5 Days in Paraty and Ilha Grande

Start at the Matriz, the parish church of Our Lady of the Remedies, patron saint of the town. Work began in the 1600s and the church was only finished in 1873, with the bell towers and the back never completed, which tells you how the money went: the gold boom was over long before it was done. Its square is the closest thing the town has to a center, and the streets around it are the best of the old grid, with low whitewashed houses, heavy wooden doors and window frames painted in blue, red and yellow.

Walk slowly and look down as much as up. The stone paving was set in a way that lets rain and tide run to the middle of the street, and cars are not allowed in most of the historic center, only taxis dropping people off. That's the whole charm: nothing to dodge, nobody honking.

A couple of minutes from the Matriz, the Casa da Cultura is the town's main cultural institution, in a mansion dating back to 1754 and founded as a cultural house in 1990. It runs changing exhibitions, music classes and workshops.

Go in for the building and whatever exhibition is on. It's open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 8pm, and closed on Sunday and Monday.

Lunch is the right moment for Paraty's own dish, azul-marinho: fish cooked with green bananas in an iron pot until the broth turns a bluish color, then thickened into a pirão with cassava flour. It's caiçara food, the cooking of the fishing families of this coast, and you won't find it in Rio.

The restaurants of the old center build menus around local fish and the plantain-like banana-da-terra. Banana da Terra on Rua Doutor Samuel Costa, open since 1994, is the best known, but its published hours are dinner only on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, lunch and dinner from Friday to Sunday, and closed on Tuesday, so on this Wednesday book it for the evening and eat elsewhere at midday. Ask for the dish of the day and for fish that is actually local. For something simpler, the self-service restaurants along Avenida Roberto Silveira, near the bus station, sell food by weight for a fraction of the price.

The little church on the waterfront square, Santa Rita, is the oldest in Paraty, finished in 1722 by a brotherhood of freed mixed-race townspeople at a time when each church served its own social class. It now houses the Museum of Sacred Art, which is free and open Wednesday to Friday 10am to 5pm and on weekends and holidays 10am to 2pm. The hours were last published in 2025, so check at the door.

The square in front is the town's postcard, with the schooners behind and the mountains beyond. It's also where the sea arrives first when the tide is high, so this is the best place to stand on a flood evening. Don't leave anything on the ground here.

Across the river in the Pontal district, a short forest path climbs the hill to the Forte Defensor Perpétuo. It was built in 1793 to protect the gold route and the sugar trade, fell into ruin, and was rebuilt in 1822 and named in honor of Emperor Pedro I. It's now a small museum run by the national museum agency, with British-made cannons from the 1700s, sugar pans and relics from the plantations around Paraty-Mirim.

The reason to go is the view over the bay and its islands. The museum is open Wednesday to Friday 10am to 5pm and on weekends and holidays 10am to 2pm, but the grounds and the view are open daily from 7am to 7pm. Come in the late afternoon, when the heat has dropped and the light turns warm.

Paraty gets prettier at night. The old center is lit by lamps, the stones glisten after rain, and the restaurants fill their tables on the pavement. There's live music in many of them, usually Brazilian pop, MPB or bossa nova, and small shops stay open late.

If your visit falls around a new or full moon, ask when the next high tide is. The water comes up through channels in the sea wall, into the streets near Santa Rita, and 15 to 25 centimeters of it is normal. Local people put out pinguelas (little wooden bridges) and take it calmly. It's the one time when the town seems to remember what it was designed for.

The local bus (line L25, run by Colitur) leaves from the rodoviária and takes you to Trindade, about 25 km south. A road of that length takes roughly half an hour by car, along a winding coast road, and the bus is a little longer. On weekdays it leaves the rodoviária at 5:15 and then hourly from 6:00 to 17:00, with later departures at 19:00 and 22:30. Weekends run the same hourly pattern from 6:00. Buses back from Trindade run hourly until 18:00, with a few later ones. Check the current table on the Colitur site or at the station.

Trindade is a former fishing village in the Cairuçu protected area, with pousadas, small restaurants and a string of beaches that look as good as the photographs. There is no big resort and the forest runs down to the sand.

Walk in towards the sea and you reach Praia do Meio, "middle beach", the beach in the center of the village, with rocks at one end and a few kiosks. It's the best place to start: shallow, easy and with a view over the whole bay. Waves can be strong when the Atlantic is rough, so take care with children.

You can also reach the more remote beaches from here on foot, one after another, along forest paths. Keep your shoes on, take water, and start before the sun is high.

Lunch in Trindade is fish. The classic is a peixada, a pot of fresh fish stewed with vegetables and served with rice and pirão, and the cooking here follows the caiçara tradition: simple, fresh and slow. Many places set a table under a tree or beside the sand.

Order one dish to share, since portions are large, and ask what came in that morning. Lunch also sets you up for the walk to the pool, which is better done in the early afternoon than at midday.

