3 Hour Rocinha Favela Walking Tour with a Local Guide
Description
Visiting the Rocinha favela, one of Rio's hundreds of "favelas" (the Brazilian term for a slum or shantytown) and the largest in the country, is a local experience that gives you the chance to see Brazil from another point of view. With a resident guide, take a non-intrusive walking tour to learn about daily life in the favela and gain insight into the challenges these communities face. When your tour is finished our driver will be heading back to Copacabana neighborhood crossing the beaches of Leblon and Ipanema, therefore you must inform our tour guide where you are staying so we can make sure you are dropped off as close as possible to your hotel. Duration of our tour including pickup and drop off is around 3 hours.
Tour Options
Itinerary
This is our first beach and place where we pickup most of our clients at 13:30 (be aware)
Second beach - another great location in Rio and one of the most expensive areas in Brazil. We drive by to pickup clients as well. We drive by the second meeting point at 13:50
We expect to arrive in Rocinha after all pickups at 14:30 for our walking tour - please wear comfortable shoes for the tour
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- May be operated by a multilingual guide
- Be aware of uneven steps
- For the privacy and comfort of all participants, we do not allow sunglasses equipped with cameras on our tours.
- You must be fit or in good condition to walk at least 5 km
- Our walking tour is around 3km downhill
Reviews(931)
Daniel was a great guide! We had some great surprises along the way with a perfect view of the favela.
This was a great tour. We had Ray as our guide, and I would go again in a heartbeat. I learned a lot from Ray and also from looking around while walking. My only regret is losing all my photos from that day. If anyone else toured Rocinha with Ray the last week of July 2026 and would be willing to share some photos with me, please contact me (kejordan@gmail.com)!
Daniel, our guide knows first hand the life of the Fravelo and it was obvious that he shared insights that were genuine without sugar coating the reality. I enjoyed it very much although there are probably too many tours running at the same time.
A long drive to pick people up, while it is hard to understand the English of the guide. We made several stops during the Favela tour which ended up asking for donation / small payments, which is not pleasant to find out they are trying to make money off of each stop. Not an experience living up to my expectation specially the guide not that helpful.
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re sorry to hear that your experience didn’t meet your expectations. Our tour includes hotel pickups, which can take some time depending on traffic and the locations of other guests. We understand this isn’t ideal for everyone, but it allows us to offer convenient transportation from many areas of Rio. We’re also sorry if you had difficulty understanding your guide. We take this feedback seriously and will discuss it with the guide to ensure clearer communication on future tours. Regarding the stops during the tour, none of the purchases or donations are mandatory. We visit local community initiatives and small family-run businesses to give guests the opportunity to support them if they wish, but there is never any obligation to spend money. We appreciate your honest comments, as they help us improve. We hope you’ll consider giving us another opportunity in the future.
Best trip in Rio. Our guide is from the favela community and he speaks excellent English, very passionate, engaging and knowledgeable. I like how the tour is organized and designed. We spend time with children who teach us capoeira, and boys who can play football with us. I really enjoy it and I hope everyone can come and support the community.
Thank you so much for your wonderful review! We’re delighted to hear that your Favela Tour was one of the best experiences of your time in Rio. It means a lot to us that you enjoyed the way the tour is organized and that you had the chance to interact with members of the community. We’ll be sure to share your kind words with your guide. Our local guides are passionate about showing the real Rocinha, and it’s fantastic to know their knowledge and enthusiasm made such a positive impact. We’re especially happy that you enjoyed the capoeira and football activities with the local children. These moments help create meaningful cultural exchanges while supporting community projects. Thank you for recommending the tour and for encouraging others to visit and support the community. We truly appreciate your support and hope to welcome you back to Rio in the future!
The favela tour was absolutely incredible and one of the highlights of our trip. João was an outstanding guide—extremely knowledgeable, engaging, and genuinely friendly. He made us feel welcome from the start and shared so much insight into the community, its history, and daily life. His passion and personality truly made the experience unforgettable. This tour was 100% worth it, and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Rio.
Thank you so much for your amazing review! We’re thrilled to hear that the Favela Tour was one of the highlights of your trip to Rio. João will be incredibly happy to hear your kind words. His passion for Rocinha and his commitment to sharing its history, culture, and everyday life are exactly what we hope every guest experiences. It’s wonderful to know that you felt welcomed from the very beginning and that João’s knowledge and personality made the tour so memorable. Thank you for your recommendation—it truly means a lot to our team. We hope to welcome you back to Rio for another unforgettable experience in the future!
Brilliant tour, our guide Carlos was passionate, knowledgeable and clearly local and loves his Favela. He was entertaining and kept the tempo of the group up and explained everything, our Son loved him. We'd literally just landed in Rio that morning itself after a 12-hour flight from Rome, but Carlos kept the energy levels up. I won't give away the context of the tour, but do not be afraid, embrace it and just book this tour, you won't regret it.
Thank you so much for your wonderful review! We’re delighted to hear that you and your family had such a great experience with Carlos. We’ll be sure to pass along your kind words to him—he’ll be thrilled to know he made such a positive impression, especially on your son. It’s impressive that you joined the tour right after a 12-hour flight, and we’re so glad Carlos’ enthusiasm and passion helped keep everyone’s energy up. As a local guide, he truly loves sharing his community and giving visitors an authentic perspective on life in Rocinha. Thank you for recommending the tour to future travelers. It means a lot to us, and we hope to welcome you back to Rio someday!
Visit the favella with a knowledgeable guide who knows what it means to live there. A superb insight into an interesting community
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with us. We truly appreciate your kind words and are delighted to hear that you enjoyed your visit to Rocinha. Our goal is to provide an authentic, safe, and respectful experience while supporting the local community, so it's wonderful to know that your tour met your expectations. We hope to welcome you back to Rio de Janeiro in the future. If you do, we'd love to show you another side of the city with one of our other experiences! Kind regards, The Favela Walking Tour Team
very educational, fun, and useful tour. carlos the guide could be a cultural studies professor!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with us. We truly appreciate your kind words and are delighted to hear that you enjoyed your visit to Rocinha. Our goal is to provide an authentic, safe, and respectful experience while supporting the local community, so it's wonderful to know that your tour met your expectations. We hope to welcome you back to Rio de Janeiro in the future. If you do, we'd love to show you another side of the city with one of our other experiences! Kind regards, The Favela Walking Tour Team
Clear communication from tour orgnaisers. Met our guide Ray and travelled to the favela on a minibus. Ray was great throughout the whole tour, really friendly, answered loads of questions and gave us lots of info about the Favela and the people within. We had some great opportunities for photos and even got to play basketball against the locals. We felt safe throughout the tour, would definitely recommend.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with us. We truly appreciate your kind words and are delighted to hear that you enjoyed your visit to Rocinha. Our goal is to provide an authentic, safe, and respectful experience while supporting the local community, so it's wonderful to know that your tour met your expectations. We hope to welcome you back to Rio de Janeiro in the future. If you do, we'd love to show you another side of the city with one of our other experiences! Kind regards, The Favela Walking Tour Team
