Private Walking and Cultural Tour Rocinha-Rio de Janeiro
Recommended by 99% of travelers
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Favela da Rocinha is the largest favela in Rio, located in the South Zone. With this tour, join a local family-run tour to experience the rich history, culture, and heritage of Rio as you learn about life in the favelas. Explore the alleys of the favela on a guided walking tour, peek inside the shops and restaurants, and learn about local cultural projects
- Immersive cultural experience: learn about local life in the favela
- Admire views over Rio from the rooftops of the favela
- Family-run tour company operated by brothers who grew up in the favela
- Private walking tour: enjoy the undivided attention of your guide
What's Included
- Bilingual Guide , Transportation, Roof Top Views, Walking Cultural Tour
- Foods Drinks, and Souvenirs ( optional )
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Itinerary
1
Rocinha
3 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Copacabana Beach (Pass By)
Praia do Leblon (Pass By)
Ipanema Beach (Pass By)
Morro Dois Irmaos (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
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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
5.0
based on 244 reviews
Pete_L, Feb 2026
Exploring Rocinha with Favela Brothers was an unforgettable experience — safe, super informative, and so much fun. José made the whole tour engaging and authentic from start to finish. Highly recommend if you’re in Rio! 🇧🇷✨
Juanita_G, Feb 2026
It was completely safe. Jose was fun and knowledgeable. A great experience and inexpensive. Must do in Rio.
Dominic_W, Aug 2025
After much trepidation my partner & I decided to embark on this tour and it was the best thing we did! Fascinating, enlightening, insightful, eye-opening and at no point did we feel unsafe! Trips like this just show how media narratives, which shapes our perceptions about places are not always accurate. That’s not to say the favelas are a paradise or bad things don’t happen, it’s to say that many good things also happen in this place that is brimming with culture, character and some incredibly resilient, resourceful people. Shoutout to our guide Carlos who not only come and picked us up and made us feel safe throughout the tour, but was very knowledgeable, affable, welcoming and passionate about his community. THIS IS A MUST DO TOUR WHEN IN RIO!
Paul_R, Mar 2025
Worth every penny! Gabriela was very knowledgeable about the favela and made us fell comfortable and safe!
Sarah_T, Mar 2025
The Favela Brothers tour was an amazing experience and a highlight of our visit to Rio. Our guide, Roberto, was excellent; friendly and so informative and we were given a real insight into the Rocinha community. The tour was very well organised and we felt safe at all times. Highly recommend Roberto and the Favela Brothers company for an unforgettable Rio tour.
stacey, Dec 2024
Great trip with Carlos! And riding the motorbike up the hills of the favela was great! Highly recommended - learned so much about the culture!
Zuwei_S, Nov 2024
Carlos was a very talented guide who has been passionate about his work and community he grew up with.
We feel the people around are warm and friendly, highly recommended this tour to see yourself.
Marcin_O, Sep 2024
Excellent private tour! Roberto is a fantastic tour guide! He's incredibly knowledgeable, super friendly, helpful and considerate. You will learn about Rocinha - the largest favela in Latin America. Highly recommend. Thank you again!
Darlene_N, Aug 2024
The whole tour was informative and interesting & thrilling. I really enjoy the school cultural show - fantastico!
Antonio was so informative, helpful, & caring! A true highlight of my brief trip to Rio.
daniele_i, Aug 2024
Very nice experience. Our guide took us through the suggestive streets of the favela, telling us about the daily life of its inhabitants. The motorbike ride to reach the top of the favela was fantastic. Highly recommended
Vlad_G, Jul 2024
Antonio is a great guide. Besides showing the places, he is very knowledgeable about how the life and society works in the favela, being born and raised there. I felt very safe throughout the activity. I left with a very different perspective in a good way, compared to what I thought before. I highly recommend taking this tour and get to know another side of Rio.
Lisa_F, Jun 2024
Roberto was an amazing tour guide! Loved riding the motorbikes up to the top of the Favela and getting an inside look at such an amazing community
Henry_H, Jun 2024
Makes you feel a whole lot more comfortable when your guide actually lives in the area you’re touring. Antonio was an excellent guide; friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. He made the tour fun & kept me wanting to see more.
Anonymous, May 2024
The 3-hour tour is full of fun things that cannot be described in a short review. It started with riding on the back of a motorcycle driver and rocketing up to the top of Rocinha. We passed through narrow, maze-like alleys and visited a community center, local people's houses, old cathedral. We tried delicious foods. Tour guide Daniel told us about the history, culture and rules of rocinha. He was born and raised there and knows the situation and people very well. At the end of the tour, I see rocinha and rio de janeiro with new eyes. If you want a balanced understanding of this city, don't miss this tour. I highly recommend it.
Zsolt_M, Mar 2024
True experience with many surprises and with an excellent guide . Worth to try it 😎 Rio is more than the Redeemer statue .
