The 15 Best Favela Tours in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro: Rocinha Favela Walking Tour with Local Guide - Starting from Copacabana, Ipanema, or São Conrado

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 3,052 reviews · 2 - 3 hours · from $36Our pick

Explore Rocinha with a local guide on a respectful Rio walking tour, with transport, community support, and practical advice for your visit.

“It was incredible journey. The guide Carlos was amazing. He spoke so good english and his stories were fantastic. He was really caring, waited for us when needed and always told, that we are on vacation and don’t need to be in hurry. He had a lot of positive energy and made my day ❤️”

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Rio De Janeiro: Half-Day Rocinha Favela Walking Tour

2.Half-Day Rocinha Favela Walking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 2,272 reviews · 3 hours · from $35

Walk through Rocinha with local guides, hear real stories, visit a capoeira school, and enjoy sweeping Rio views on this respectful 3-hour tour.

“Martin was a great guide! He explained us everything in details and very friendly!! I recommend to anyone going to Rio de Janeiro to visit a Favela!!”

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3 Hour Rocinha Favela Walking Tour with a Local Guide

3.3 Hour Rocinha Favela Walking Tour with a Local Guide

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 833 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $37Top rated

Explore Rocinha with a resident guide, learn about daily life in Rio’s largest favela, and support the community on a thoughtful 3-hour walk.

“Martin was a good guide and was informative, interesting tour. The weather was nice. And we did some walking”

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Favela Tours

4.Favela Tours

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 660 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $47

Explore Rocinha with a local guide, city views, community stories, street art, and practical tips for this thoughtful Rio favela tour.

“Guide was excellent, knew exactly how to take us through the maze of the Favela to get the best views. Highly recommended.”

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Rio de Janeiro: Favela Santa Marta Top Tour with Local Guide

5.Favela Santa Marta Top Tour with Local Guide

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 488 reviews · 150 minutes - 3 hours · from $28

Tour Santa Marta with a local guide, visit Michael Jackson Square, meet residents, hear samba, and see how community projects shape Rio.

“Our tour from start to finish was highly interesting and very informative. Our guide marco was so welcoming and friendly, we loved every minute of it! Thank you again.”

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Favela Tour in Rio de Janeiro

6.Favela Tour in Rio de Janeiro

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 483 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $33

Explore Rio’s Rocinha and Vila Canoas with local guides, sweeping views, community projects, hotel pickup, and practical safety tips.

“It was nice expirience. We could feel the life in favela. The tourguide Simon was very friendly. The view from the top of favela was amazing.”

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Favela Tour Rio de Janeiro – Vidigal Walking Tour by Russo Guide

7.Favela Tour Rio de Janeiro – Vidigal Walking Tour by Russo Guide

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 377 reviews · 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours (approx.) · from $29

Explore Vidigal with local guide Russo, hilltop views, community stories, steep streets, and practical tips for this Rio walking tour.

“The tour was an interesting experience in the sense that we got to walk through Vidigal with Russo, who lives there and clearly knows the community well. It felt authentic to be guided by a local, and we appreciated the chance to see a part of Rio that many visitors don’t usually get to explore. That said, the tour didn’t quite live up to our expectations. Russo was kind and welcoming, but his English was unfortunately very limited, which made it difficult to understand what we were seeing or to ask questions. What we really missed was context. There was very little explanation about the history of Vidigal, how the…”

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Favela Santa Marta Tour

8.Favela Santa Marta Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 330 reviews · 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $32

Explore Rio’s Santa Marta favela with local guides, Sugarloaf views, Michael Jackson’s statue, community projects, and practical safety advice.

“Pietro was amazing! Very knowledgeable, and lively. He kept the experience engaging throughout. He had very good communication regarding safety, like a guardian angel. He had such a wonderful rapport with some of the locals, and it was also a great highlight seeing the Michael Jackson shrine! Colourful, a few cats to pat, and some smiles with locals along the way. Would totally recommend.”

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Private Walking and Cultural Tour Rocinha-Rio de Janeiro

9.Private Walking and Cultural Tour Rocinha-Rio de Janeiro

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 239 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $50

Review of Rocinha’s private cultural walking tour, with rooftop views, local guides, motorbike rides, practical tips, price, and safety notes.

“The whole tour was informative and interesting & thrilling. I really enjoy the school cultural show - fantastico! Antonio was so informative, helpful, & caring! A true highlight of my brief trip to Rio.”

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Rio de Janeiro: Favela Santa Marta Tour with Resident Guide

10.Favela Santa Marta Tour with Resident Guide

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 220 reviews · 2 hours - 150 minutes · from $27

Explore Santa Marta with resident guide Gilson Fumaça, local stories, Michael Jackson sites, community projects, and superb Rio views.

“Gilson is the nicest guy. He showed us all around the Favela even in the pouring rain and told us all about it. We were so happy to be in a small group and not with the big ones. He had some good stories to tell about this part of the city and was happy to answer all our questions. He is a great guy and honestly we couldn’t have found a better guide. I believe we got the most authentic tour that you could find. Thank you so much!!!”

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Rio: Favela Rocinha Tour with Local Guide & Secret Spots

11.Favela Rocinha Tour with Local Guide & Secret Spots

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 218 reviews · 2h 30m · from $43

Explore Rocinha with a local guide, motorcycle ride, viewpoints, capoeira, and community stops on this intimate Rio favela tour.

“It was amazing! My tour guide was awesome, very safe, but gave us a lot of opportunities to do different things:)”

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Favela da Rocinha Tour

12.Favela da Rocinha Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 199 reviews · 2 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $49

Review of the Rocinha favela tour in Rio, with motorbike rides, local stories, rooftop views, practical tips, pricing, and itinerary details.

“Gabbi was great she knew of the area and community, answered a lot of our questions! We even took pictures with a monkey. Had a lot of fun and felt safe the whole time.”

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Rocinha favela walking tour with a local guide

13.Rocinha favela walking tour with a local guide

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 193 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $20Best value

Explore Rocinha with a local guide, ride a moto-taxi, hear its history, and see Rio’s famous landmarks from above.

“Great experiencing what life is like around rocinha favelas, loved the roof top bar and the views from it and a lot of people are very friendly, Carlos was a great guide and highly recommend him if you get him”

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The real life behind the word favela

14.The real life behind the word favela

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 186 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $49

Explore Rocinha with a local guide, motor taxi rides, viewpoints, capoeira, and everyday community life in this thoughtful Rio tour.

“Everyone has a prejudice about the favelas. Leave all that behind and learn the true story from this fantastic tour. Excellent people and an excellent place.”

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Morro Two Brothers Trail, during the day and sunset in Vidigal

15.Morro Two Brothers Trail, during the day and sunset in Vidigal

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 150 reviews · 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $48

Hike Rio’s Two Brothers peak with a local Vidigal guide, scenic viewpoints, motor-taxi transport, photos, and sunset options.

“Awesome hike and breathtaking views! The host was awesome — super friendly, professional, and clearly knows the trail inside out. His English was excellent, which made communication easy and has super chill vibes!”

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