Paraty – quick travel guide

Small charmy colonial town, many cute shops and restaurants, with beautiful beaches and islands nearby.

Paraty is a nicely balanced destination. The town itself is small but its unique quality is the historical center (old town cobbled road) full of nice restaurants, bars, and shops. Relaxed vibe but people do dress up, so it’s not like a beach-bum town. The beaches by the town are not swimmable but within 15min-1hr drive you have many amazing beaches, waterfalls, rivers, parks, etc to do whatever nature activity you wish. You’ll usually spend the day driving around to beach and nature stuff, then come back home to the historical center at night.

The accommodations are not expensive. And there are all kinds of nature and animals in the area. You can see the little sagui monkeys running about your accommodation. With extra time in your day, you can drive just 35mins to reach Trindade (another nice tourist destination with its own vibe).

3 days gets you a sense of the area, 1 week would be more appropriate to have chill days exploring both the town and all the water activities and nature nearby. If you had to stay a month, you still wouldn’t be bored…there are many things to do and see.

Where to stay:

• Centro Historico:
  • Being near the charmy historical center is best, as that’s what you’re there for. It’s where you’ll hangout at night anyway. On GoogleMaps, you’ll see a longish rectangle area that’s most busy. Being anywhere within the center or as far as 2 blocks walk from this area is most ideal. Any farther and you may find it annoying to have to keep walking in and out.
  • If you want to know the absolute most busiest location (where people walk and hangout)…I’d say it’s by “the church” (Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário e São Benedito).

Hostels & Hotels:

• Pousada Morada Do Sol – aka (Hostel Morada Do Sol). I stayed here and really enjoyed the big space. Space in the dorms with big upstairs terrace, huge downstairs outside by the pool, big kitchen. Also the little sagui monkeys running around. Friendly staff, clean rooms, filtered water. It was just outside the historical center and walking in was totally fine.

Neighborhoods, walking areas, public squares:

• Centro Historico – there is plenty to explore and run around for a couple days in here. I didn’t bother visiting the neighboring areas.

Activities to do:

• Viewpoints, landmarks, sunsets, hikes:
• Buildings & architecture:
  • Walk around the historical center and you’ll see many cute colorful buildings and colonial architecture.
• Parks, gardens, green spaces:
  • Green space – you can walk out to the water points like Praia Terra Nova.
  • Parque Nacional da Serra da Bocaina – huge national park of the area. Has everything. Trails, wildlife, pools, camping, waterfalls, mountains, viewpoints, and even many undiscovered parts.
• Beaches, bridges, water-points:
  • Town beaches – Pontal, Terra Nova, Jabaquara…are all dirty, smelly, muddy, and nobody swimming in them! Generally, nobody swims at any of the nearby beaches. It’s where the city dumps its sewage. For the nice beaches, you have to drive a little.
  • Praia Grande (easy close beach):
    • Only 15mins drive…but ugly beach with boats and dirt, many kiosks around selling food but not aesthetically-appealing to tourists. Anyway, this beach really isn’t the place to be.
    • Follow the short 300m hike trail from the parking lot to the next door Prainha de Praia Grande (little beach). Here there is one restaurant, has good food and lots of seating. At high tide, beach almost disappears. Despite this beach being nicer, I think it’s just too crowded to enjoy. I would recommend you not even bother going to Praia Grande unless you absolutely just wanted any nearby close beach.
    • Toca do Pastel* – right nearby, walk 2 mins on the main road. Well-decorated restaurant atop the hill with amazing views of the sea and islands. Right next to the restaurant is a semi-challenging 10min hiking trail down to a small beautiful beach below (Praia do Porto portela do Para). Even if you don’t have time to spend here, stop by for 5 mins anyway and take a photo on your way back from the beach.
  • Praia de Sao Goncalo (boat to Praia da Ilha do Pelado):
    • 30 mins drive north, nicer beach with more room. Crowded and full of people at the center, but fewer people and remote if you walk to the sides. Walk 10min east to reach the smaller Praia de Sao Goncalinho for more relax chill vibe. Many people come to Sao Goncalo to take a boat to Ilha do Pelado or Ilha do Cedro (pretty cheap and runs often). Because an island feels more special than staying on a regular mainland beach, right?
    • Ilha do Pelado* – tiny island, has nice small beach (light color sand & rocks). You can’t walk the entire island, only front developed side can be explored. But you can get far enough where there’s almost nobody around. Fun but too small/crowded to be there for long IMO, I got bored and wanted to leave. There are multiple kiosks even though it all looks like one when you arrive. Walk around and check menu/prices. We regret choosing ours because food sucked and expensive price.
    • Ilha do Cedro, I never visited but read good reviews online.
    • Pro tip when you buy your boat ticket. Ask them to drop you off at Praia do Iriri, instead of back at Sao Goncalo. This way you get to see 2 different beaches. And honestly, I liked Praia do Iriri better anyway!
  • Praia do Iriri (nice beach with river)**:
    • 30 mins drive north. My taxi driver’s favorite beach for good reason. It’s big and beautiful, nature scapes all around, lots of room on the sides to be away from people. The bonus is the wide shallow river passing by in the back and looping around to the sea in front. The water is much less salty due to the river outlets. Easily my favorite beach of the area considering how nice it is, easy to get to, and variety of activities nearby.
    • Aldeia Indigena Pataxo – indigenous village just across the street. Looks like a small bunch of booths selling souvenirs and snacks on your way up to Cachoeira do Iriri waterful. Waterfall is nice, easily reached within 2mins walk and interesting rock angles to relax around. Check photos to see if it’s worth your visit.
  • Other highly recommended beaches:
    • Praia Brava (Angra dos Reis) – this is NOT the one in Paraty, it’s 45min drive north to city Angra dos Reis. I forgot the reasoning why but my taxi driver said it was one of her favorites. From the photos, I see big space, rocks and waterfalls, and nice viewpoints.
    • Praia Paraty Mirim:
      • 30mins drive southeast of Paraty. Lots of raw nature with little infrastructure, calm beach with no waves, beautiful clear water with a long shallow part, connected to river and mangrove. Also boat tour options.
      • Complaints are that final part of the road is very horrible and bumpy. Can be super crowded on this small beach. Very few eating options, so you have to bring your own food or get ripped off by whatever kiosks are there.
      • Many people take boat tour to Saco do Mamangua bay. You can negotiate with various boat operators based on your group size and what you want to see. Check out the local Pao de Acucar hike to the mountain viewpoint. Some also go to the Ilha dos Cocos island (no beach but crystal clear water).
    • Praia do Laboratorio (1hr drive north) – another local favorite known for its calm beautiful blue WARM WATER because it’s right next to a nuclear power plant. (I was kinda spooked about that but my friend who works there swears it’s safe). The people love the relaxing vibe and warm water, majestic big rocks in the landscape, you can see turtles and fish, can rent kayaks. (The water is hot enough that even some people recommend NOT to go there on hot days, hahaha.)
    • Praia da barra do Corumbe – wasn’t recommended to me. Just looked nice as my taxi drove by. I read reviews online saying it’s a nice beach, and you can go kayaking from here.
• Arts, museums, culture:
• Markets, shopping:
  • Many nice shops of all kinds of things. And actually nice boutiques with uniquely made items.
• Tours:
  • Boat Tours – you can go to Cais de Pesca De Paraty for boat tours. Get here safely, avoid passing through dangerous neighborhoods (Ilha das Cobras) on your way here.
  • Walking tours – Paraty would definitely be an interesting place to do a walking tour. I’m sure there’s lots of history in the historical center.