The reason people come to Trindade: a natural pool formed by rocks at the end of Cachadaço beach, where the sea fills a clear, shallow basin and fish swim around your feet. The walk from Praia do Meio takes roughly 20 to 30 minutes along the shore and over rocks, of medium difficulty, and ends at the pool.

Whether it's good depends on the tide and the swell. With a rough sea the pool can disappear under the waves, and it's at its best at low tide on a calm day. Bring a mask if you have one, water shoes for the rocks, and be back on the sand with time to spare before the tide turns.

Back in Paraty, finish at Jabaquara beach, just beyond the fort. The water here is calm and the sun sets behind the hills across the bay. A beachfront restaurant with a view is the easy choice, and it's a short walk home through the old center.

Have your first proper caipirinha with a view and stay for the hour when the light goes pink. It's the best way to finish a day on your feet.

Most schooners (escunas) leave from the Cais de Paraty in the center between 9:30 and 11:00 and sail for five to six hours. The bay holds more than 300 islands, and the usual route stops two or three times for swimming and snorkeling off small islands and beaches. Agencies advertise anything from about R$ 60 to R$ 150 per person, so compare a few on the quay before you buy.

Lunch and drinks are sold aboard, and some boats have live music with an optional cover charge (couvert artístico), so ask first if you want quiet. A smaller boat is calmer and lets you choose stops, but costs more.

The water in the bay is warm and calm, with sea temperatures from about 22 to 26 C through the year. Boats anchor off islands with sandy coves (typical stops are Ilha Comprida and Praia da Lula, though routes change with the weather), and you swim to the beach or float over small reef fish. Bring your own mask if you can, as rental gear on board is limited.

For a quieter day, private boat owners near the river mouth rent smaller boats by the hour, and a captain can take you to beaches that the schooners skip. Negotiate the price and the stops before you leave.

Paraty built its name on cachaça, the sugarcane spirit: by 1820 over 150 stills were working around the town, and the cachaça of Paraty has had a protected indication of provenance since 2007. Dozens of local brands line the shelves in the old center, and shops such as Cachaçaria Cana Caiana on Rua do Comércio let you try before you buy.

Taste a young white one, then an aged one in oak, and ask whether they have flavored versions, which are common here. Buy small bottles to take home and keep the cork in tight.

On Rua Dona Geralda, Teatro Espaço is a small theater and cultural venue, home to a company called Contadores de Estórias (storytellers). It's a gentle way to spend the hour before dinner, especially if you have children.

Its website has not been updated in years, so call or message before you walk over and see what's on.

For the last big dinner in Paraty, Margarida Café, on the Praça do Chafariz (the fountain square), is a restaurant and pizzeria in the old center that lists itself as open daily from noon to midnight. Dinner there runs to around R$ 80 to 140 per person.

Ask for the moqueca: a fish or shrimp stew in coconut milk and palm oil, from Bahia in the north and now on every menu here. Wine and cocktails push the bill up, so a caipirinha made with local cachaça is the better choice.

Drive or taxi about 20 minutes up the road to Cunha, to the waterfall locals call Tobogã: a smooth rock slope, around 15 meters long by one guide's count, that water runs down into a pool, so you can slide in. It sits next to the church at Penha, about 9 km from the center, and it's also known as Cachoeira da Penha. The walk from the parking is a minute or two.

Be there at opening on a Saturday, while it's cool and quiet, and bring a towel, water shoes and a change of clothes. After rain the water is stronger and muddier, and the slope is slippery, so don't slide if the flow looks heavy. Agencies run jeep tours to the waterfalls and distilleries, but a taxi for the morning costs less than most.

Almost next door to the waterfall, on the same road, Engenho D'Ouro is one of the old alambiques (distilleries) of Paraty, usually listed as open about 8:30am to 5pm daily. Guided visits show how sugarcane juice is fermented and then distilled, and end with a tasting of cachaças and liqueurs.

Paraty has several distilleries open to visitors on this road, and you don't need more than one. Go for the tasting and the smell of the place. The staff will explain how to read a label: envelhecida (aged), ouro (gold) and branca (white).

Conceição de Jacareí is a small port on the coast, about 120 km east of Paraty by road, and the departure point with the shortest crossing to Abraão, about 15 to 20 minutes on a fast boat. Allow two hours or more for the drive along the Rio-Santos highway, which hugs the coast between forest and sea. There is no bus terminal in the village: buses stop on the highway, and the pier is a 300-meter walk.

There are three ways to do it. Travessia Ilha Grande runs shared transfers from Paraty hotels to Conceição with the Abraão boat ticket included. Alternatively, the Costa Verde buses from Paraty to Rio list Conceição de Jacareí among their stops (departures from Paraty include 9:20, 10:20, 12:20 and 13:20), so ask when you book. Or take the Colitur L101 bus to Angra dos Reis (R$ 27.50, about 96 km and roughly 100 minutes), which leaves Paraty at 13:00 every day, and take a fast boat from Santa Luzia.

