Top Rio de Janeiro Unique Experiences

Immerse yourself in the culinary scene of Rio on this interactive evening at a small cooking studio. Learn about the flavors, ingredients and cooking techniques specific to Brazilian food from your instructor. Cook a meal, either Bahian seafood Moqueca or a black bean Feijoada, using what you learned and then enjoy the fruits of your labor. The class is limited to 7 participants to ensure an intimate experience and personalized attention.

Get an in-depth, compassionate tour of the Rocinha favela (the Brazilian term for shantytown) during this excursion via Jeep. With your in-the-know guide, meet the locals and observe their daily life, including visits to the neighborhood school and a street fair. Transportation from select hotels is provided.

Spend a half day in Rio hiking up Two Brothers (Dois Irmãos) Mountain in the company of a private trekking guide. Get views of Gávea Rock, São Conrado, Leblon, and Ipanema beaches. Have a look around both Sitiê Ecological Park and Favela do Vidigal and enjoy round-trip transportation from Rio hotels.

Get to know the authentic side of Rio on a guided tour to the Rocinha Favela. See what daily life is like for the residents getting a unique insight into its vibrant cosmos full of culture. Following pick-up at your place, the guide takes you on a private tour through Brazil’s largest slum. Get an insider perspective escorted by a resident guide through the maze-like network alleys and stairs. Stop by at businesses and chat with local residents to get a sense of the community. Get around visiting a handicraft fair, open-air markets, a resident’s house, see painted murals and get to know social works. In addition, take a moto-taxi ride up to the top of Rocinha to have breathtaking views over famous landmarks like Christ statue and beaches. After all that, visitors may want to have a superb typical Brazilian food at a local steakhouse. This is a socially-conscious tour that the majority of the payment is reverted to the resident guide that hosts the visit and gives utter support.

The Favela Walking Tour is a local experience will make you look Brazil with another point of view. Since 1997 the project Morrinho was installed in the Pereira da Silva favela to “challenge the popular perception of the Brazilian favelas”, showing that the favela is an area of great cultural and social wealth, not only violence. The project reproduce in miniature the favela scenario using bricks and other recyclable material, created by children and young people of the Pereira da Silva community. During the waking tour you will meet the resident guide and gain insight into the challenges these communities face and learn how even through such difficulties the people of the favela are able to smile and welcome visitors. Ending the tour with visit to the Morrinho project where the founders will tell the history who has already traveled the world through smaller reproductions that were taken to exhibitions in Barcelona, Paris and Venice, as well as visiting cities throughout Brazil.

Hike to one of the most amazing top views of Rio combined with a tour through the favela of Vidigal that has become a flourishing attraction. Following pick-up at your place, the guide drives you to Vidigal favela where the journey begins. We then take a moto-taxi ride up to the top to reach the entrance of the trail. From there, the hike is 1,5km of route in 1 h each way, ranging from light to medium level of difficulty, to the top with several viewpoints to appreciate and rest. From the top, enjoy the sweeping vista over Ipanema, São Conrado beach and Rocinha favela. After some time to walk around and take photos, we make the way back down walking through Vidigal favela. Stop by at businesses and chat with locals to get a sense of the community while listening to your guide's insights. After all that, visitors may want to have a superb typical Brazilian food. This is a socially-conscious tour that the majority of the payment is reverted to the resident guide that hosts the visit