Restaurants & Cafes:

• Arte e Sabor – absolutely loved it. Fair prices, amazing food and service. I think there’s 2 locations, we ate at the one by the church.
• Thai Paraty Matriz – just here to say this is NOT real Thai food, you’ll be disappointed if you’re craving actual Thai food.
• Pistache – nice gelato ice cream.
• To try:
  • Bartholomeu – looks fancy!
  • Dino Jungle – looks like a good buffet.

There are sooooo many good restaurants (very pretty and nice food), very lively and live music. Very impressive for a small town.

Bars, clubs, and nightlife:

• Pub Van Gogh – nice location with outdoor seating looking down the cobbled road to the church. And they have craft beer, good music.
• Armazem da Cachaca – cachaca store and bar. Come inside for free samples, then buy a cocktail if you want more.
• There many bars everywhere, follow the music and vibe you like.

Miscellaneous tips:

• Brazil – quick travel guide
• Transportation:
  • Public transportation – it doesn’t exist since Paraty is so small and almost everywhere is walkable. Which means there’s no system in place to get around to the beaches in the area. Rideshare also doesn’t exist. Almost nobody responds to our 99 and Uber requests, so we used a private driver.
  • Rita de Cassia +55(11)98784-3730 – friendly helpful driver who had many tips for nearby beaches and area, can cover long and short distances. Her prices are fair (not cheap), she only speaks Portuguese.
• Safety – staying by the historical center will have no issues. But I did read online of the 2 main dangerous areas being Ilha das Cobras (just south) and Mangeira (southwest). Do not go there, you can be shot and killed being there at the wrong time.

Itinerary:

• DAY 1 – go to nearby beaches (Praia Grande & Toca do Pastel) on arrival, then spend evening in historical center.
• DAY 2 – go to farther beaches, then spend evening in historical center.
• DAY 3 – visit Praia Paraty Mirim, and also take a boat tour and/or hike. Spend evening in historical center.

Nearby towns:

• Trindade** – nice hippie beach town nearby, has a different vibe from Paraty and only 35mins drive away. Also many nice beaches, must see if you’re already in the area.

Unfiltered notes: