Favela Tour

A very good tour with Patrick, a passionate and knowledgeable guide. With only 5 on the tour, we were picked up from our hotel in a taxi, with one other stop to collect the other 3. In the favela, we did have stops at a couple of businesses, but there was no pressure to buy and the art for sale was of high quality. The capoeira show was great, in a small room with very talented performers right up close. We descended down through the favela via a myriad of tiny lanes and stairways. Patrick was greeted by so many people along the way, in particular children, with whom he is working to keep them in school and engage in interests apart from the grim underbelly of favela culture that is part of their day-to-day lives. All in all, a very enlightening and enjoyable experience.

Booked then got a message an hour later stating they had no more room. I asked them to cancel so I could book elsewhere. They said they would but never did. So I had to waste my personal time with Viator to obtain my refund.

It was a bad experience from the very start. Our guide turned up at 10.30am , half an hour late. We were in sqeezed into a tiny taxi, 5 of us plus guide being driven to the favela. The guide had no real talent at story telling, spat out statistics about everything other than the tour , spend a lot of time at an eatery , spouting on topics such as Angelina Jolies encounter with bees etc. Over all disappointing , listless and poor guiding.

Great trip. Excellent guide. Very informative

Very eye-opening experience. Patrick, our tour guide, was very knowledgeable.

+1

This was a top notch "Rio experience". Patrick was knowledgeable and evidently cared about people living in favelas. You must hear the real stories of the people to understand the favela life. I hope next time I visit Rio favelas there will be more kids playing soccer than working.

If you have been lucky enough to stumble across this tour, then please don’t hesitate to book it. It was the best tour I have ever done because i honestly can’t stop thinking about it. Patrick, our tour guide, was incredible, he created a calmness for us and he knew the people and what to do and what not to do. I never felt scared, I just felt utterly honoured to meet such beautiful people. It was humbling and a day I shall never forget

+2

Whilst we got off to a late start due to me following Viator instructions and not the company WhatsApp instructions- the tour company were absolutely brilliant in making this tour happen for us. The weather however couldn’t be organised and it rained all throughout the tour. This didn’t distract Patrick our guide from providing a fascinating narrative as we walked down through the favella. Highly recommended company and tour guide.

This was a pretty cool tour. A bit pushy on the politics, but it was overall enjoyable. The tour guide was great.

Outstanding tout with a wonderful guide- Patrick. He displayed a clear and through knowledge with a lovely mixture of factual detail and local chat chat. And he knew everyone! It was superb. Strong recommendation for a tour we were unsure about at the point of booking!