To do at least once in a lifetime - Beautiful experience accompanied by an engaging and friendly guide. It was a safe but impactful experience at the same time. It was worth the thought, I recommend trying this tour!

A thoughtful, respectful and genuinely human experience - Our Santa Marta favela tour was one of the most meaningful experiences we had in Rio, and a huge part of that was our guide, Iris. She grew up in Santa Marta and, through an academic scholarship, learned flawless English — something that immediately adds depth and credibility to everything she shares. She is clearly proud of her community, and her commitment to improving life for the people who live there is inspiring rather than performative. What stood out most was how balanced and respectful the experience felt. We learned about the history of the favela and gained real insight into daily life for residents — the challenges, the inequalities, and the realities of living there — but also the strong sense of pride, community and resilience that exists alongside those hardships. It never felt like a “poverty tour.” Instead, it felt like being welcomed into a living, breathing neighbourhood by people who care deeply about how their story is told. Thankfully, the walk was mostly downhill after starting at the top. Everything felt relaxed, friendly and unforced. The tour itself was well thought out and personal. We stopped by local stores, and shared a much enjoyed beer too (the day was hot!). Walking through the narrow alleys while hearing the story of Santa Marta gave important context you simply wouldn’t get on your own. The visit to Laje do Michael Jackson — and the statue — was a highlight, as was the unexpected joy of watching a drum and music performance and even kicking a football around with local kids. This is a tour that educates without exploiting, and connects you with people rather than just places. If you want a deeper understanding of Rio beyond the postcard version — delivered with honesty, warmth and dignity — this is absolutely worth doing.

This is a MUST - This was just perfect. An experience you cannot mis. We played football with the kids. It was amazing. We saw al lot of impactful things.

Best Favela tour guide Pedro and tour. - The tour guide is Pedro. He knows the place very well. He has 18 years experience for Favela Tour. He loves the Favela place and people. He knows the culture there a lot. For every 3 min walk, he met some of his friends there and talk each other. The people there loved to talk with him as We can see he has hundreds of friends there. As he really loves the place, he can impress us loving the place. During 3hrs, he clearly let us know what can take Pic or not. He let us learning to respecting ppl there. He also let us visiting one home. The place is decent, clean & nice. Pedro takes care of all ppl. He is considerate and very polite. We enjoy the trip. The company of this tour runs by Thiago. He also contributes to the Favela community. He organized lots of activities to the Faveka kids on monthly basis including christo redeemer and film watching. We love Pedro, Favela and Marta Favela Tour. We wish them all happiness and best all the way. Thanks Pedro. You are such a lovely guy

Other world - Very good excursion, excellent guide and transport. Comfortable and very didactic, the football game and drums very good. Excellent tour recommended for everyone

Favela Santa Marta tour - We booked the tour and we were 9 people. You need to go with an open heart if you want to know more about the favela culture. Juliene our guide was excellent and full of information. We loved it and didn’t had any unsafety feelings.

Excellent service and very friendly the walk, better than I expected - Very safe place, very father the tour. Super well attended, the walk is very intuitive, continuous stops to rest and no one disrespects you

Really fun and informative favela tour - It was great, informative, fun, and really interesting. Thank you for this amazing experience. I really enjoyed and I loved it

Great experience - I loved the tour. Gabriela was very friendly and friendly with everyone. He explained the story and introduced us to some people from the favela. What I would have liked was to be given more time for the pictures with the statue of Michael which was the main reason I went. More took the time to make the drone video of a page girl who also went. Everything else was nice. I think you should also inform that for some of the experiences within the favela should be tipped, in my case almost no effective handling (cash) so I was surprised. Maybe I would definitely return 👌🏽

Great guide, Gabrielle. Hassle over agreed time slot with operator - 5 out of 5 for tour guide Gabrielle, we really enjoyed our time in the Favella. The rating is low due to hassle around the agreed time of the tour. We were put under pressure to change from pm to am the night before.