Carnaval Experience - Behind The Scenes Of Rios Carnival In The City Of Samba

Walking into the lot where the 12 samba schools prepared for carnival was astonishing. Throughout the lot were enormous parts of last year's floats. I had no idea the floats were so large. Inside we learned about the history of carnival, and how the competition worked. We got to take pictures of ourselves in carnival costumes, watched a professional dancer dance samba, tried to follow along with her, and learned about the origins of samba. It made me appreciate all the work that goes into carnival and how its not just a giant party, but an institution that celebrates and preserves Brazilian culture.

Lots of fun and our guide was amazing! He had so much energy and was very informative. We learned a lot about how the Carnaval comes together over a year of very hard work!

Our taxi driver picked us up way too early at the hotel, which resulted in us having to wait almost an hour for the tour to start. The location of the tour is a big area with several buildings/warehouses, we thought our tour would take us to several of those buildings, but the tour was only of one building (the ground floor to see it briefly and the majority of the tour was on the second floor of the same building). The concept of the tour includes seeing a nice timeline and costumes and the tour guide did a great job explaining everything. We got to try on some costumes, we also saw a movie that explained everything. The concept of the tour was ok, I just wished they had walked us around other areas to see floats. I think if the tour had included seeing several floats I could give the tour a 4 or 5 stars. It was still a fun experience.

Great experience. Very welcoming staff. We enjoyed several activities in a two hour tour. Was great fun. Highly recommended 👌

It was very fun and informative. The tour guide and the crew were very enthusiastic and all out fun. It was fantastic experience. Thank you!

It was informative and beautiful. The guides were helpful and know the history of carnival. The costumes and dancing were a highlight.

Our tour guide Priscilla, of C2RIO Tours and Travel was AMAZING. She was very personable and knowledgeable. There English speaking and Portuguese speaking clients on the transport van and she did and excellent job at making sure everyone got the information. Now the actual Carnaval Experience was AWESOME!! To actually see the floats, learn a Samba dance, and the highlight was trying on one of the costumes. OMG, this tour is a MUST, well worth the money. And we ended the tour with a Caipirinha

We had a great time at the Carnival Experience. The guide Priscilla was an amazing tour guide She translated tool pictures and watched our belongins while we changed our clothes. I learned so .much about how Carnival is arranged and the history. The Gentleman at the Samba school was also amazing. This is an excursion not to be missed

I made a reservation to be picked up on the 3:45 pm Carnaval Experience on April 4th at Pier Muau for two people and received a confirmation number. On the day before I was sent an email stating I would be picked up in the morning at the Hilton. This wouldn't work for us as we had a Highlights tour through the cruise line for the morning. I immediately responded saying it wouldn't work and was told the afternoon tour and pickup at the pier was not available. I asked for a refund and have yet to receive it.

A Peak time for this tour is just after Carnival. We loved the tour and had a blast dressing up and dancing. The floats and costumes are beyond description. Highly recommend

Very fun tour. Too bad we couldn’t take pictures inside but I understand why. Saw things we would not have seen any other way.

Really interesting, well organised and a very fun activity that takes around 2 hours. It was heavy rain the day we went so also a helpful activity to do we couldn’t be outside. Money also goes to a very worthy cause. Definitely recommend!

You cancelled on me twice !😡 you cancelled my first reservation stating you could pick me up but not return me to my hotel. And then you rebooked me and cancelled that evening

Had such a fun time. Was great to learn so much about Carnival from our wonderful guide, a dancer in the show! Lots of photo opportunities, a mini samba dancing and drumming lesson and my favorite, dressing up in the marvelous costumes!!

To experience the process of the preparation of the Rio Carnival by the 12 most important Samba Schools. The designs, the costumes. To experience wearing some of the costumes and also a lesson of Samba.

They had to be the high light of the trip. To see the floats in the costumes. They are just absolutely magnificent. We were able to try on the clothes and get dance lessons on the samba which I still can’t do.

The tour was a quick one but its still a cool and nice to experience for Carnival. Enjoyed meeting new people there on the site already. Unfortunately I was the only one for this tour so just got a one way transpo but my driver was polite. Kudos to him.

We loved hearing about the Samba schools and the intense competition for the Carnivale trophy. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic and made us want learn more. We are already passing on great stories about the Carnivale Experience!

This was exactly what we wanted. The tour guide was absolutely brilliant, he really brought it to life and so much fun. Thank you very much. Highly recommend the trip

Samba City was AMAZING! As a native New Orleanian, I've celebrated Mardi Gras as a way of life. This is different, nit better or worse but different. Our health is to return for Carnevale. Wish next year's hotel weren't already sold out.

Is a most to do if yor are in Rio. Is just alf day tour. They explain in portuguese, english and spanish.

