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Vila Kennedy
Neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro

Vila Kennedy

Vila Kennedy is a neighborhood and favela in the western zone of Rio de Janeiro.

Plan a trip to Vila Kennedy→From São Paulo

It is located on the fringes of Avenida Brasil. Its streets have the names of African and Asian countries, as well as musicians. Before being an official neighborhood it was a part of Bangu before being separated into its own neighborhood by law in July 2017.

How locals move

Getting around Vila Kennedy the local way

  • Get in]] Ferries (barcas) connect neighbouring Niterói to Rio de Janeiro and arrive at Praça XV (see down), in the city centre.
  • Get aroundAmong the public transportation modes, there is subway, heavy rail, light rail, bus rapid transit, local buses, microbuses, cable cars and ferry boats.
  • Get aroundFerry boats depart from Santa Teresa Tram, Centro Corcovado Rack Railway, Zona Sul Sugarloaf Cable Car (Zona Sul) Buses are still the cheapest and most convenient way to get around the South Zone (Zona Sul) of the city due to the high number and frequency of lines running through the area.
  • Get aroundExcept for minibuses, buses now have two doors: passengers get in through the front door and get off through the back (it was otherwise until 2001–2002).
  • Get aroundBuses 511 (Ataulfo de Paiva) and 512 (Bartholomeu Mitre) are also popular as they take you to Urca for the station to take the cable car up the Sugarloaf mountain.
  • Get aroundSince the city grew around the Tijuca Range mountains, these neighborhoods will never be served by the subway, but you now can take the integração (connection) minibuses.
  • Go nextFrom Rio to Niterói it's a short ferry ride or you go by bus.
  • Go nextThe most northeastern municipality of Rio metropolitan area, it is another peripheral municipality which has become an attraction for trekking, mountaineering, rappelling and other types of extreme sports and ecotourism.

From Wikivoyage: Rio de Janeiro, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Agência Brasil Fotografias (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.