The Olympic torch will wind its way through Brazil for more than three months before arriving at the storied Maracana stadium on August 5 to officially open the 2016 Rio Games.

The Rio 2016 organizing committee on Wednesday unveiled the full route for the traditional torch relay, which will pass through 329 towns and cities on its 95-day journey through South American country.

The torch will be lit April 21 in Olympia, Greece, the ancient home of the Games, and arrive in Brazil's capital of Brasilia on May 3. The route will cover more than 10,000 miles in the air and 12,000 miles on the ground, passing through towns of all sizes on its way to Rio de Janeiro.

Among the stops will be the Teatro Amazonas opera house in the rainforest city of Manaus (June 19) and the fabled Iguacu Falls (June 30).

About 12,000 people will carry the torch along the route, which is designed to reach about 90 per cent of the country's population.

"By taking the Olympic flame to the whole country, we will be keeping our promise to give millions of people the chance to participate in a celebration that will stay in their memories for a long time," Rio 2016 president Carlos Arthur Nuzman said in a release. 

"We want to see the pride of people in the streets, show our cultural diversity and our nature. We will reveal to the world the essence of our country."