Inspiration for your own tailor-made trip
Brazil - Rio - Bahia - Boipeba
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Upon arrival in Rio, you will be privately transferred to the Santa Teresa district, set on a hill overlooking the city. We love Santa Teresa's bohemian character, its terraces in the shade of banana trees, its houses with European splendour, its coveted restaurants... Accommodation for three nights in an old fazenda (farmstead), where coffee was grown in the 19th century, renovated to become one of the most luxurious hotels in the district. Safely hidden away out of sight, in a beautiful garden, spend time here between the swimming pool and the spa. The rooms, with their stylish tropical decor, are vast and very bright; concrete, lime, slate combine with contemporary Brazilian design furniture. From the hammock on your terrace, you overlook Rio and its bay. And in every corner, there are traditional crafts and art, combining contemporary and naive art. The gourmet restaurant offers one of the best spots to eat in the entire city.
While in Rio, visit the Museu de Arte Moderna - built in 1960 by Alfonso Eduardo Reidy - and admire its perfect architecture, chill on Ipanema beach or observe trends in contemporary art at the Anita Schwartz Gallery. For even more culture, explore the Maracana Stadium and the huge concrete cone of Sao Sebastiao Cathedral, indulge in churrasco (grilled meat) and feijoada (bean stew) or shop in the bohemian district of Lapa, where Portuguese houses in washed colours have been reinvented as second-hand clothes shops, vintage shops and antique galleries full of lovely mid-century Brazilian furniture. Once your legs are weary, sip on Amazonian fruit juice in the cool of a courtyard in Leblon, after an afternoon of shopping. Your itinerary includes meeting a local who will take you to discover his favourite bars, to experience Rio by night, before spending the rest of the evening on Ipanema rooftops, in electro bars in Botafogo's alternative neighbourhood (nicknamed by some BotaSoho) or samba clubs in the bohemian heart of Rio.
Transfer to Paraty by private car with your driver. You'll be staying in the heart of the cobbled historic district, in an old merchant house dating back to the 18th century, whose bedrooms are furnished with antique Portuguese and Brazilian furniture.
Founded just before 1700, Paraty owes its existence to the discovery of gold and diamonds by the 'Bandeirantes' (Portuguese settlers) in its hinterland, on the hills and in the creeks of neighbouring Minas Gerais. With Brazil's declaration of independence in 1822, which put an end to gold exports, the city fell into oblivion, with access only by sea or treacherous trail until the arrival of the coast road in the 50s. The isolation proved a blessing for the city, with the baroque monuments and colonial era cobbled streets and houses maintained in almost perfect condition. Included in the itinerary is a walking tour in Paraty. Wander along its streets paved with large Portuguese stones past rows of colourful single-storey houses, lush patios of bougainvilleas and palm trees. And four Baroque churches, including the beautiful Santa Rita, once reserved for freed mulattos, laid out on a square overlooking the sea. You'll also visit Forte Defensor Perpetuo, built on a hill overlooking the sea to protect Paraty from pirates, and which now houses a centre for art and local traditions.
A hike in Ponta Negra is a must. A stay in Paraty would not be complete without exploring its coastline: myriad islands in a bay protected from the prevailing winds, and hundreds of deserted beaches as pristine as when the first Portuguese sailors discovered them. You will reach Ponta Negra, in Juantinga Reserve by boat. 300 indigenous Caicaras live in this small village on a cove, a few houses between the dense rainforest and golden sand. Lives here revolve around fishing. In the late afternoon, the fishermen can be seen off the creek as they lift up their huge fish-laden nets by the strength of their arms alone.
Today you will be transferred in a private car with a driver to Rio airport where you can catch a flight to Salvador de Bahia. Arrive in the heart of the Pelourinho district for a three-night stay at Villa Bahia, which combines two colonial-era houses to create a discreetly sophisticated hotel. The rooms' furniture and colour palette evoke colonial Portuguese culture, while remaining unmistakably Brazilian. In the restaurant, the chef brilliantly produces a cuisine that combines the best of both France and Brazil. There are two cool patios where you can relax with a caipirinha or you can fully unwind in the pool, a luxury in this district. From the terrace there is a delightful panoramic view of the rooftops and bell towers of the Old Town. In the morning, when you open the windows overlooking Sao Francisco and the colourful walls of the ancient houses bordering the square, and an Angolan samba melody reaches your ears, you know you're in the spiritual heart of Brazil.
