, return transport, and Imperial Museum admission are included. Free time covers lunch, shopping, Santos Dumont’s house, or an optional Bohemia brewery visit.

“The place was really interesting. I wish they've allowed us to take photos of the Imperial Museum. However, the tour was great.”

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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 with an English, Spanish, or Portuguese-speaking guide. Visit Quitandinha Palace, the Imperial Museum, cathedral, Crystal Palace, Flowers Watch, and Santos Dumont’s house. Add a brewery visit with tastings if you want a relaxed finish.

“This was a really excellent day out. It was so well organised with great communication on meeting times and schedule. Plus it never felt rushed. Chi Chi was such a entertaining fun guide. Her enthusiasm and 'ooh la la' attitude was infectious and she gave some interesting background and history on the places we visited from the Petropolis palace to the former casino. Petropolis palace is an elegant residence set within a lovely old town, with all the old architecture it's a nice contrast to the modern bustling Rio. We had a buffet meal and it offered great choice of items to select and great value. We were given the…”

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4.Petropolis The Imperial City with Beer tour and Lunch

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

Travel from Rio to Petrópolis with an accredited guide, visit the Imperial Museum, cathedral, Crystal Palace, and Quitandinha Palace, then tour Bohemia Brewery with three tastings. Rafael has earned praise for guiding in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, though language support can vary.

“Very nice walk, lots of history, beautiful road. We really liked Petropolis and were surprised. Very good food, excellent brewery! All very good! We recommend it.Auto-translated”

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5.The Imperial City with Lunch

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

Travel from Rio to Petrópolis for a guided look at Brazil’s imperial past. You’ll visit the Imperial Museum, São Pedro de Alcântara Cathedral, Crystal Palace, Quitandinha Palace’s exterior, and Casa do Alemão, then enjoy an all-you-can-eat Brazilian buffet. Guide Julio has earned special praise for his lively, multilingual tours.

“Wonderful trip to Petropolis with a knowledgeable guide. Beautiful, historic place. Highly recommend”

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

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 45 reviews · from $58

Spend about nine hours touring Petrópolis from Rio, with stops at the Imperial Museum, cathedral, Crystal Palace, Quitandinha Palace, and Santos Dumont’s house. The day ends with a Bohemia Brewery visit and three tastings. Pickup, lunch, transport, and key admissions are included.

“Our guide was great. Got to see all the important parts of Petropolis. However, the bus driver was unsafe. He was regularly looking at his phone while driving, checking WhatsApp and leaving messages. At one point he was looking at photos on another persons phone while driving at speed in merging traffic, and nearly crashed.”

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

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

Travel from Rio to Petrópolis for a full day of imperial history with a bilingual guide. Visit the Imperial Museum, Crystal Palace, cathedral, and Santos Dumont’s home, with lunch included. Expect shared transport, up to 30 people, and possible delays on the winding mountain road.

“Absolutely amazing place. Beautiful experience and cool history of Brazil before they were a Republic. Our tour guide Júlio was wonderful, knowledgeable and fun. We truly enjoyed the day with all the sites, history and chocolate! A must do for sure.”

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

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

Travel from Rio to mountain-set Petrópolis for the Imperial Museum, Quitandinha Palace, cathedral, Crystal Palace, and optional Santos Dumont house. A guide such as Aldo or Adriana may add historical context, while free time on Rua Teresa covers shopping and a buffet lunch.

“Museum was great. Crystal palace was a joke. Very little was said about the cathedral, there were no walking tour of the cathedral”

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9.Petrópolis Trip with Palace, Imperial Museum & Brewery

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

Spend nine hours exploring Petrópolis from Rio with bilingual guide support, round-trip transport, and entrance tickets. See Quitandinha, the Imperial Museum, Saint Peter of Alcantara Cathedral, and the Crystal Palace, with time for Casa do Alemão and Santos Dumont’s home. Santos Dumont entry is optional.

“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 such as Bruno or Newton, visiting Quitandinha Palace, the Imperial Museum, the cathedral, Santos Dumont’s home, Crystal Palace, Bohemia Brewery, and Rua Teresa. Transport and attraction admissions are included, but meals are not.

“My tour guide Bruno was simply amazing. The conversations regarding general knowledge of Petropolis, Rio.and Brazil, and recommendations on everything from hiking to dining were every bit worth the trip. Petropolis is a lovely, quaint city with an interesting history. One note, we skipped the brewery which apparently isn't very interesting, but instead took a drive and quick hike through Tijuca forest! Thank you for an amazing day trip!”

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11.Petrópolis Tour departing from Rio de Janeiro

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

Spend about nine hours exploring Petrópolis from Rio with round-trip pickup, a bilingual guide, buffet lunch, and entry to the Imperial Museum. The route includes Quitandinha, Crystal Palace, and Santos Dumont’s house. Guide Julio has earned special praise, but mixed-language groups can affect timing and commentary.

“Tuve una mala experiencia con la empresa, no la recomiendo en absoluto!! No pude concretar por la app la compra del tour, sin embargo me descontaron 93 dólares de mi tarjeta. Pese a los reclamos. la empresa se negó a reembolsar el dinero aludiendo a su política de cancelaciones. Una vergüenza!’”

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12.Private Tour with Museum Ticket

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

Spend eight hours exploring Petrópolis with a private guide in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. Visit the Imperial Museum, Cathedral, Santos Dumont House, Crystal Palace, and Quitandinha Palace, with hotel pickup, drop-off, and the main museum ticket included.

“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

Travel from Rio to Petrópolis for a full day of imperial sights. Visit the Imperial Museum with a guide in English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, or German, then see the cathedral, Crystal Palace, and optional Santos Dumont House or Bohemia Brewery.

“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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