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Rio: Carnival Backstage Tour at Samba City with Cocktail (Carnaval Experience)

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rio: Carnival Backstage Tour at Samba City with Cocktail (Carnaval Experience)
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Rio: Carnival Backstage Tour at Samba City with Cocktail (Carnaval Experience)
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From US$20.03

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Free cancellation
Up to 24 hours in advance. Learn more
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Safety measures
icon1 hour 30 minutes  (approx.)
Mobile ticket
iconOffered in: English and 1 more

Overview

Explore the Carnival Factory, for a peek behind the scenes of Rio's Carnival, on this cultural tour. Learn how the parade's famous floats and costumes are produced. Listen to commentary on the history of samba and carnival, then hit the dressing rooms to try on some costumes and take some photos. Wind up with some cocktails and a samba class for the whole carnival experience.
  • Guided tour to the Grande Rio samba factory
  • Samba class onsite
  • Welcome drinks of caipirinhas, the Brazilian national drink
  • Access to costumes to photograph and try on
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From US$20.03

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Bilingual guide
Professional guide
Bottled water
Alcoholic Beverages
Rare glimpse at Rio's Carnival backstage
Carnaval Experience , Avenida Binário do Porto - Entrada Principal da - Cidade do Samba - Gamboa, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 22132-503, Brazil
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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.

This activity will end right where it started.
  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Transportation is wheelchair accessible
  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
  • Minimum drinking age is 18 years
  • Dress code is smart casual
  • Stroller accessible
  • Near public transportation
  • Infants must sit on laps
  • Infant seats available
  • Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
  • Not recommended for pregnant travelers
  • Most travelers can participate
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers
  • OPERATED BY Carnaval Experience
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Learn more about cancellations.

The answers provided below are based on answers previously given by the tour provider to customers’ questions.
Q:
What is the policy on face masks and attendee health during Rio: Carnival Backstage Tour at Samba City with Cocktail (Carnaval Experience) ?
A:The policy on face masks and attendee health is:

  • Face masks provided for travelers
See all safety measures taken by Rio: Carnival Backstage Tour at Samba City with Cocktail (Carnaval Experience) .
Q:
What is the policy on sanitization during Rio: Carnival Backstage Tour at Samba City with Cocktail (Carnaval Experience) ?
A:The policy on sanitization is:

  • Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff
See all safety measures taken by Rio: Carnival Backstage Tour at Samba City with Cocktail (Carnaval Experience) .
Q:
What measures are being taken to ensure staff health & safety during Rio: Carnival Backstage Tour at Samba City with Cocktail (Carnaval Experience) ?
A:The policies on staff health & safety are:

  • Guides required to regularly wash hands
  • Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
See all safety measures taken by Rio: Carnival Backstage Tour at Samba City with Cocktail (Carnaval Experience) .

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Reviews

5.0
star-5
90 Reviews
5 stars
81
4 stars
6
3 stars
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2 stars
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1 star
3

