Favela Tour in Rio with Transfer service
Recommended by 98% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 4 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Explore Rocinha Favela, the largest favela in Latin America, during this 3-hour guided educational tour. Walk through the local community with your guide to learn about what life is like there. Interact with members of the community, learn about the history of Rocinha and gain a deeper understanding of the economic and political factors that shape Rio society. Round-trip transportation from Rio de Janeiro hotels is included.
- Explore Rocinha Favela, the largest favela in Latin America
- Walk through the local community with your guide to learn about what life is like there
- Interact with members of the community
- Learn about the history of how Rocinha was established
- Gain a deeper understanding of the economic and political factors that shape Rio society
What's Included
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Snacks
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Itinerary
1
Salocin Tour
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
2
Vidigal
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Infants must sit on laps
- Most travelers can participate
- You must be able to walk up and down the stairs.
- For pickup in Barra/ Recreio, additional of USD 10 per person to be paid directly at the tour guide.
- We go to either Favela da Rocinha or Favela do Vidigal.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 19 travelers per Minivan.
- Contact us to confirm the pickup time according to hotel location.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 99 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.8
based on 41 reviews
Sarah_B, Mar 2026
If you are debating going on this tour, definitely go! I had heard that it was controversial, but learned that visiting the favela, is helpful for their economy. Plus, it’s educational & fun! Thiago was a great guide, thank you! Highly recommend 😁
Linda_A, Oct 2025
I loved this tour to the favela and enjoyed our guide Lydia. She took us to great places--especially the viewpoints. I would've given this 5 stars but the ride to the favela for 5 people was very tight--not comfortable. It would have been sufficient if only three people, but five, it was crowded--especially since the ride took about an hour due to traffic. Still seeing the favela up close and personal was a real treat. We felt safe and comfortable there.
Andrea_P, May 2025
You cant come to Rio and not see the favela(s)
We saw Rocinha, one of the largest. Amazing experience. Authentic local guide from the community. Wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Our guide Helio is a legend.
Thank you!
Michelle_E, Mar 2025
Really enjoyed the experience! Carlos was a great guide and Mateus was a great driver. Would recommend this tour for seeing a variety of things at Rocinha.
Lewis_W, Nov 2024
Had a great time with our guide Hélio. Hélio took us through his home neighborhood of Rochina, where he clearly knew everyone and is a popular character! We were particularly pleased with how responsive & adaptive Hélio was - he quickly sensed which aspects of the tour were of greatest interest and changed the itinerary accordingly. Tour represented excellent value for money and we felt like we gained some authentic insights. Thank you!
Tress_W, Nov 2024
Put this on your MUST DO list for Rio de Janeiro. The opportunity to visit and learn about life from a guide with local knowledge whilst feeling very safe. We had 3 people on our tour so it was very customised to us. We visited local artists, went to a house and took a motorbike ride.
valerie_k, Oct 2024
Very interesting and insightful tour with local, experienced guide, Ellio.
Only 4 on tour and at good pace
Busy Rochina favela, walked from top back to bottom, through narrow alleyways, along bustling thoroughfares. Some quite dirty areas but always lots of people around doing their everyday jobs.
Lots of rubbish at different points waiting for twice daily collection.
Saw school, hospital, shops, a living room house.
Heard about charity work to help children being completed by ex drug dealers.
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Hello!
It's great to hear that you enjoyed your experience here in our city! The Rocinha Favela tour is a unique experience and certainly worthwhile, even more so accompanied by a guide as qualified as Helio.
Thank you very much for your review and for choosing us for your experience in Rio. We look forward to more great days here!
Warm regards!
Paul_W, Oct 2024
Brilliant day with my guide Hélio seeing all of Rochinha favela highly recommend booking this experience
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Hello!
Great to read your comments! That's why we work with the best!
Whenever you're in Rio, count on us for the best experiences in town.
See you next time!
Angela_L, Mar 2024
My trip today with Carla was excellent. She was fun and experienced with knowledge. Her command of spoken English was great. I would highly recommend her and the tour
Response from Host, Mar 2024
Hello!
Glad everything went well on your tour with us! We take care to work with the best professionals in the city so that our clients have incredible experiences here in Rio!
Thank you very much for your review and for choosing Rio Carioca Tours!
Kathleen_B, Jan 2024
I really enjoyed the this tour. It was very interesting to see the daily life in the favella. People were friendly and I felt safe the whole time. My tour guide, Danielle was excellent.
Response from Host, Jan 2024
Hello!
