Armação dos Búzios Tour Full Day - Rio de Janeiro by Rio Eco Trip

Not as described, sadly

What is advertised on Viator is not what this trip provides and I am not sure who is at fault. The description for this tour says that you will pick 3 beaches to visit and that only your group will participate. When the guide picked us up for this experience, he informed us that there would be 13 other guests and that we were going on a boat, not to beaches, and that his company does not host private tours. Thankfully, the guide let us cancel when we discovered the miscommunication. It took a lot of back-and-forth communication to receive our refund though.

Response from the operator: Você foi informada sobre o passeio de barco e ficou feliz, print foi enviado para Viator

via Viator

The place is beautiful but the tour was not

We booked this tour choosing an English speaking tour guide. The bus was an hour late picking us up, the tour guide did not speak any English (not her fault). The tour company clearly messed up with our booking. We had 2 hours of pick ups, one of them was clearly a taxi ride to buzios, this had an impact on us getting to the location early. The fact that the guide didn't speak any English meant that we couldn't hear any of what she was saying about the history of the town, or facts about Rio as we were leaving the city. These are clearly things you'd want to hear about. The driver was an absolute joke. He was dangerous and the worst driver I've ever been in a vehicle with. We nearly had a head-on accident due to an dangerous overtake because of his erratic driving! Buzios is a beautiful town, a costal setting that is well worth a visit. I'd recommend taking the boat ride due to its beautiful costal waters, they are good for swimming and worth the cost. In short: the location is well worth a visit, however I wouldn't use this company to go there. The driver was so dangerous, they turned up over an hour late and they don't give you the choice of language for a guide that your request. I do want to point out that the guide herself was very good, you could clearly see she was passionate about the tour, I just couldn't understand a word she was saying which ruined it for us. The driver should be sacked immediately though as he will kill someone eventually.

Response from the operator: I apologize for the delay, but the guide fell ill and had to be replaced at the last minute, and the other guide only spoke Portuguese or Spanish. However, you received all the information in English because another person translated everything for you during the tour. You mentioned the driver; this was confirmed with the guide and the driver himself regarding your report of insecurity while driving. On the way back to Rio, most of the passengers were asleep, and a car crossed the highway in front of the bus. The driver had to make a sudden maneuver to avoid an accident. The driver acted correctly and is very responsible. You were most likely asleep and startled by the maneuver and didn't see the vehicle that cut in front of the bus. I'm glad you enjoyed the boat trip and lunch; they weren't included in the tour you paid for, but were a gift from RioEcoTrip. Best regards.

via Viator

Great tour!

To avoid spending hours on a bus picking and dropping other people off at their hotels, book this small group tour. Guide arrived on time, made excellent restaurant recommendations, and adapted to us. We had plenty of time at at beach, plenty of time for shopping in town, ate at a delicious waterfront restaurant, got photos with the Bridget Bardot statue and visited several other beaches for photo stops. There was time for a latte, and time to see a lot of different beaches. I swam, I sunned, and the guide got me back safely. I really recommend this tour as a way to see Buzios.

via Tripadvisor

Great tour!

Loved this tour. You won’t be in a bus spending half the day picking up and dropping off other people at their hotels. This is a small group, sometimes private tour depending on who else books your day. My guide was excellent. Showed up on time, took me to the best beaches, made excellent restaurant reservations and got me home safely. I didn’t feel rushed. I had plenty of time at the loveliest beach, plenty of time to shop in town, ate lunch at a delicious waterfront and visited four other beaches at shorter durations for photos which was all felt like doing late in the day. My guide adapted to me and let me determine how long I wanted to spend everywhere. I got many great photos including one of me with the famous Bridget Bardot statue.

via Viator