Reviews by Viator travelers

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Showing 1-10 of 90 reviews
star-5
Fun and interactive experience
KaraWojcik
, Jul 2022
This was a great look inside what goes on behind the scenes of Carnaval. Our tour guide, Cynthia, was so knowledgeable and friendly. This samba school is able to give back to the community because of these tours so I highly recommend this! Expect to be apart of the show and have fun. Thank you Cynthia and don’t forget to dance the samba with Gabby!
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star-5
Carnaval Experience the Whole Family Will Love
John_H
, Jul 2022
This was a very fun experience for the entire family, with a tour of floats and costumes as well as a short film, dressing up, samba dancing, and caipirinha drinking. Our guide was incredibly knowledge as he has been working at the school for many years. We learned so much. The enthusiasm of all staff members for Carnaval was infectious. It was so much fun. My seven-year-old is insisting we live in Rio so she can attend the samba school for kids.
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star-5
Awesome !
Ary_E
, Jul 2022
Cynthia was an excellent tour guide . Her knowledge and passion for the carnival experience were both an asset!!
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star-5
You won’t be disappointed 🙂
Matthew_V
, Jun 2022
It’s infectious…you can’t help get involved in the carnaval spirit..whatever time of year! Top tour, we learnt a lot as well as plenty of laughs.
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star-5
Fun
Clara_P
, Jun 2022
Cultural information mix width excellent presentation I'm performance by a samba dancer Happy people
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star-5
Fascinating tour
Brian_H
, May 2022
A entertaining and informative tour. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about the Carnival’s history.
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star-5
Two thumbs up!
Keisha_R
, Apr 2022
I learned much about samba and carnival and am so happy that we had the tour prior to attending carnival.
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star-5
Excellent trip - really informative
THOMAS_C
, Apr 2022
Excellent tour. Guide was very knowledgeable and made the trip very fun. The floats we saw were incredible. Meeting point easy to find. Would highly recommend this trip.
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star-5
Loved Learning Behind the Scenes
Timothy_G
, Apr 2022
I LOVED this awesome behind-the-scenes tour. It was very easy to meet the guide in the location they sent me prior to the tour. My tour guide, Cinthya, met me there and started the tour by asking if I had any questions up front. I did, and she answered all of them with remarkable English. She gave an awesome tour and was so easy going and approachable to let me ask all my questions. She was friendly, knowledgeable, and very patient. As I went a few weeks before the 2022 Carnaval parade, it was INCREDIBLE to see some of the floats up close. They were astounding and Cinthya did a great job helping me understand the process of designing, making, and moving them. She also showed me how costumes are made, as well as props and other parade items. The other highlight was getting to learn the Samba with a professional dancer. As a dancer from the US I still had lots to learn, but I basically just got to free dance next to Gabriel for about 5 minutes. She was incredible and very patient, and good, of course. Being able to see the Samba City complex is also cool to see and understand how the other Samba Schools have their own warehouse spaces to create and build their floats, costumes, and props. Obligado to the Carnival Experience!
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1 traveler found this review helpful
star-5
Great experience. Tour...
Rebeca_M
, Apr 2022
Great experience. Tour guide was very informative and was able to inform us or thr origin of carnival.
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star-1
Waste of time and money
Christou_O
, Mar 2022
The tour is organised in a complex of warehouses where all samba schools prepare the costumes for the carnival. It is hard and rather scary to get by taxi and no sign is available that can guide you to find the warehouse. If you do not speak portuguese it is hard to find your way. The tour is run in portuguese first and then in English (the guide spoke fluent English) but it takes more time to be completed. The quality is poor and no covid 19 measures were taken. No one asked for the vaccine certificate and the carvival costumes that were given to us had be tried on by many other visitors and had never been sanitized. Rest rooms were dirty and the elevator did not reach the level of the floor. It is one of worst tours I have been to and I had to leave towards the end because I could stand it anymore. What a waste of time and money!
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icon Response from Host , Apr 2022
Thank God not everyone thinks like you! You had the privilege of entering the only samba school that allows a behind-the-scenes peek at Rio`s Carnival. You are probably a person who is not interested in culture and art and therefore did not like the tour. We sent you a message with all the details and informations on where to find us in the city of Samba (including a link to Google Maps) and number to call us as well. As for the costumes it is really not true that we do not clean them and be prepared to been charge of this shaming. As for Covid 19 - in Rio de Janeiro there is no longer a need to present a vaccinator's certificate or masks and we must not require this at the entrance to the tour. Shame on you!
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star-5
Fun and informative! Recommended
Michael_T
, Feb 2022
It was better than what we expected. Our guide was very nice and competent, and there are a couple of nice surprises built in. We were thrilled that we got to see up close (and touch) the "floats" and the costumes we knew only from TV and to appreciate the amount of work and the detail that goes into those.
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star-5
Interesting experience
Olga_R
, Feb 2022
Get to know details of the history of the Rio carnival and the whole work involved is very interesting!!!
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1 traveler found this review helpful
star-5
Amazing few hours
Lisa_M
, Jan 2022
Amazing couple of hours! The guides Cynthia and Amanda were excellent, so passionate. It was a privilege to see all the hard work that goes into Carnival and learn about its history and meaning. Highly recommend. Oh and they make you wear a costume at the end! Brilliant!
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star-5
Worth every penny. Excellent Tour
Renee_B
, Dec 2021
I had a group of 17 and we all had an absolutely fabulous time. The tour was great and well presented by Jill. The video was informative and exciting. The photo op in costumes was a blast. And the samba lesson was really fun. We laughed and enjoyed ourselves the entire time. Only suggestion i have is to offer elevator use for those unable to climb the stairs to each floor in the warehouse. I had a member who just had knee surgery and it was quite painful for her. She endured it because she didn’t want to miss any fun, but was in a lot of pain after it was all over.
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star-5
Great tour
Chris
, Mar 2020
Great tour. Very good guide with great knowledge of samba schools and Rio Carnaval. We learn a lot about.
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1 traveler found this review helpful
star-5
Great Carnaval experience
Amir_C
, Feb 2020
Wonderful experience!!! Don’t miss it. Sheraton guid knowledgable. Learn about history of Carnaval and got to ware a costume.
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star-1
Not easy to get to it
Keith_C
, Feb 2020
Without having someone to pick us up from hotel we had to use taxi and the driver couldn’t find the location. He found it eventually and we can not find the entrance to this place. There were no taxi to take us back and the neighborhood did not look safe. We ended up skip it when return to the hotel
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icon Response from Host , Apr 2021
Dear Sir, we apologize for the inconvenience. The samba city is a big complex and Rio de Janeiro is not the most organized place on earth but I dont think its fare to give us a bad review because of it. We are always available on social media, phone, whatsapp and email to help our guests in anything. In any case, we will be happy to be at your service by email - contato@carnavalexperience.com.br Thanks! Amanda Carnaval Experience customer service
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star-5
Great experience
Paul_S
, Feb 2020
Our tour guide was a sweetheart. She was so energetic and informative! Lovely personality was a pleasure
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1 traveler found this review helpful
star-5
Cidade da Samba
Sylvie_T
, Feb 2020
A nice and pleasant experience. A good way to understand how the Carnival is organised and mix with local people
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