‘It’s one of those lifetime things’: viral videos turn Rio favela rooftop into tourist hotspot

‘It’s one of those lifetime things’: viral videos turn Rio favela rooftop into tourist hotspot People from across the world queue for hours to get a video taken on the famous ‘Gateway to Heaven’ rooftop in the heart of Brazil’s most iconic city It was day three of the British family’s holiday in Brazil and, as the sun rose over Rio’s undulating mountains, they set off for the city’s most talked about tourist haunt. “It’s our first time in Brazil. We’re really looking forward to it,” said Paul Boswell, a 58-year-old builder from Basildon, Essex, before clambering on to the motorbike that would carry him there. “You’ve got to do it, haven’t you?” said Boswell’s partner, Fiona Kelly, 55, admitting she was unsure what she would do when they reached Rio’s latest must-see attraction. Boswell, Kelly and their teenage son Jack could have picked any of Rio’s world-famous landmarks at which to spend their Saturday: the Sugarloaf mountain, Copacabana beach or the Christ the Redeemer statue, which thousands of tourists visit each day. Instead, they were heading to a rickety, graffiti-covered rooftop deep in Rio’s largest favela, Rocinha, that has become the city’s most in-vogue tourist hotspot. Tens of thousands of tourists have flocked to the terrace, known locally as the “Porta do Céu” (Gateway to Heaven), since last year, when favela entrepreneurs began making viral drone videos showing visitors swaggering or dancing through a metal door and across the roof to a euphoric Brazilian soundtrack, before the camera zooms out, revealing the favela’s place in the heart of Rio’s awe-inspiring landscape. “The rooftop has existed for ages … but since 2025 these drone videos have gone viral. In January there was one that got nearly 50m views on Instagram. It blew up,” explained Vitor Hugo Oliveira da Conceição, a favela guide who accompanies outsiders to the unusual tourist spot above a family home. The trend has been turbo-charged by influencers and celebrities visiting Rocinha, inclu...