Brazil Blog

Brazil Talk!

Favela Tours and Rio Zoo

Filed under: Ask Us - December 29th, 2005

Your Question

My wife and I are visiting Rio de Janeiro in April, this will be our third visit. We want to visit the Favelas and also the Zoo. Please can you advise us of any tours for the Favelas and also directions on how to get to the zoo? We are staying at one of the many beautiful Rio Hotels along Cocacabana beach.

Our Reply

If you are going to visit Favelas, I would strongly recommend that you do that with a tourism company that works with experient favela tour guides. In Rio de Janeiro you will find many tourism companies that offer services like that. Here is a decent website about Favela Tours, with useful information, photos, description of the tour, and also a section where you can direct your questions to the favela tour´s experts. I have been in the Rocinha Slum, wich is the biggest slum in Latin America, and I recommend the tour. You will enter into a new world and I am sure that you will learn lots from your experience.

The Rio Zoo is located in Quinta da Boa Vista. To get there you need to take the Subway to Estácio Station. There you will have to transfer to “Linha 2”, go one stop to São Cristovão, walk over the tracks of the Central do Brasil, and you will be at the entrance for the Quinta da Boa Vista. The Zoo is really interesting and well-kept. The zoo is open from Tuesday to Sunday and an admission fee of $2. I hope you have a great time in Rio.