How nice that everything went well on your tour! The favela tour is one of the coolest we have in our city.
Thank you very much for your review and for choosing Rio Carioca Tours!
Hugh_M, Nov 2023
The driver/guide never showed up. I waited for an hour. I tried to contact the tour company and no one ever replied.
Claire_C, Nov 2023
An absolutely fantastic tour with Leo (Leonardo) a local guide. He went out of his way to make me feel comfortable and see life in Rochina. I was the only one on the tour, so a massive thank you for allowing this to go ahead before my flight later that day! A valuable experience. I’d highly recommend this tour. Go for it!
George_B, Sept 2023
I enjoyed my tour thru the Favela. We walked from the bottom to the top and back discussing the various sights along the way. My guide suggested we use a motorcycle taxi to get to the top but I thought it not necessary. If I had to do it again I woud opt for the ride up to the top, its a considerable amount of walking and the sidewalks are not the best.
Response from Host, Oct 2023
Hello George. Thank you for your review. We are committed to offering the best service to our clients and working with the best professionals. Your feedback is very important for us to maintain the quality of our services. We hope to see you again soon.
Ty_L, Apr 2023
Dario was great as a tour guide. Didn’t expect the very long walk up to the middle of the favela. It was not like what you see in the movies you really got a feel for how the other half of Brazilian life goes on.
Response from Host, Apr 2023
Hello!
We are very happy to hear that you enjoyed our guide! Taking the favela tour is a great way to get to know the routine of most of the carioca population and interact with the locals.
We take the opportunity to show a little bit of the activities that are happening at the moment and make the tourist have a complete experience.
See you!
Lynn_S, Apr 2023
Our tour with Ellio was the real deal. He told us the history and shared with us the culture of the favelas. He introduced us to lots of people and he clearly knew his way around. There is no way you should do his without someone as experienced and knowledgeable as Ellio however, and the smaller the group the better. We had a brilliant morning and felt like we knew Rio better for doing it.
Response from Host, Apr 2023
Hello!
Thank you very much for your comment!
We are extremely happy to hear that your experience was a pleasant one. We always do our best to provide the best for our dear customers and that includes selecting the most qualified guides for each tour.
Once again we thank you and hope you will return soon for more moments in Rio de Janeiro
Mark_P, Mar 2023
What a fantastic morning visiting Rocinha favela with Daria who was a marvellous friendly guide. We now know all the history and took a motorcycle taxi up to the top and met some inspirational people who live and work there. The views were insane. Thank you Daria for a great trip. Highly recommended.
Yihong_P, Feb 2023
Our guide was excellent.
The company helped with our luggage and transferred us to another hotel when dropping us off.
ayanna_d, Nov 2022
We really enjoyed this glimpse into life in Rocinha. It's a really interesting place and the people we met were really cool. Thanks for a great day Dario!
Response from Host, Nov 2022
Hi!
Thank you very much for your comment.
We are very happy to hear that you enjoyed your tour.
We work hard to offer the best to our customers!
Have a nice day and come back often! It will be a pleasure to serve you
Joanna_W, May 2022
Very interesting tour. Our guide was knowledgable, polite and on time. Would just say for others booking this trip it is ok to take your phone etc to the favela as our guide said there is no theft in the favela.
Response from Host, Jun 2022
Hi!
Thank you very much for your comment.
We always seek to offer the best for our customers, we are happy that our service has met your expectations.
Come back anytime, it will be a pleasure to welcome you
Kathleen M, Aug 2017
Manuela Onofre guided us on a very enjoyable tour of Rocinha Favela. She showed up promptly at our hotel and was quite knowledgable. We drove thru Rio to the hill where Rocinha is, and then walked down thru the Favela and met our driver at the bottom. Manuela answered all of our questions, and we felt quite safe during our tour. I would highly recommend her to anyone considering a Favela tour. We felt that it added significantly to our Rio experience.
Response from Host, Sept 2020
Hello!
Thank you very much for your comment!
We hope to see you again soon
Michelle C, Feb 2017
Enjoyed this tour of the favela. It was a good experience to see the neighborhood with someone who is familiar with the area. Though the favela's have a reputation of being dangerous I felt comfortable and safe with our guide.
Response from Host, Sept 2020
Thank you very much for your comment!
Happy that you enjoyed it!
MARIA L, Dec 2016
we started from the top and went down seeing the every day life in the biggest favela in rio, good and helpful guide, interesting tour, we were only three people in a very nice private car, it was like a private tour, very value for money, picked up and dropped off at the pier. Strongly recommend it.
