Carnaval Backstage Tour: Explore Samba City's Preparations with Cocktail

274 Ratings

Gamboa

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Experience the backstage of the world-famous Carioca Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Explore Samba City’s preparations, witness the construction of floats and costumes, and enjoy a Caipirinha welcome drink!

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Carnaval Experience - • Bilingual guide
•
Guided tour to the Grande Rio samba factory – one of the main Samba Schools of the city of Rio de Janeiro
•
Presentation of the explanatory panel: some of the history of samba and the carnival parades
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Getting in the mood: costume layout to dress and photograph
•
Samba Flavor: welcoming…

What's Included

Rare glimpse at Rio’s Carnival backstage
Bilingual guide
Professional guide
Bottled water
Alcoholic beverages

Additional Information

The only backstage tour of the Carioca Carnival, the most famous carnival in the world!
When in Rio, you need to experience Samba! This tour introduces you to the artistry and imagination of Carnival and allows you to discover the backstage of The greatest show on Earth!
Have an unique and authentic experience exploring the backstage, the secrets, the…

Location

Cidade do Samba

The meeting point for the tour is at the Cidade do Samba Square. Upon arrival, look for the Carnaval Experience team, located either in the square or in front of the Grande Rio warehouse, easily recognizable by their colorful shirts. If you need any assistance, just approach one of our team members.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.6

(274 Ratings)

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885sylviep

Jan 21, 2026

Must-see... - Great time. To understand the Rio carnival, the atmosphere, the passion that animates the participants. Exceptional welcome, we emerge exhilarated?!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Lillbluebear

Jan 3, 2026

Great carnival backstage experience - Amazing backstage tour about the history and culture of samba. Great time trying on some of the samba costumes and seeing the floats in the middle of production. Highly recommended.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Culture52131183779

Dec 22, 2025

Previous experience of Carnival - What an amazing experience! 😍 "Inforgettable tour! TOP attention from everyone, especially from Lays and the bar gallery and the dancers. Samba, history and drinks... it was pure magic! I recommend 100%.”

Review provided by Tripadvisor

935claudiaandreat

Dec 15, 2025

EXPERIENCE ALMA OUTDOOR - Excellent experience, great service , we feel safe and at all times with the instructions of the instructors, thank you for giving us the opportunity to live this moment.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Alexis_a

Nov 30, 2025

Great way to start our trip!! - This was top tier!! I was disappointed that I couldn't take pictures in the beginning but no big deal. I understand the reason. While the ladies were putting decorations on a piece I asked to help and they let me. That was cool. Learning all the information was very interesting. The costume activity was fun!! The dancing was super fun. So glad I arranged this for my group. Highly recommended.

Review provided by Viator

Wander553425

Nov 26, 2025

Dress up and dance! - Fun experience learning about carnival and samba. Dressing up in carnival costume and having a go at dancing samba were highlights. Ton our guide was informative, passionate and suitably artistic.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

889sachaj

Oct 19, 2025

Experience not to be missed - A very interesting guided tour, offered in French and English, in the heart of the workshop of a samba school. We discover behind the scenes of the preparation of the carnival and its fascinating history. It is also possible to try on a costume to fully immerse yourself in the festive Mood. An experience not to be missed.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Talana_m

Jan 23, 2026

Enjoyed the experience. - Really interesting learning the production of the Carnival and the amount of time it takes to put it all together.

Review provided by Viator

Janine_w

Jan 20, 2026

An excellent education into the samba experience - This was a very informative tour --- although you can enter the space of only one samba school, it is eye-opening as to the amount of work and the volume of people involved that goes into the preparation for what ends up being 70 minutes in the (highly competitive) spotlight. There were at times difficulties hearing our guide given that we had a combination of English and Portuguese-speaking travelers; however she seemed to try to diplomatically manage the interruptions.

Review provided by Viator

Blair_b

Dec 1, 2025

Excellent History, Disorganized Experience - While the core content of the tour aligned with what we were hoping to experience - namely, the history of Carnaval, the preparation process, its cultural and economic impact, and the broader tradition- the overall execution felt extremely disjointed. The meeting point was very difficult to locate and did not match the directions provided in Viator. There was no clear signage or explicit confirmation that we were in the right place. We ultimately found ourselves following a French-speaking group and later joined a much larger group of English-speaking tourists, assuming, without any guidance, that this was the correct tour. This should have been clearly explained by the guide from the outset. Additionally, the group size was far too large for this type of experience. With so many participants, there was little to no opportunity for the full group to take photos, ask questions, or engage meaningfully with the guide. This tour would run far more smoothly and deliver significantly more value if capped at no more than 10 participants at a time; at the current scale, it felt chaotic rather than immersive. I'm disappointed since there are so many rave reviews, which is what prompted us to book this tour in particular.

Review provided by Viator

Check Availability

From $26

up to 15 guests

1 - Adult