Quick answer
This Brazil Amazon tour flies you from the UK to Rio de Janeiro, then to Iguazu Falls, and finishes at a lodge on the Rio Negro near Manaus. International and internal flights, three hotels, airport transfers and guided sightseeing are included. Prices are on request: we quote for your dates. ATOL 10713 protected.
You start at the Belmond Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro, move on to the Belmond Hotel das Cataratas at Iguazu Falls, and end at Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge on the Rio Negro, flying home from Manaus. Return flights between the UK and Brazil are included, as are the two domestic flights, Rio to Foz do Iguaçu and Foz do Iguaçu to Manaus. All airport transfers are included, and a representative meets you each time you land. Breakfast is included daily. At the lodge the stay is all-inclusive, covering all meals and a set of guided excursions. Private guides take you up Sugarloaf and Corcovado in Rio and around both sides of the falls.
Why You'll Love It
The forest at the end
The slowest part of the trip comes last, so you head home after days on the river rather than a city.
Two countries at the falls
One day on the Brazilian trail, one day across the border in Argentina.
Two Belmond hotels and a river lodge
A 1920s beachfront landmark, a hotel inside a national park, then a lodge reached by road from Manaus.
Day by Day
A representative meets you at Rio de Janeiro’s international airport and takes you to the Belmond Copacabana Palace. The rest of the day is free. Walk the Copacabana promenade across the road, or stay by the pool and let the overnight flight wear off.
After breakfast your private guide takes you up Sugarloaf Mountain by cable car, in two stages. From the top you look over Guanabara Bay, the Rio-Niterói Bridge and across to Corcovado. The afternoon is yours, and Ipanema beach is a short taxi ride away.
The cog train climbs through the Tijuca Forest to the top of Corcovado and the Christ the Redeemer statue, with your guide. The view takes in the whole city, from the beaches to the bay. Afterwards you have time to explore the hillside streets of Santa Teresa on your own.
A full day with nothing booked. Spend it on the beach, at the Selarón Steps or in the city’s museums. If you would like more structure, we can arrange optional excursions, such as a visit to a samba school.
After breakfast you transfer to the airport for your flight to Foz do Iguaçu. You are met on arrival and driven to the Belmond Hotel das Cataratas. Check in, then walk down to the water once the day visitors have left.
This morning your guide walks you along the Brazilian side. It gives the wide view of the 275 cascades, which stretch for nearly three kilometres. The cliff-edge walkway ends at a viewing platform near the Devil’s Throat. The afternoon is free.
Today you cross into Argentina with your guide for a closer look. Upper and lower trails take you right up to the water. The Paseo Garganta del Diablo walkway runs out over the river to a platform above the Devil’s Throat, the strongest part of the falls. Expect to get wet.
After breakfast you transfer to Foz do Iguaçu airport for your flight to Manaus. From there you travel by road to Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge at Novo Airão, on the banks of the Rio Negro. Settle into your room before dinner at the lodge.
Today is spent out with the lodge’s local guides. A guided walk in the forest shows how people here use native plants. Later, a canoe trip winds through the channels of the Anavilhanas islands, where monkeys, sloths and plenty of birds live.
Try piranha fishing on the Rio Negro, or visit a riverside community to see how families live along the water. After dark a boat trip goes out with torches to look for caimans and other night animals, before dinner back at the lodge.
After a last breakfast at the lodge you are driven back to Manaus airport for your flight home to the UK.
Where You'll Stay
5-star hotel
Built in 1923, the Copacabana Palace faces Copacabana beach across Avenida Atlântica, so the sand is a short walk from the lobby. Breakfast is included each morning. The outdoor pool is the main draw, and a calm break after guided mornings in the city. You stay here for the first part of the trip, with the guided Sugarloaf and Corcovado trips starting from the door.
5-star hotel
This pink colonial-style hotel, open since 1958, is the only hotel inside the Brazilian side of Iguaçu National Park. That matters more than the rooms. Guests can walk to the falls before the park opens and after it closes, when the trail is close to empty. Breakfast is included daily. The guided visits to both sides of the falls run from here.
5-star hotel
The lodge stands on the bank of the Rio Negro at Novo Airão, looking across to Anavilhanas National Park. Rooms are split between cottages, bungalows and panoramic rooms, with the larger Villa Bacurau for groups. Your stay is all-inclusive: breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack and dinner, plus the lodge's guided outings by boat, canoe and on foot. There is a swimming pool for the hot middle of the day.
| ✈ Flights | Return flights from UK included |
| 🧳 Baggage | 23kg checked baggage |
| 🏛 Hotel | 10 nights accommodation |
| 🚌 Transfers | Private airport transfers |
| ✈ Airport Taxes | All airport taxes included |
| 💳 Deposit | 30% per person to secure booking |
This luxury Brazil tour keeps the forest for the end. Rio and the falls mean guided sightseeing and early starts. The lodge is slower, and easier to settle into once jet lag has gone.
Finishing in the Amazon also means you fly home from Manaus rather than doubling back to Rio. The cost is one long internal day, as Foz do Iguaçu to Manaus crosses most of the country.
It is the wrong trip if you want beach time at the end, and our other Brazil holidays may suit better. Manaus in October runs to about 34°C with heavy humidity, and boats, muddy trails and steps into canoes are part of every day at the lodge. For colonial streets and a coast instead, our Rio, Iguaçu and Salvador tour swaps the Amazon for Bahia.
Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge is not in Manaus. It sits at Novo Airão on the Rio Negro, facing Anavilhanas National Park, about 180 km away. The standard transfer is by van on a paved road and takes around 2 hours 45 minutes. A seaplane does the journey in about 35 minutes, on request and at extra cost.
Days are shaped by the boats: out early while it is cooler, out again late in the afternoon, with the pool and lunch in between. You sleep in the same room every night, which is the main difference from an Amazon river cruise.
No guide can promise a particular animal, so treat sightings as a bonus.
The Rio Negro at Manaus usually peaks in June or July and falls to its lowest between September and November, before it starts to climb again. Every priced month on this deal sits in that low or rising stretch.
Low water has its upside. White-sand beaches and sandbanks appear through the Anavilhanas islands, and more forest trails are dry enough to walk. What shrinks is the canoe network through the flooded forest, which is at its best at high water.
Droughts can push the river much lower. In October 2024 it fell to 12.11 metres at Manaus, the lowest since records began in 1902, after a record low in 2023. We check with the lodge which outings are running before you travel.
You see both, and they are different days out. The Brazilian side is one trail with the wide view across the whole arc of the falls. The Argentine side is closer and wetter, with walkways above and below the water and a lot more walking.
They are two separate national parks, each with its own ticket and its own opening hours. Crossing to Argentina is an international border, so carry your passport that day.
British passport holders do not need a visa to visit Brazil for up to 90 days. It needs six months' validity left on the day you land, and check it gets stamped, as a missing stamp can mean a fine on the way out.
TravelHealthPro does not require a yellow fever certificate for Brazil. It does recommend the jab for Rio de Janeiro state, Paraná, where the falls are, and Amazonas, so it applies to all three stops.
Malaria risk is low in the Amazon basin, Manaus included, and the advice is awareness and bite avoidance. Dengue and Oropouche are circulating, so long sleeves and repellent matter at every stop. Book a travel clinic appointment four to six weeks before you fly. For timing and routes across the country, see our Brazil luxury tours guide.
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