First off I speak, English and asked for an English tour. The initial communication after booking was in a different language. I kept asking for an English speaker. Finally they connected me with a native speaker. Who then informed me since I was the only person on the tour, I would be transported there and have to find my own way back to the hotel. As a single woman who doesn't speak Portuguese, this was daunting but I agreed. The tour itself was lovely. There were actually about 15 people on thr tour. The tour guide eas very knowledgeable. It was hot and they were spray painting bu the place wasn't very ventilated. So be aware of the chemicap smell. I learned a lot about samba and carnival. The trying on costumes and learning about the history made it worthwhile. It took me 20 minutes just to find a driver to take me back. This was as it was approaching evening. The 3 stars is for having to find my own way back and the company having poor communication prior to the trip.

Very interesting tour - got to know a lot about samba and the carnaval. The tour started and finished an hour late and there was a lot of waiting around in the heat which was uncomfortable.

Would have been excellent if it started on time but our guide was wonderful The floats and costumes were amazing

The guide's personality, his sense of humor, his patience, his knowledge of the materials and language skills.

I arranged for pick up and hotel drop off which I would recommend (although not necessary) if available. My tour guide Alves with C2Rio did a fantastic job and went on the tour as well. This tour gives a short general overview of Carnival and lasts a little less than a couple of ours. I think the others in our group also enjoyed the tour. Kids as well. There’s a couple of photo opportunities but it is limited as they want to keep their Samba School Carnival Entry secret. The shortness of the tour gives you a whole afternoon to do something else. The tour is safe and our Carnival Experience guide was very good and lively. My only comment is that if you didn’t arrange for pickup or guide, then didn’t see many taxis around and Uber pickup would be confusing so may be a walk to a tourist destination like the aquarium for transportation. The surrounding neighborhoods are a major bus station and some older abandoned buildings.

Great time spent with our guides having a lot of fun during a visit! And a social line of this project is also very welcomed! Keep doing it!

Had a fabulous afternoon learning about the carnival and the amount of work that goes into it. Trying on the costumes gives you a real appreciation for how fit the dancers are because they are really heavy. Bonus caipirinha at the end. Will definitely have to come back to Rio for the carnival. Not to be missed.

We recently visited Carnaval Experience and it was one of the highlights of our trip. Our guide, Dantoda aka the young red headed black woman is the secret ingredient that makes the visit special. She shares a plethora of knowledge and history that makes you want to learn more; all laced with her bubbly personality and humor. Do not go to RIO without visiting Carnaval Experience.

Alexia was very attentive, friendly and knows a lot about the samba and the history of Brazil. The carnival experience was great.

I had an amazing experience at Carnaval Experience! It was wonderful to be able to see from close how one of the greatest shows in the world is prepared, directly in the barracks of the school of samba Grande Rio. I found it very nice to know that the activity supports a social cause, which makes everything even more meaningful. It was also fun to experience the fantasy, to feel the weight and understand the complexity of the clothes. Learning about the rules and rating criteria of the show was fascinating — you can see all the dedication, discipline and care behind every detail of the show. I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to know Carnival in an authentic, educational and fun way!

Very beautiful places 10/10 Hfkhdhdyldylfydiydoyekydkydodouridylfkydydiydydydoyeidiyeieieigwididieieid9urie

Preis-Leistung für diese Tour stimmt nicht. Wir haben viel mehr erwartet. Es wurden richtig zwei Wägen nur gezeigt und etwas zur Entstehung erzählt. Man muss die Hälfte verlangen. Über 60 Euro für diese Tour ist definitiv zu teuer.

We were so looking forward to the tour , the organizer left us 1.5 hours in front of the hotel and put us off , that someone was on his way to pick us up .The contact was unprofessional in the meantime and time and again they said there is a problem .Then they said the tour would not take place anymore, a single cheek , to fuck people like that !!Too bad about the time we lost as a result .

The site where this activity takes place is impressive. Passing by the cellars where the carriages and figures of the previous carnival are stored can size the magnitude of this party. In the carnival experience they tell about the story of its creation, in a video that is in Portuguese and English. When I bought the ticket it said it was in Spanish, but it wasn't. Then you are passed to a room where you are dressed as King / Queen of the carnival, you take pictures, then a samba teacher arrives and teaches a samba class that lasts between 5 and 10 minutes, and then you go for a caipirinha. The staff giving the tour are very friendly. I have no complaints about that. I didn't like that they offered the tour in Spanish and neither the video nor the staff spoke Spanish. In addition the tour was 90 minutes and lasted 70. The class was not class, it was just a sample. Even though we were in a place where the floats are made they didn’t take us to see firsthand how they are made. In short, this tour lacked passion, music, joy, and experience.