Dwayne_S, Mar 2024
Going into the walking tour I really didn't know what to expect and thought maybe I was going to feel unsafe because of the bad rep associated with favelas in Brazil. I was wrong! My friend and I did our tour with Roberto. Roberto assured us that all the misconceptions and bad reputations given to favelas are not all true. We felt perfectly safe the entire time being with him. We started the tour off with a motorcycle ride up the hill, walked around the Rocinha favela for a good 2 hours to observe everyday life of people and speak with some locals. He explained really well in English the favela's history and ongoing developments and projects in Rocinha. We also got the chance to visit a Capoeira school to watch students perform their traditional Capoeira martial arts. The Capoeira performance was one of my highlights of the tour because I grew up admiring Capoeira and to see it being performed live in front of me was awesome. The entire tour was the highlight of my trip in Rio. I felt like I connected with the experience and life of the people of the favelas because I know what it is like to grow up in poverty. Roberto was a great, calm, peaceful, and cool guide. We were lucky to have him. Thank you Roberto.
James_E, Mar 2024
Daniel. our guide, speaks very good English (self-taught), and was friendly and caring throughout the tour.
There was a bit of discomfort at the beginning which quickly went away as Daniel explained how his city works and how safe it is to be there with him.
This is a cultural item I would recommend highly to everyone.
Vaiva_A, Feb 2024
Amazing favela experience with Carlos, our guide. It was very informative, interesting and exciting to walk in the streets of favela. The tour starts with a crazy motorbike ride to the top of it, so be prepared! :)
Sindy_L, Feb 2024
Thanks Roberto for his great service. He is very knowledgeable and caring. It is an eye opening experience for us especially with my teenage son.
William_B, Jan 2024
Excellent guide. Carlos showed us the real life in the favela. The progress, as well as the challenges faced by residents
Sandro_K, Jan 2024
Our tour guide Gustavo showed us his Rocinha and we are very great full for this experience! He met us in our hotel lobby and we took an Uber to Rocinha and a motorbike taxi up to the starting point of the tour. From there, he showed us what makes Rocinha special for him - the people, the community and the art! We spent about 2 hours following him down through the narrow pathways and his insight and personal experience was invaluable to contextualise what we were experiencing. Having Gustavo with us gave made us feel safe at all times as well as seeing a number of other, similar tours!
Jeremy_S, Jan 2024
Carlos is a great guide! We did this on day ine and it was perfect. It was an excellent way to get to know the neighborhhods and people of Rio. Spectacular views of Rio from up high and great street art i the winding alleys. Safe from crime. There is a fun motorcycle ride (no helmets) up windy streets on the back of motorcycles which is like a local taxi service. A lot of steps, mostly down, but also one steep but short upward stretch. Highly recommend.
Janelle_C, Dec 2023
Gustavo was an awesome guy and tour guide through Rocinha! He was kind and considerate and the whole favela experience was awesome for me.. to see the people working together, babies, the children, families.. living and appreciating what they have, eachother and bonds. Working hard to survive... Thats rare to find in a neighborhood that does have money, power and authority. Thank you for my last day in Rio, Gustavo! I highly recommend to any visiting foreigner.. to anyone. The ride on the bike to the top is super fun as well :)
yo_y, Dec 2023
Taking a thrilling motorbike ride at the entrance of the Favela and arriving at a house of culture where kids give you a Capoeira performance against the backdrop of the beach and Favela rooftops, kind and fluent guide Gustavo let you see the glimpse of what is going on in the Favela with a walking tour.
I felt safe and protected walking along a Favela 'insider'.
A must do experience in Rio de Janeiro.
Great thanks from South Korea.
BettyJean_J, Oct 2023
This was an interesting experience, well-known and comprehensible. A must-see experience and will return in the future.
Agustin_m, Oct 2023
I went alone so I was really scared and on edge at first. But it turned out to be an awesome experience. Carlos and the beautiful people of Rocinha made me feel at home. Really recommend this experience if you are in Rio , you will not regret it.
Kyle_B, Sep 2023
Carlos was a great tour guide. He was very confident and knowledgeable and really showed me a good time. I left that experience feeling enriched and grateful to have been able to immerse myself in such a vibrant community, even if only for an afternoon.
Response from Host, Oct 2023
We extremely happy that Carlos exceeded your expectations about this Experience. Thanks a lot for booking our tours and till next time!
Shannon_S, Aug 2023
Enjoyed this tour! Carlos was a great guide, very knowledgable. It was interesting learning about the community, history and people. Communication was great, pick up and drop off were smooth.
Response from Host, Oct 2023
Carlos is great tour guide, Born and raised in Rocinha. He loves doing the tours and show people from all over the world how beautiful rocinha is! Thanks a lot and till next time!
devitos13, Jul 2023
This was a great private experience to see the local life and the real people of Rio. We were picked up by Roberto on time and taken to the favela entrance where bikers took us to the top of the favela. So much fun and exhilarating experience! There our guide Roberto was amazing telling us all the history and taking ua through locals’ homes. We also had bbq lunch at a great place together. Roberto was very knowledgeable and explained what life is like, the economy, health, and education and showed us different areas and types of homes and constructions,. It was a lot of fun and we are so glad we picked the Favela Brothers for this tour!
Response from Host, Oct 2023
We appreciate it a lot you gave us a positive feedback about the tour, thanks for booking and till next time!
Windel_W, May 2023
Carlos was responsive and answered all our questions. I was impressed with how much knowledge he had about not only the favelas but Rio De Janeiro. The stop with the Capoeira with the kids was a huge surprise. I am glad to see the Favelas has great people doing great things to change the views of what a Favela is. Thank you Carlos great guide
Response from Host, May 2023
Thanks a lot for booking your favela tour with us!!! We love doing the tours as much as you enjoyed it. Thanks again and till next time!
From $50.00
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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