favela tours have become a very popular excursion amongst visitors, providing them with rare insight into the vibrant and eclectic communities that scatter around the city - there are nearly 1000 favelas in metropolitan rio, mostly climbing the mountains and hills of the city, and they are home to around 20% of the city's population.

in recent years, through large scale government and police operations, a large number of these favelas have been 'pacified' - meaning that the police have regained control of the territory from drug cartels.

this has made them much safer for visitors and have bolstered what is known as 'favela tourism' - some of the most popular favelas for these types of tours are vidigal, rocinha, santa marta, babilônia, chapéu mangueira, and providência.