3 Hour Rocinha Favela Walking Tour
Overview
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.
Our Favela Tour only starts after collecting all of our clients from both meeting point at 13:30 (Belmond Copacabana Palace Hotel) as well as 13:45 (Praia Ipanema Hotel) Consequently, we expect to arrive at Rocinha Favela around 14h for your walking tour.
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.
Our Favela Tour only starts after collecting all of our clients from both meeting point at 13:30 (Belmond Copacabana Palace Hotel) as well as 13:45 (Praia Ipanema Hotel) Consequently, we expect to arrive at Rocinha Favela around 14h for your walking tour.
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.
Inclusions
- Local guide
- Transport by air-conditioned minivan
- Hotel pickup and drop-off (select hotels only)
What to expect
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Copacabana Beach, Av. Atlantica - Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro 22070-011 Brazil
This is our first beach and place where we pickup most of our clients at 13:30 (be aware)
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Ipanema Beach, Avenida Vieira Souto - Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro 22420-002 Brazil
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
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro Brazil
We expect to arrive in Rocinha after all pickups at 14:30 for our walking tour - please wear comfortable shoes for the tour
Duration: 2 hours
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Copacabana Beach, Av. Atlantica - Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro 22070-011 Brazil
This is our first beach and place where we pickup most of our clients at 13:30 (be aware)
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Ipanema Beach, Avenida Vieira Souto - Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro 22420-002 Brazil
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
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro Brazil
We expect to arrive in Rocinha after all pickups at 14:30 for our walking tour - please wear comfortable shoes for the tour
Duration: 2 hours
Additional information
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- May be operated by a multilingual guide
- Near public transportation
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Be aware of uneven steps
- You must be fit or in good condition to walk at least 5 km
- Our walking tour is around 3km downhill
- Face masks required for travelers in public areas
- Face masks required for guides in public areas
- Social distancing enforced throughout experience
- 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 tour/activity will have a maximum of 45 travelers
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Ticket delivery
You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity.
Cancellation
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start time of the experience.
Gavin_A
March 2022
Excellent tour which I would very much recommend. Alberto was an extremely knowledgeable tour guide.
Excellent tour which I would very much recommend. Alberto was an extremely knowledgeable tour guide.immersedp
May 2022
Alberto was our tour guide and gave us a really authentic, immersive experience. He was also very sociable and made everyone feel welcomed. I felt totally safe with him, would highly recommend this experience!
Alberto was our tour guide and gave us a really authentic, immersive experience. He was also very sociable and made everyone feel welcomed. I felt totally safe with him, would highly recommend this experience!706karthiki
May 2022
Amazing experience all because of the guide, Alberto. Make sure you get him for the tour because he has great energy, makes you feel completely safe, and shares so many of his personal experiences with you. I know that I wouldn't have enjoyed the tour nearly as much without him! Thanks so much Al...
Amazing experience all because of the guide, Alberto. Make sure you get him for the tour because he has great energy, makes you feel completely safe, and shares so many of his personal experiences with you. I know that I wouldn't have enjoyed the tour nearly as much without him! Thanks so much Alberto :)Sam G
April 2022
If you're interested in visiting one of Rio's favelas in an interactive and humanising way as opposed to just driving through in a vehicle like you're on a safari then i'd highly recommend this tour. Our guide Carlos (a resident of the favela) was incredibly and genuinely passionate about sharing...
If you're interested in visiting one of Rio's favelas in an interactive and humanising way as opposed to just driving through in a vehicle like you're on a safari then i'd highly recommend this tour. Our guide Carlos (a resident of the favela) was incredibly and genuinely passionate about sharing the stories of his neighbourhood and its people. A very educational and eye opening tour. Photos are generally permitted but there are certain areas where we were told not to at the respect and request of the people in the area. Pick up and drop off was easy and smooth and the transport vehicle was comfortable. A highlight of my trip to Rio!no317
April 2022
Amazing, safe experience and Alberto is the best guide!!!! Very intelligent individual who knows all about Brazil.
Amazing, safe experience and Alberto is the best guide!!!! Very intelligent individual who knows all about Brazil.Wes_B
April 2022
The "Other Rio". I have always been intrigued, especially based on my upbringing (a different story) on the Black experience in the Americas. I try to pass that consciousness on to my children as well so my family and I took a guided tour of a "favela". Probably not a place that you want to go ...
The "Other Rio". I have always been intrigued, especially based on my upbringing (a different story) on the Black experience in the Americas. I try to pass that consciousness on to my children as well so my family and I took a guided tour of a "favela". Probably not a place that you want to go without a local (more on our outstanding guide "Carlos" later) but what an experience! As a contrast to our favela tour we finished up our trip with a walk around Rio's biggest mall ("Shopping Barra") where one can clearly see that the unofficial estimates of "In Brasil 1% of the population controls 98% of the money" may not be as exaggerated as we originally thought. Based on our time in that mall there is DEFINITELY MONEY IN RIO! Just not in the favelas. Why are they called "favelas"? That's why you have Google so look it up if you want to know. We started at the top of Favela Rocinha where the view is worth a million dollars even if the residents exist on $200 a month (from the government) or less sometimes. A thriving mini-economy has arisen and as Carlos put it: "We typically don't know anything about any other neighborhoods other than the address where we work. We are born, live and die in the favela". Carlos was an exceptional guide. Always "telling it like it is" as gritty as that may be. He is steeped in the favela culture as he has lived in it since birth. He is fully bilingual (at least in English/Portuguese. Maybe more?) as well. I truly believe that my family and I now know way more about the world that we live in than we did before our favela tour and through this post I am just trying to honor Carlos' request to "tell the world". It was recommended by Carlos to watch the Brazilian movie from 2002 named "City Of God" which I am almost ashamed to say that I had not seen until I downloaded it and watched it on the flight home. Not so much a documentary but Brazilians say it is a solid depiction of life in a favela. Portuguese with English subtitles. Entertaining yet raw, to say the least. There is also a "Where are they now"? follow up on Netflix called something like: "City of God: 10 Years After". I can now say after viewing both during that long flight home to California that I have now seen both and highly recommend them.