Best tours to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro

The favelas, similar to shantytowns or Hoovervilles, are informal neighborhoods built mainly on the hillsides of Rio de Janeiro as a result of the gentrification of the city. These neighborhoods, which are part of the characteristic landscape of the old capital of Brazil, are one of the great attractions of this destination and one of the best alternatives to discover them is to take guided tours through some of the most populated ones.

Among the best activities you can do in Rio de Janeiro are taking a tour of the Vidigal favela, touring the Santa Marta neighborhood on a walking tour, visiting Rocinha, which is the best known of the city's informal settlements, taking a tour of the Santa Teresa neighborhood and exploring Pereira da Silva, which is one of the most densely populated favelas in Brazil.

Exploring the Vidigal favela in Rio de Janeiro on a guided tour is an experience that will allow you to discover daily life in one of Brazil's most popular settlements. This neighborhood is famous for the number of people who inhabit it, but also for its proximity to Dos Hermanos Hill, which you can also explore on a hiking tour.

Touring Vidigal is one of the best activities you can do in Rio de Janeiro, where you will discover the essence of the carioca culture through its winding streets, the brightly painted houses and the warm hospitality of its inhabitants.

On these tours you will have the opportunity to visit workshops of local artists, listen to live music and taste the local gastronomy. The distinguishing feature of Vidigal is its relative accessibility and openness to tourism, which sets it apart from many other favelas in Rio de Janeiro and makes it a much safer place.

If you opt for the excursions that also propose a hiking tour on the Dos Hermanos hill you can reach the top through the pedestrian paths surrounded by vegetation. At the top of this site you can access a panoramic view of the city that will also allow you to discover the extent of Vidigal to measure the impact that this settlement has on the culture of the city.

Details of interest

• Price: approximately 51 euros per person.
• Duration: about 5 hours.
• Advantages of these tours: you will be able to see not only the favela but also a hill that will give you a panoramic view of the city and the extension of the settlement.
• Disadvantages of these tours: the walk up the hill and through the winding streets of Vidigal is physically demanding.

If you want to get to know one of the most traditional favelas in Brazil, you can't miss Santa Marta. This settlement is one of the oldest in the city and its distinctive feature is that in recent years it has managed to become an urbanized and peaceful area, unlike in the past, when it was considered one of the most dangerous areas of the city center.

In Santa Marta you can also learn the story behind Michael Jackson's song They Don't Care About Us. The music video for this track was filmed in Santa Marta in 1996, which led to greater international visibility of the favela and made it the most visited site in Rio de Janeiro during 1997, surpassing even the tours to Christ the Redeemer.

During the visit, you will learn about the impact this experience had on the community and how it has become a symbol of resilience and hope for its inhabitants. You can also tour the murals in the favela that were dedicated to the singer after his death, as well as have your picture taken with the bronze statue of the artist that was unveiled at the top of the favela.

In addition to its connection to global music, Santa Marta is a place where Carioca culture flourishes. There you can interact with local residents and visit artisan workshops, as it is a neighborhood with a strong artistic influence. In any case, these excursions, which are part of the best tours of Rio de Janeiro, will give you the opportunity to better understand the complex and fascinating reality of these settlements.

Details of interest

• Price: approximately 31 euros.
• Duration: about 2 hours and a half.
• Advantages of these tours: you will visit the first favela that was pacified and urbanized in Rio de Janeiro and you will learn about its relationship with the figure of Michael Jackson.
• Disadvantages of these tours: they are tours of less than three hours, so you will find a very intense pace, as Santa Marta is one of the largest favelas in the city.

The Rocinha walking tour is an experience that will transport you into the daily life of the city's most famous favela. Rocinha sprawls across the hills of Rio de Janeiro, so from the heart of this settlement you will have a complete view of this destination from a place that has forged its own identity over the years.

During these walking tours, you will have the opportunity to stroll through the narrow streets that characterize this site, learn first-hand about the reality of Rocinha and receive information from your expert local guide to understand the cultural and social impact that this neighborhood has on Rio de Janeiro. Nearly 60 thousand people live there, making it the most densely populated favela in all of Brazil.

The irregular layout of Rocinha also makes it an unmistakable luminous volcano at night in Rio de Janeiro. From the highest points of the city you can distinguish its location by its distinctive skeleton and discover the hectic routine that assaults the favela at any time of the day.

In addition to the walking tours, you can also opt for jeep tours of Rocinha. These experiences will take you through the steep streets of the settlement and give you a panoramic view of Rio de Janeiro from the top of the hills.

Details of interest

• Price: approximately 35 euros.
• Duration: about 3 hours.
• Advantages of these tours: it is the best alternative to get to know the largest and most famous favela in Brazil.
• Disadvantages of these tours: the walking tours can be exhausting due to the size of the favela, but the vehicle tours cannot go through all the internal streets.

