Paraty walking tour & city guide

The historic center

The car-free historic center has uneven stone streets designed to flood at high tide and clean themselves. Colorful doors, churches and galleries line the streets.

Bay and rainforest

Schooner trips visit islands and beaches in the bay. Waterfalls and cachaça distilleries hide in the green hills, and the fishing village of Trindade has natural pools.

A day in Paraty

Walk the car-free historic center, where whitewashed houses and colorful doors line streets of large uneven stones. At high tide, some streets flood with seawater.

In the afternoon, take a schooner trip to the islands and beaches of the bay, or head to the waterfalls and cachaça distilleries in the hills.

Good to know

Paraty is about halfway between Rio and São Paulo. Wear good shoes for the cobblestones.

The town hosts a famous literary festival, FLIP. Try the local cachaça.

Why it is worth the trip

Paraty is one of the best-preserved colonial towns in Brazil, a former port where gold from Minas Gerais was shipped to Portugal. Because cars are banned from the old center, it keeps a calm, timeless atmosphere, especially in the early morning and after the day visitors leave. Behind the town, the green slopes of the Serra da Bocaina drop straight into the bay, so in one day you can walk the old streets, swim at an island beach and cool off under a jungle waterfall.