Maxim P, Oct 2015
It was reasonably interesting, although I liked the one of Santa Marta slightly better.
ANNE MARIE M, Sept 2015
A fascinating walk through the streets and narrow alleys of the favelas. Eduardo was very informative. The residents were extremely friendly too.
Javiera_U, Jun 2025
A great experience knowing the favelas from the inside and especially with someone local. We feel very safe at all times. We had a surprise prepared with a Samba and capoeira school with children from the neighborhood where we sang and danced. Thank you very much Elio for the beautiful walk!! I really enjoyed it with my kids.
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Roswitha_P, Oct 2023
Man hat eine falsche Vorstellung wie es in einer Favela zugeht . Die Menschen sind freundlich , stolz und es fehlt an nichts . Schule , Friseur , Bäcker , Kfz-Werkstatt ……alles vorhanden .
Response from Host, Oct 2023
Thank you for your review. The purpose of the tour is to show another perspective of Rio de Janeiro's favelas. We hope to see you again
Christopher_K, Sept 2023
Am 24.09.23 erfolgte eine Tour durch die Rocinha-Favela. Der Guide, sein Name ist Dario, war ca. 9:00 Uhr am Hotel angekommen und fuhr danach zum Strandviertel São Conrado, wo sich hinter Luxushotels und gehobenen Apartments die Favela befindet. Man hat die Möglichkeit entweder per Motorradtaxi oder zu Fuß den oberen Aussichtspunkt der Favela zu erreichen. Ich empfehle sportlichen Menschen den Fußmarsch-man sieht dadurch einfach viel intensiver, wie die 150.000 Menschen in der Favela leben. Sehr gut hat Jessica Wagener “Die Kinder von Riconha” die Lebenssituationen der Menschen beschrieben. (Bericht zufällig im Internet gefunden)
Die letzten 100m vorm Ziel geht es sehr steil bergauf. (<15%)
Die Aussicht über die Favela ist jedoch phänomenal. Gleichzeitig ist der Aussichtspunkt eine Art Hilfsorganisation-der Gründer versucht mit Spenden das Leben der Kinder zu verbessern. (keine Gewalt, keine Drogen, kein körperlicher Missbrauch usw.)
Nach einer freiwilligen Spende ging es über eine Alternativroute wieder bergab. Die Briefzustellung in den Seitengassen erfolgt über mehrere zentral abgestellte Briefkästen, diese sind nicht verschlossen, sondern die Leute respektierten die Post der anderen Bewohner und nehmen nur die für sie zutreffenden Briefe heraus. Nach ca. 2,5h in der Favela war die Tour beendet. Man erhält hilfreiche Hinweise vom Guide (Alltagsgestaltung der Menschen usw.) sowie tolle Einblicke in das Leben der ärmeren Menschen in Rio. Gern möchte ich an dieser Stelle erwähnen, dass das mulmige Gefühl schnell abgelegt werden konnte, denn die angetroffen Menschen waren alle freundlich und nicht aggressiv. Es darf auch benannt werden, dass durch die politische Situation weltweit, immer mehr Menschen aus der unteren Mittelschicht in die Favela ziehen müssen.
Genießen Sie die tollen Einblicke dieser unvergesslichen Tour.
Response from Host, Oct 2023
Thank you for your evaluation. We are committed to serving our customers in the best possible way and working with the best professionals on the market. Your feedback is very important for us to maintain the quality of our services.
valerie_c, Aug 2023
Superbe visite. Le guide Elio est exceptionnel. Il connaît la Favela comme sa poché. Ce.sont des villes dans la ville de rio ou la pauvreté est très présente et peut choquer.
Anna_P, Jul 2022
Bel giro della favelas Rocinha con la guida Neuza, di nazionalità brasiliana che parlava un italiano perfetto. Abbiamo gradito molto parlare e girare con lei. Consiglio questo tour a tutti per capire qualcosa di più della realtà del meraviglioso Brasile!
Response from Host, Sept 2022
Grazie mille per il tuo commento!
Siamo molto felici di sapere che il tuo tour è stata una bella esperienza.
MARIEROSE_S, Apr 2022
Une communauté souvent très pauvre mais sage. La montée au sommet de la Favela permet un aperçu général. A faire.
Response from Host, Apr 2022
Salut! Merci beaucoup pour votre commentaire.
Nous sommes très heureux de savoir que vous avez apprécié votre visite.
Revenez souvent!
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