Rio de Janeiro favela tours and accommodation: Why tourists are flocking to the city's seedy underbelly

It almost feels festive. Daylight is fading on another brilliant Rio de Janeiro day; far below us, the last hardy sun-worshippers are packing up and scurrying away from Copacabana beach. This great city is shifting modes, from the beach to the bar, from day to night.

Up here in the favela, drinks are being served. Couples and groups of friends have gathered on the deck at Bar do Alto to enjoy cocktails and take in the view. The burble of conversation is broken only by the occasional crackle and fizz of fireworks being set off nearby. One soon soars into the purple sky and bursts high above us. It feels like the party is about to begin.

"Those fireworks are to warn the other residents," says Leticia, my guide, interrupting my reverie. "To tell them that the police are nearby."

Ah. Every now and then you forget where you are. You forget that although the Morro da Babilonia favela has been "pacified", it's still a favela. Dodgy stuff still goes down here, especially once night has set in.

But maybe that's part of the appeal for the drinkers tonight at Bar do Alto. They've had to get here the hard way, climbing the endless concrete stairs that begin in the fancy Leme neighbourhood below and lead up through Morro do Babilonia, past ramshackle homes and staring eyes, past schools and community centres and places of worship, to a cocktail bar set right at the top.

If it seems strange that there's a popular bar in one of Rio de Janeiro's notorious favelas, it shouldn't. Bar do Alto is one of a growing number of establishments – from bars to restaurants, hostels to art galleries – that have begun popping up in parts of the city previously known more for drug trafficking and violence.

In Morro do Babilonia, the closest favela to famed Copacobana, there are at least 10 hostels, plus the award-winning Bar do Alto, and the more upmarket bar, Estrelas da Babilonia. Just across in neighbouring Chapeu Manguiera favela, you can see the twinkling lights of Bar do David, which recently won first place at the Comida di Buteco, Brazil's awards for bar and pub food.

And there are more across the city. In Tavares Bastos favela, near Ipanema Beach, Maze has become a popular nightlife hotspot. In Santa Marta, Bar do Zequinha is attracting a mix of locals and curious tourists with its cocktails and food. In Vidigal, perhaps the city's most tourist-friendly favela, Bar Lacubaco serves traditional seafood stews.

Not so long ago, the success of outliers like these would have been unthinkable. Rio's favelas – home to more than 10 million people living across almost 1000 settlements, none of which are even included on city maps – were infamous no-go zones.