Guided Tour of Favela Santa Marta

Overview

Explore Favela Santa Marta with a guide who lives in the community, visiting the statue of Michael Jackson and real local social projects that support the neighborhood's development.

This is a private tour run by Favela Top Tour, whose guides live in Santa Marta. You'll visit the community's landmark statue of Michael Jackson (erected after Jackson filmed a video there in 1996), ride the free tram, and stop at real social projects that make a difference in residents' lives, learning about the neighborhood's history and self-governance directly from a local ambassador.

Highlights

• Michael Jackson Statue See the statue commemorating Michael Jackson's 1996 visit to film a music video in the community.
• Mirante Dona Marta Take in real views over Botafogo and Guanabara Bay with your resident guide.
• Local social projects Visit community initiatives supporting art, culture, and the neighborhood's wellbeing.
• Free inclined-plane lift ride Ride through the community by inclined-plane lift (plano inclinado) before continuing on foot.

What Stops Does This Tour Make?

A popular starting point — every Voyzo itinerary is fully customizable, so we'll shape the order and stops around your group.

Important Information

Frequently Asked Questions

About This Tour

Explore Favela Santa Marta with a guide who lives in the community, visiting the statue of Michael Jackson and real local social projects that support the neighborhood's development. This is a private tour run by Favela Top Tour, whose guides live in Santa Marta. You'll visit the community's landmark statue of Michael Jackson (erected after Jackson filmed a video there in 1996), ride the free tram, and stop at real social projects that make a difference in residents' lives, learning about the neighborhood's history and self-governance directly from a local ambassador.

Santa Marta sits on Morro Dona Marta, a notably steep hillside above Botafogo in Rio's South Zone — it climbs to roughly 352 meters at an incline of about 45 degrees, which is part of why the community eventually needed a dedicated lift system just to move people up and down it. In November 2008, Santa Marta became the site of Rio's very first UPP (Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora, or Pacifying Police Unit), a security program the city later rolled out to other favelas in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. It's one of the most-documented chapters in the neighborhood's modern history, and part of why Santa Marta today is one of the more visited and internationally known favelas in Rio.

Santa Marta's global reach actually predates that policy by over a decade. In February 1996, Michael Jackson and director Spike Lee filmed scenes for the music video for "They Don't Care About Us" in the community — a rare moment of international attention that, at the time, put a very different image of a Rio favela in front of a global audience. A bronze statue of Jackson, arms outstretched, was unveiled on the same spot in 2010, a year after his death, and has since become the neighborhood's best-known landmark and a natural gathering point for visitors.

Getting around Santa Marta's steep streets is made easier by a free inclined-plane lift — small cabins that travel a fixed track up the hillside, similar in concept to the inclined elevators found on steep terrain elsewhere in the world. Installed in 2008 and modernized again in 2023 with larger cabins, it runs across five stations from 6am to midnight at no cost and carries an estimated 5,000 residents a day. On foot, or after a ride up, the real payoff is Mirante Dona Marta — a viewpoint with a genuinely sweeping outlook over Botafogo and Guanabara Bay.