Founded in 1549, Sao Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos (to give the city its full name) was Brazil's first capital. It is divided into two parts: the upper town and the lower town. The lower town runs along the gulf, including the harbour, the Mercado Modelo (the old customs building) and the Cathedral of the Transfiguration. And also, the beautiful houses at the base of the mountain - narrow, steeply sloping streets with glazed painted tiled facades, narrow staircases, the small bars in the old quarter of Ribeira. Huge elevators - the Lacerda and the Tabuao - and funiculars connect the lower town to the upper town, where, on the hillside, the criss-crossing steep streets of the Pelourinho district are found. Here you'll find large two-storey houses, lined up in their pink, blue or ochre facades, with broad wooden jacaranda panelled floors. Find some of the masterpieces of the Brazilian Baroque: The Cathedral, the Sao Francisco Church the largest Jesuit church in the country which was completed in 1723 and is adorned with sculptures illuminated with gold, its cloister softened with glazed painted tiles. And everywhere there are candomblé (religious rites) squares and casas-de-santo (informal shrines) where orishas (minor deities) are worshipped. Stroll through the streets of Pelourinho to experience the rhythm of Bahia. Try capoeira (a martial art/dance), enjoy the pleasures of a tropical beach or visit the Vila Velha Theatre, one of the most beautiful places in Bahia, where Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethania, and Gilberto Gil started their careers in the 1960s. Have lunch on acaraje 'fireballs', attend a candomblé ceremony in a Catholic church or sip a cachaca, sugar cane brandy in a bustling bar. Make sure to visit the Pierre Verger Foundation. The French ethnologist and photographer, born in 1902, settled in Salvador de Bahia in 1946 and never left. He discovered a culture influenced by the heritage of the descendants of African slaves and undertook to document the various aspects of Afro-Brazilian culture, including the candomblé, a religion that combines animist beliefs of African origin and indigenous, Catholic influences, worshipping orishas, deities linked to natural elements. The foundation has displays of Pierre Verger's photographs, in the house in which he lived until his death in 1996. Your itinerary also includes a private percussion course. Percussive rhythms are part of the everyday life of every Bahian inhabitants and are at the centre of social life.
A tour of Jorge Amado's Bahia is part of your itinerary. With 35 novels and short stories (with some 30 million copies sold in Brazil), as well as theatre, poetry and adaptations for cinema and TV series, Jorge Amado, 'Jorge', as everyone here calls him, is the most popular writer in the country. He was the first major Brazilian writer to have a black man as his hero (from his first book 'Bahia de Todos-os-Santos', written in 1935). Throughout his works, going against the tide, he would describe the richness of Brazil's diverse population. 'You can go all around the world, but never will you find a city so rich in history, lyricism, picturesque and profound poetry,' he said of his city, Salvador. Your itinerary also includes an immersion in the world of the great writer, with a visit to the house where he lived with his second wife Zelia and their family, followed by a visit to a house in Yemanja, orisha of the sea, fish and shipwrecks - Jorge Amado was one of the first to rehabilitate candomble religious beliefs so despised by the elite.
Private transfer from Salvador to Valenca and fast boat crossing to the island of Boipeba, in the Tinhare Archipelago. Spend four nights staying in an intimate refuge: a charming wooden house painted in pastel hues, facing the sea between dense forest and white sand (the desert island dream, basically). While staying in this setting worthy of a beautiful postcard, you can explore the best the island has to offer, with the help of your hosts.
Spend the next three days on an almost deserted island at the end of the world. A dense forest, the 'Mata Atlantica', surrounded by beaches with coconut trees as far as the eye can see, and coral reefs. Here there are no cars, but a gentle way of life and the sea breeze to accompany a nap in a hammock. Boipeba is an Eden bordered by 12 miles of mangroves and white sandy beaches. Things to do and experience include: exploring natural swimming pools, shelters for multicoloured fish, lobsters and sea urchins; discovering the dense forest and mangroves (where you can feast on oysters on a floating pontoon); and sailing to Cairo Island, home to one of the oldest monasteries in Brazil, where you can put on a mask and snorkel to swim with tropical fish.
Today you'll be privately transferred to the airport to catch your flight home. It's an overnight flight, so you'll arrive home the next day.
Everything in this itinerary is entirely customisable, down to the smallest details. Here are some more suggestions of what could be included
Each of our trips is entirely tailor-made with originality, quality and cultural immersion in mind. Our team of destination specialists will craft itineraries based on your tastes, using their first-hand knowledge and the help of our in-country team of Concierges and guides. All trips are accompanied by a wide range of additional services, including a 24-hour helpline, the Original Travel app, fast-track airport services and much more.
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