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

Meeting point

Rio Othon Palace - Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 22010-000, Brazil
If you do not contact us to confirm pickup time, we meet you at the Meeting Point.

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Pickup details

Pickup is available from most hotels in the areas of Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana, Flamengo and Downtown (Centro). Contact us back to adjust the pickup time.

What To Expect

Rocinha

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

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

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

30 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 30 reviews

Perfect

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!

Favella tour

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!

The driver/guide never...

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.

An absolutely fantastic...

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!

Interesting walk thru the Favela

George_B, Sep 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.

An insight into the other side of Brazilian life

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!

Great tour - only do this with a local!

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

Fantastic Favela trip

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.

Great experience at Favela

Yihong_P, Feb 2023

Our guide was excellent. The company helped with our luggage and transferred us to another hotel when dropping us off.

Memorable

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

Favela tour

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

Manuela Onofre guided us on a very...

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, Sep 2020

Hello! Thank you very much for your comment! We hope to see you again soon

Enjoyed this tour of the favela. It was...

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, Sep 2020

Thank you very much for your comment! Happy that you enjoyed it!

we started from the top and went down...

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.

It was reasonably interesting, although...

Maxim P, Oct 2015

It was reasonably interesting, although I liked the one of Santa Marta slightly better.

A fascinating walk through the streets...

ANNE MARIE M, Sep 2015

A fascinating walk through the streets and narrow alleys of the favelas. Eduardo was very informative. The residents were extremely friendly too.

Mit Jürgen in die Favela , ein wirklich unvergessliches Erlebnis

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

Rocinha Favela

Christopher_K, Sep 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.

La pauvreté à rio

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.

Tour favela Rocinha con Nouza

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, Sep 2022

Grazie mille per il tuo commento! Siamo molto felici di sapere che il tuo tour è stata una bella esperienza.