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(936)
I had an absolutely amazing tour with Ray as my guide! One of the most enjoyable and interesting tours I've taken on any trip, period. She gave so much good information, and was very thorough. If you visit Rio, I would consider this trip an absolute must! 11/10, highly recommended.
Highlight! Rocinha is like its own little universe. The efficiency of how it seems to run is amazing. And really some of the most stunning views of the city.
Stunning views and friendly guide. Great experience. A little bit hot walking down the road so stay hydrated.
Very interesting tour. We enjoyed it. Local guide who lives on Favela so good to hear first hand experiences.
Was very undecided about this tour because of reading many negative reviews across various companies but we are so glad we did it! If you ask questions, the tour is amazing but you have to be curious in my opinion. We learnt so much and it’s very different from similiar areas we’ve been to in other parts of the world. Been on many a motorbike across Asia but this was a different level, highly recommend it. Felt super safe and enjoyed this trip very much so! We knew we would regret not doing it and so glad we went for it
Thanks for supporting our local business. You are the reason for our success. Have a lovely day
Daniel was a great guide! We had some great surprises along the way with a perfect view of the favela.
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! We’re delighted to hear that you enjoyed the experience and that Daniel made your visit special. We’re glad you appreciated the surprises along the way and the beautiful views of Rocinha. We hope to welcome you back to Rio again soon! Kind regards, Favela Walking Tour
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)!
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! We’re very happy to hear that you enjoyed the tour with Ray and that you would do it again in a heartbeat. We’re sorry to hear that you lost your photos. We will do our best to see if we can find some pictures from your tour and help you recover those special memories. We’ll also keep an eye out in case any of the other guests from your tour have photos to share. Thank you again for joining us, and we hope to welcome you back to Rocinha in the future! Kind regards, Favela Walking Tour
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.
Thank you very much for your thoughtful feedback! We’re delighted to hear that you enjoyed the tour with Daniel and appreciated his honest and genuine insights into life in Rocinha. We believe that hearing directly from local guides is an important part of understanding the community and its reality. We also appreciate your comment about the number of tours taking place at the same time. We’re always looking for ways to improve the experience and make our tours as comfortable and meaningful as possible. Thank you again for joining us! Kind regards, Favela Walking Tour
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!
