Carnaval Backstage Tour: Explore Samba City's Preparations with Cocktail
4.6
255 Ratings
Gamboa

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
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
    •
    Getting in the mood: costume layout to dress and photograph
    •
    Samba Flavor: welcoming…
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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…

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Location
Cidade do Samba
Samba City is a big complex of warehouses with brown color located 100 meters from AquaRio. Please enter from the main entrance on Binário do Porto avenue. We will meet inside the Samba City under the smaller tent in the middle of it - look for guid with Carnaval Experience colorful T-shiert.
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.6
(255 Ratings)
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1 star
Noemo8847qr
Aug 15, 2025
Fantastic - Excellent experience with llydia, continuous enthusiasm and a very beautiful experience and discovery, fantastic, Samba!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Valoudoudou
Aug 4, 2025
Beautiful immersion behind the scenes of the carnival - Beautiful behind-the-scenes discovery of the carnival in the place of elaboration of floats and costumes of the carnival. In addition, we could admire and even try real costumes and have a samba demonstration by professional dancers. A great experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Imanc5
Aug 1, 2025
A Taste of Carnival in Rio - The Carnaval Experience was one of the highlights of my trip to Rio! Our guide, Rosa, conducted the tour in Portuguese and English and gave an excellent overview of the year-long prep process for Carnival. It was awesome seeing the floats and costumes up close. The best part was trying on a costume and getting a dance lesson from a samba pro. Such a fun experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ben_f
Jul 17, 2025
Terrific tour - Downtown walking tour - fantastic- I would have missed so much if I hadn’t taken this. From the stairs to the cathedrals
Review provided by Viator
Nomads_w
Jun 23, 2025
A great experience!!! - This is a great tour to learn about the history of samba from past to present. You will learn so much and you will walk away with a deeper understanding of all it takes to make Carnaval the greatest show on earth!!!
Review provided by Viator
Donald_n
Apr 20, 2025
Must do in Rio - Truly remarkable experience that lets you have a taster of Rio Carnival You explore the workshops and costumes behind the scenes
Review provided by Viator
Graciano_l
Apr 19, 2025
Carnival magic - This tour show you the splendor and magic of the carnival of Río de Janeiro. You see how the carnival is plantel, you see the vestuary, samba class. Very nice tour
Review provided by Viator
Lori_j
Jun 28, 2025
Poor communication and instructions - Initially, we expected a great experience since the guide was communicative about asking us to come later. However, after spending $120R to get there, we not only couldn’t find the tent, but no workers for the Yup Star were really able to help. We spent 20 min walking around a strange area, and the guide did not respond to any attempts of contact. We are currently working on getting a refund.
Review provided by Viator
Doddovely
Apr 24, 2025
Tour cancelled with no warning - We turned up for our tour at the allotted time and was approached by a person who did not have any uniform or id to identify her as a member of staff but who told us that the tour was cancelled. She didn’t speak any English and so we had to communicate via a translation service on the internet. She then proceeded to do this for the 5 other people hanging around waiting for the tour to start. We hung around for a bit just to make sure she was telling the truth. After 30 mins we decided to leave. We were told we could rebook or get our money back. We were leaving the country the next day so couldn’t rebook. I tried to email the company and used their contact form on their website but got no response. I’m now having to dispute the transaction with my credit card company in an attempt to get my money back. We also wasted uber fares there and back which I can’t recover when they could have messaged me using the contact details I gave when I booked.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
P4119yjsaraj
Apr 11, 2025
DO NOT recommend - My friend and I arrived to the location across town from hotel, only to find out that the tour wouldnt happen due to electricity. They made no effort to reach out and tell us or take action on how we get a refund. DONT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Check Availability
From $25
From $25
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
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Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).
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