In November 2016, Airbnb launched Experiences, which allowed hosts to supply native excursions and occasions along with locations to remain. I questioned the accessibility and worth of those experiences for a very long time, however gave it a strive throughout my journey to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil earlier this 12 months.

Previous to my journey, I booked two experiences: a guided tour of “Little Africa” and a photograph tour in Rio de Janeiro with an expert photographer. The experiences price lower than $30 USD every, a seemingly implausible worth. I’m pleased to say that each experiences exceeded my expectations and had been memorable actions on my journey itinerary. Let’s take a better look…

Guided tour of “Little Africa” in Rio de Janeiro

I’m extraordinarily fascinated about historical past, and was excited to see a novel historical past tour obtainable by means of Airbnb Experiences. The “Little Africa” tour appealed to me in a particular method, and I used to be wanting to study concerning the experiences of African peoples in Rio de Janeiro.

About two weeks earlier than my journey to Rio, I booked the tour for simply over $20 USD. Some hosts supply a reduction to those that guide early, and the speed I paid mirrored a 20% “early fowl” low cost. The outline of the tour was as follows:

You’ll know part of the town named Little Africa, positioned within the port space, which was lately revitalized. We’ll stroll round three hours and you’ll go to vital spots as Pedra do Sal, Morro da Conceição, Largo da Prainha and Valongo’s Suspended Backyard.

Prior to creating the reservation, I had reached out to the hosts to allow them to know that I’m a wheelchair person, and to ask concerning the accessibility of the tour. I made it recognized that steps could be a no-go for me, and requested if I might nonetheless be capable of take part. They responded rapidly with the next:

Hiya John, you might be tremendous welcome to affix us to know the Little Africa in Rio de Janeiro!
There are solely 2 locations that will probably be troublesome so that you can know: The Conceição Hill and the Valongo’s backyard. Each are locations there are some stairs or the entry is troublesome to get there utilizing a wheelchair.

However you continue to can see the Conceição Hill from the sidewalk.
We are able to assure that your expertise gained’t be worse due to these 2 locations 😉

The remainder of the locations you’ll be able to go to usually like: Mauá Sq., Largo da Prainha and Cais do Valongo.

Hope that we are able to see you quickly.
Finest needs,
Gaby and Luana

This response set me comfy, and made me really feel welcome. I used to be reassured that I wouldn’t be left behind, though there have been some inaccessible areas alongside the route.

On the day of my tour, I met up with the host/information — Luana, who’s an skilled vacationer information and historian from UERJ, the State College of Rio de Janeiro. She was extraordinarily properly certified, and provided native insights and tales that I wouldn’t have present in a information guide.

Because it turned out, I used to be the one particular person on the tour that day — tourism in Brazil has been hit onerous because of the pandemic — however Luana took me alongside the usual route and identified the 2 areas with stairs. I had a implausible time on the tour, discovered rather a lot, and left with a brand new buddy!

In the event you’d prefer to guide Luana & Gaby’s tour of Little Africa in Rio de Janeiro, yow will discover it on the Airbnb Experiences web site.

Photograph shoot with an expert photographer in Rio de Janeiro

I’m a solo traveller, which implies I don’t have an Instagram-savvy journey accomplice to snap glamorous images of me as I discover the world. If I would like one thing greater than a selfie, I’ve to ask a random stranger to snap a photograph. It’s hit and miss, however principally miss, and I not often find yourself with an Instagram-worthy photograph.

When I discovered an expert photographer in Rio de Janeiro by means of Airbnb experiences, I used to be thrilled. Skilled images in one of many world’s most unimaginable cities — sure, please! Take my cash!

Igor, an expert photographer in Rio de Janeiro (@igorsegond on Instagram), leads photograph excursions a number of days every week, photographing vacationers in order that their recollections will final a lifetime. Right here’s the outline of his Airbnb Expertise:

I supply a stroll by Copacabana’s and Ipanema’s seashores, essentially the most well-known in Brazil. We’ll begin in Copacabana, the place we’ve got a beautiful view, with the Sugarloaf Mountain on the background. We’ll cross by the well-known statue of the poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade after which we’ll stroll to Ipanema and Arpoador. There we will take pleasure in probably the most lovely sunsets of the Metropolis, on prime of the Arpoador Rock.

The large catch of this expertise is that you can be with with a photographer who lived his complete life in Rio. You should have nice images of your journey whereas studying concerning the place with a skilled particular person. Ship me a message if you’re fascinated about photographing in different areas!

I booked a tour with Igor to take images across the seashores of Rio de Janeiro, then booked one other tour to discover the town’s Centro district. Though Igor isn’t a real tour information, he is aware of the town extraordinarily properly and had rather a lot to share. The actual worth in his tour are the images, and he delivered some nice pictures of our two afternoons collectively in South America’s “Marvelous Metropolis.”

In the event you’d prefer to guide a photograph tour of your personal with Igor in Rio de Janeiro, yow will discover his itemizing on the Airbnb Experiences web site.

Key Concerns When Reserving an Airbnb Expertise

I completely loved each of the Airbnb Experiences that I booked in Rio de Janeiro, however not all such experiences are wheelchair accessible. One guided tour that I used to be fascinated about concerned driving in a automobile, and on public transportation, throughout the tour of considered one of Rio’s favelas. The transportation supplied as a part of the tour was not wheelchair accessible, so the expertise wasn’t acceptable for me.

Prior to buying an Airbnb Expertise, make sure to attain out to the host to tell them of your accessibility wants. Most hosts will probably be pleased to accommodate disabled guests, as long as it’s possible to take action. By clearly speaking your circumstances and asking related questions on accessibility, you’ll be capable of choose experiences which are properly suited to your particular person skills.

In the event you’ve participated in an Airbnb Expertise, let me know the way it went within the feedback under. I for one am trying ahead to experiencing many extra of the excursions and actions provided by means of the Airbnb Experiences platform!