From Conceição, fast boats cost about R$ 60 to 75 and take 15 to 20 minutes. One operator, Travessia Ilha Grande, sails at 9:30, 12:30, 14:00 and 17:00, and others advertise hourly departures until about 18:00, so book a seat and check the time. From Angra's Santa Luzia pier, fast boats cost about R$ 70 and take 30 to 40 minutes, with departures between about 7:30 and 18:30 that differ by company. The cheap option is the public ferry run by Barcas Rio from the Cais da Lapa in Angra: R$ 20.50, up to 110 minutes, leaving at 15:30 on weekdays and 13:30 on weekends and holidays, so on a Saturday it's out of reach from Paraty. Times and fares change, so confirm them before the day.

Since 1 June 2026, Angra dos Reis charges a Sustainable Tourism Fee (TTS). The city's official Viva Angra portal shows R$ 50 per person for adults with proof of lodging in Angra, valid 30 days for the mainland and Ilha Grande together, and R$ 100 for those without it, such as day-trippers. Children up to 12, people over 60 and people with disabilities are exempt but must register. Some press reports mention a lower R$ 28 day-use rate from Santa Luzia, which the official portal doesn't show.

Drop your bags and walk north along the shore to the old stone aqueduct on the edge of Abraão. A short trail leads on to Praia Preta, "black beach", and a lookout (mirante) above it with a view over the bay and the boats.

It's the best first walk because it's close, easy and ends with a view. Go before the light fades, because there are no streetlights on the trails. A torch is useful on the way back, and so is repellent: the biting midges called borrachudos are worst in the warm months, especially at dusk.

Abraão is small, so dinner is simple: a handful of restaurants and bars along Rua da Praia and the pier, and a few more behind it. Fish is the thing to order, grilled whole or in a moqueca, usually with rice, farofa and a salad.

Many places on the island accept cards, but cash is safer, and bring enough for the next day's boat and trail. In the evening the beach has a few bars with caipirinhas, and the village is quiet by 10pm.

Lopes Mendes is the island's most famous beach: a long, wide arc of pale sand facing the open Atlantic, with no buildings, a line of forest behind and waves that are good for surfing. There are two ways to reach it. The long way is on foot, an island trail from Abraão of roughly two to three hours each way, through forest and over a ridge. The short way is a boat from the Abraão tourist pier to Pouso beach (30 to 60 minutes), followed by a 1 km walk of 20 to 30 minutes over a hill on trail T11 to the sand. One local portal lists the boat tour at around R$ 30 per person, leaving from 9:00 to noon; confirm the return time when you buy.

Most visitors take the boat there and walk back, or the reverse, to see more of the island. Whichever you pick, take water, food and sun protection, since there's almost nothing on the beach outside summer and holidays. On a Sunday, walk to the far end of the sand for space. Be careful in the sea: the surf is strong and there are currents a little way out. A pair of lifeguards is on duty only in summer and on holidays.

Back in the village, the best answer is a plate of fish at a simple restaurant, ideally one of the places that grills the catch of the day. A prato feito (set plate) with rice, beans and salad is the cheap option, and a fresh juice or an açaí bowl is perfect after a long walk.

Rest, wash the salt off and have a nap in the shade. Everything in Abraão is walkable, and you can wander a different direction each time.

The white village church of São Sebastião, with its wooden ceiling and bell tower, stands a short way back from the beach and is the quiet center of Abraão. It's a small, simple building, and a calm spot to sit before the story of the rest of the island.

The island was a place nobody wanted for most of its recent history. A quarantine station opened in the 1880s, a penal colony later followed, and the prison at Dois Rios was imploded after its closure in 1994. The writer Graciliano Ramos was one of the political prisoners held there under the Estado Novo. You can read more at the Instituto Penal Cândido Mendes page.

For a second walk, follow the island's trail network towards the Cachoeira da Feiticeira, a waterfall in the forest west of Abraão. It has a pool to cool off in at the end. Ask at the information point or at your pousada for the current route and conditions.

The trails are numbered and marked, but after rain they are muddy, and in the rainy season stretches can be blocked by fallen trees or landslides. Start by mid-afternoon, wear shoes, and never go alone after dark.

End the day on the pier, where the boats come and go and the lights come on across the bay. It's the village's living room: families, divers, guides and backpackers all sit on the wall as the light goes.

Take a caipirinha or a coconut and watch the boat traffic. Tomorrow is Monday and the boat back is the last chore. The Barcas Rio ferry to Angra leaves Abraão at 10:00, and fast boats run through the day, so check times tonight.

For the last night, pick a restaurant with tables on the sand or the street, and order what you haven't tried yet: a shrimp moqueca, grilled fish with banana-da-terra, or the Brazilian classic, feijoada, if a restaurant has it that day.

Finish with a brigadeiro, the chocolate truffle made from condensed milk that every Brazilian bakery and dessert counter sells.