Paraty
Brazil
A colonial gold port on a bay of islands, with the rainforest coming down to the water behind it
Photo by Gilberto Olimpio on Unsplash
Photos by Aidan Formigoni, Luiza Braun, Luiza Braun and Luiza Braun on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Brazil
May to September — the dry winter, when the bay is calm and the cobbles are dry
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 300mm in Jan
Where it is
23.22°S, 44.71°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Stay at least two nights — Rio and São Paulo are four hours away each way, and the town belongs to you after the day coaches leave
- Walk the historic centre early, before the shops open, and again after dark when it is lit
- Spend a day on the bay by schooner, or hire a small boat with a few others for a quieter one
- Take the bus to Trindade and walk to the Cachadaço pool
- Go into the Saco do Mamanguá by boat from Paraty-Mirim
- Visit an alambique for a cachaça tasting, with someone else driving
Paraty travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Brazil
Mid-rangeRestaurants, pousadas and the schooner kiosks on the quay take cards. Pix, which everyone in Brazil uses, needs a Brazilian bank account, so keep some cash for the beach kiosks in Trindade, the small boats at Paraty-Mirim and the waterfall car parks. There is nowhere sensible to change money; arrive with reais or a card.
ATMs & cards
The bank machines are in the newer town outside the historic centre, not among the cobbles. Draw what you need there before a day in Trindade or on the bay, where there are none, and expect machines to stop serving foreign cards in the evening.
Avoid these
- standalone machines
- any withdrawal after dark
Use these instead
- Banco do Brasil
- Bradesco
There are no machines in the historic centre or on the beaches. Draw cash in the newer town before a day out.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Brazil
SafeOne of the safer towns on this coast, and walking home through the centre at midnight is normal. What goes wrong is physical: an ankle on the stones, a boat in rough water, a swim in the Cachadaço pool when the swell is up. Summer storms bring landslides onto the coast road — check before driving after heavy rain, and avoid driving it at night.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Centro Histórico, Paraty — including late at night
- Jabaquara, Paraty — the beach just north of the centre
- Trindade, Paraty — by day
Worth more attention
- Piscina Natural do Cachadaço — calm on a flat day, and people are pulled off the rocks when a swell is running
- BR-101, Paraty — the coast road is narrow, bendy and full of lorries; avoid it at night and after heavy rain
- The stones of the historic centre, which are uneven by design and slippery when wet
- Waterfalls after rain upstream, which rise fast
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Brazil visa rules
No visa neededup to 90 days
Other passports
e-Visa requiredup to 90 days$80
Brazil reintroduced visas for these three nationalities. It is an e-visa applied for online.
Visa required in advance
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Brazil
Good but costlyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Yellow fever — recommended for most of Brazil including the area around Rio
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
Getting treated
Public emergency care (SUS) is free to everyone including foreigners, but is crowded and slow. Private hospitals in Rio and São Paulo are excellent and expect insurance or payment up front.
Dengue, zika and chikungunya are all present and mosquito-borne — repellent matters. Yellow fever vaccination should be given at least 10 days before arrival.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodParaty has been making cachaça since the colonial era and the alambiques in the hills give tastings; Gabriela, with clove and cinnamon, is the local drink. Eat fish and prawns on the islands at lunch, and in the centre at night, where the cooking is better than a town this size has any right to. Prices in the historic centre are Rio prices; a few streets out they are not.
Travel tipsGetting around
Limited- UberWorks here
- 99Works here
- inDriveWorks here
- BoltNot here
99 the Brazilian one, often cheaper
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than a taxi and, in the big cities, the default for everybody.
Some favela and periphery addresses will not be accepted by drivers at night; that is a driver safety decision, not a fare one.
Time zone and your working day
America/Sao Paulo — 1 hour ahead of you
7 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–16:00 your time, 10:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 08:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 08:00–16:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Brazil, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Portuguese (Brazilian)
- HelloOi / Oláoy / o-LA
- PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
- Thank youObrigado / Obrigadao-bree-GA-doo / -da
- Yes / NoSim / Nãoseeng / nowng
4 more phrases
- Excuse meCom licençakong lee-SEN-sa
- How much is it?Quanto custa?KWAN-too KOOS-ta
- The bill, pleaseA conta, por favora KON-ta
- Cheers!Saúde!sa-OO-djee
Softer and more open than European Portuguese, and the de sounds like "dje".
Travel tipsReligion
Catholic and Evangelical
The largest Catholic population in the world, with a fast-growing Evangelical share and Afro-Brazilian traditions such as Candomblé and Umbanda practised alongside.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Greet with a kiss on each cheek between women, or a woman and a man; a handshake between men
- Expect physical closeness in conversation — standing back reads as cold
- Arrive late to social invitations; on time is genuinely early
- Learn a few words of Portuguese, and never open in Spanish
Don't
- Do not make the OK sign with finger and thumb — it is obscene here
- Do not walk with a phone visible in the street
- Do not wear obvious jewellery or watches on the beach or in the city
- Do not call Brazilians Hispanic or assume they speak Spanish
Where to stay in Paraty
No Holistay rentals in Paraty yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Paraty on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Rio de Janeiro Galeão GIG
4hfrom the airport· 156 km as the crow flies
About four hours by road down the Costa Verde.
Also worth pricing: São Paulo Guarulhos GRU — about four hours by road too, and more international flights.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
