Late risers may grumble at the pickup time for Belmond Copacabana Palace’s new sunrise picnic, but the views promise to be worth it.
To provide a unique
vantage point for its guests, the Rio de Janeiro hotel will provide a
chef-prepared picnic at Corcovado Mountain several hours before the park
opens its doors to the public.
Guests are taken at 5
a.m. by private transport to Tijuca National Forest up to Corcovado’s
granite peak, at 2,296 feet above sea level. Once there, they spend time
with one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, the 125-foot tall Art
Deco soapstone statue of Christ the Redeemer, which overlooks the bay,
the shapely Sugar Loaf Mountain as well as the city.
Visitors will pretty
much have the site to themselves, and dine on a breakfast prepared by
the Copacabana Palace’s executive chef, Pierre-Olivier Petit, which
includes an alfresco menu of home-baked breads, sandwiches, cakes,
pastries and juices.
There is a
philanthropic component to this trip as well: for every guest and staff
member who participates in the tour, the hotel will sponsor a local
child’s entry into Corcovado National Park.
The picnic is offered
weekly, and Andréa Natal, the hotel’s general manager, says that the
location was chosen because it allows guests to see the city from a
bird’s-eye perspective. “The sun rises with the Sugar Loaf Mountain in
the background,” she said in an e-mail. “You can hear the birds and
monkeys from the surrounding Tijuca Forest, and this lifts the
experience to a whole new level,” she said.
The picnic costs $269 per person and $1,074 per couple; reservations can be made at 800-237-1236 or on the hotel’s website.