The Pereira da Silva favela is home to one of Rio de Janeiro's lesser-known communities but is no less fascinating for that. Unlike Rio's larger and more famous favelas, this settlement offers a more intimate and authentic experience. On tours of this community, you can soak up local life and get to know the neighborhood with the assistance of a local guide who lives here, making it one of the best activities to discover the city.

On your tour of Pereira da Silva you can explore the narrow cobblestone streets and colorful houses that adorn the favela. You will encounter a population that has preserved its cultural traditions over the years and you will be able to buy gifts and handicrafts that will serve as souvenirs of the city.

In addition, you can enjoy Brazilian cuisine in the local restaurants and food stalls. There you can try typical dishes such as feijoada or acarajé, and experience the authentic flavors of Brazil in a native experience unlike any other.

Details of interest

• Price: approximately 28 euros.
• Duration: about 3 hours.
• Advantages of these tours: you will get to know a favela in an alternative way, with a guide from the local community who will be able to show you first hand what daily life is like in these places.
• Disadvantages of these excursions: the offer of guided tours is much smaller than in other settlements, so you will have to book in advance to ensure your place on the tours.

The Santa Teresa tour in Rio de Janeiro is an alternative that will allow you to discover one of the most picturesque and bohemian places in the city. Unlike the favelas, Santa Teresa is a traditional neighborhood with a rich history and a distinctive personality, but it is surrounded by settlements and its community has a close relationship with them.

Located in the hills of Rio, this corner offers a completely different perspective of the city compared to nearby favelas, such as Pereira da Silva. Santa Teresa is known for its cobblestone streets, crumbling old mansions and the relaxed, artistic atmosphere it exudes. This neighborhood is home to many emerging painters, sculptors and writers.

During the tour, you can admire the colonial architecture, visit small art galleries and explore local craft stores. The bondinho, which is the last electric train running in Brazil, is one of the distinctive features of the neighborhood, which is known as the Carioca Montmartre. There, you can also visit the Chácara do Céu Museum, which is considered one of the best museums in Rio de Janeiro.

In any case, a tour of Santa Teresa will allow you to discover the interrelationship between informal settlements and traditional neighborhoods in the most vulnerable areas of Rio de Janeiro.

Details of interest

• Price: approximately 37 euros.
• Duration: about 4 hours.
• Advantages of these tours: you will be able to understand how favela communities relate to traditional neighborhoods.
• Disadvantages of these tours: if you plan to visit Rio de Janeiro during the high season you will see that it is an area that usually has a large influx of tourists.

Rio de Janeiro's favelas are often portrayed as some of the most dangerous areas of the city. Criminal gangs often operate there and the police presence is often notorious, although over time this part of Brazil has managed to urbanize and pacify many of these settlements, so touring these sites has become a safe experience.

On the other hand, in many of the cases these tours are guided by the inhabitants of the favela and tourism is one of the main economic incomes of the community, which favors the safety of visitors. If you are planning to visit Rio de Janeiro in December or during the summer months, I advise you to book these experiences in advance, which will not only allow you to secure your place but also to get to know the tourist service provider, which will make the excursion even safer.

However, if you want to experience a favela in Rio de Janeiro but are concerned about safety during the walking tours, you can opt to visit these sites in jeep tours or other vehicles. Note that these options are usually available only in the most populous and largest favelas, such as Rocinha and Vidigal.

You can choose to book the tours in advance online, which will be particularly useful if you are planning to visit Rio de Janeiro during the high season, or if you are planning a short stay in the city and want to put together a detailed itinerary to optimize your time in this destination. If that is your case, here is a list of activities you can do to discover Rio in 3 days.

However, if you decide for these experiences at the last minute or you prefer to hire them on the date, you can also choose to hire these tours once you are in the city. In that case I advise you to try to combine a visit to a favela with a tour of some of the best museums in Rio de Janeiro or the main attractions, such as the Sugarloaf Rock, Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado Hill or the Selarón Staircase to make the most of the geographical location of these settlements.

On the Rio de Janeiro favela tours you will get to know some of the most interesting places in the city, not only because of their particular beauty and cultural influence, but also because through them you will get to know the contrasts of Brazil. You will be able to understand the complexities of one of the most visited and populated cities in the country, and discover a different profile of this destination.

You will also have the opportunity to see some of the most iconic sites of the city, such as the interior of Rocinha, and Santa Marta, the settlement made famous by Michael Jackson's video clip. During your tour you will also learn about the history of Brazil, as in Santa Teresa, where you can take the last electric train operating in the country, which runs through the urban layout of one of the most bohemian neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro.

As a matter of safety, it is not advisable to enter the favelas of Rio de Janeiro without the accompaniment of a guide or a person who knows the dynamics of these settlements. On the other hand, the particular urban layout of these sites will make the tour difficult and you will not be able to distinguish the most outstanding sites of each neighborhood if you do not have specific information, since the signage is usually precarious.

If you opt for one of the best guided tours in Rio de Janeiro, you will not only gain peace of mind and relax during your tour, but you will also be able to make the most of the tour, save time and optimize your experience.