On the Brazilian Coast, a Tropical Town Beloved by Artists and Makers

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Roughly halfway between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the coastal town of Paraty (population 45,000) isn’t the easiest place to reach. It requires a four-hour, mostly mountainous drive from either city, a 45-minute helicopter charter or arrival by sea. It’s that relative seclusion that keeps the tourist hordes and unbridled development at bay, despite the town’s obvious appeal. Set on Brazil’s Costa Verde, with mountains covered in rainforest on one side and the emerald green waters of Ilha Grande Bay on the other, Paraty (pronounced para-CHEE by locals), preserves more than 30 blocks as its historic quarter, a grid of pedestrian-only cobblestone streets lined with whitewashed 18th- and 19th-century facades, many of them remnants of the Portuguese colonial era.

Starting in the mid-1600s, the town grew prosperous as a seaport during the country’s gold rush (many of the biggest gold mines were in the neighboring inland state Minas Gerais) — and as a hub for the slave trade. African slaves not only worked in the mines but built much of the town’s early infrastructure, such as its roads. Once the gold stopped coming through Paraty for export in the early 1700s, the town continued to harvest sugar cane and produce cachaça, the national spirit, before shifting its economic focus to the coffee trade. At the end of the 19th century, Santos, 190 miles to the south, supplanted Paraty as the country’s primary coffee-exporting port, and the town began to languish. “It fell off the map,” says Luana Assunção, the owner of the Rio-based travel company Free Walker Tours. “It became isolated and poor. Many houses were abandoned.”

By the 1970s, a new highway and an influx of urban transplants had given Paraty an infusion of new life. Lured by the area’s affordability, a number of artists, designers and other creative types began renovating the old mansions and opening a handful of galleries, boutiques, cafes and small hotels, turning the long-forgotten town into an alluring vacation destination.

“I was worried that mass tourism would endanger the future of the culture and the nature in Paraty, but it didn’t happen,” says the nature photographer Dom João de Orleans e Bragança, who has been visiting Paraty since 1968 and now lives there most of the year. He credits the strict building codes for imbuing the town with a certain timeless quality, even after the pandemic when the area’s second-home owners began spending more time in Paraty. “You’ll never see a skyscraper, and we don’t have big resorts or hotels here.”

What Paraty does have is easy access to the dozens of small islands and sandy coves across the bay (local traineiras, renovated wooden fishing boats; large schooners; and speedboats are all available for visitors to rent for daylong outings), and the countless hiking trails, waterfalls and beaches that are part of the massive Serra da Bocaina National Park. Visitors can also make day trips to a handful of villages home to Indigenous and historic Black settlements that have maintained a strong cultural identity. “There’s layer upon layer here,” said Lena Santana, a Brazilian costume and fashion designer who has been living in Paraty for the last decade. “It creates a certain kind of depth that makes people want to stay.” Here, Santana and four other locals and longtime Paraty visitors share their recommendations for where to stay, eat and explore.

The Insiders

Silvia Furmanovich, a fine-jewelry designer based between São Paulo and New York City, has been traveling to Paraty every other year for the past three decades.

The artist and photographer Vik Muniz, who lives in Rio de Janeiro and New York City, has been visiting Paraty since 1999.

Diana Radomysler is a partner and director of the interiors and design department at the São Paulo-based architecture firm Studio MK27. She travels to Paraty annually with her family.

Lena Santana, who was born in Salvador, Brazil, and moved to Paraty a decade ago after 15 years in London, owns a boutique, Atelier Napele, in the historic center, and Bus Stop Paraty, a guesthouse, 12 miles outside of town in Playa Grande.

Gisela Schmitt, originally from São Paulo, is the chef and owner of Paraty’s Gastromar restaurant and a boat-catering company.

Illustrations by Richard Pedaline

Sleep

“I love to stay at Casa Turquesa, built on the ruins of an 18th-century mansion in the old town. Everything in the Turquoise Suite is white and turquoise, from the fabrics to the artwork. One room has prints from the British botanical artist Margaret Mee, who spent decades traveling to the Amazon documenting flora, which have inspired my work in the past.” (Rooms from about $520 a night.) — Silvia Furmanovich

“I always suggest that friends stay at the Pousada Literária de Paraty, a cozy hotel within a cluster of historic mansions that surround a tropical garden — they return enchanted by both the hotel and its restaurant.” (Rooms from about $350 a night.) — Diana Radomysler

“The Brazilian travel company Matueté has a selection of villas. You can rent the interior designer Linda Pinto’s house in the historic quarter close to the waterfront. It has a beautiful courtyard, so the house is flooded with natural light.” (Rentals from about $1,500 a night, with a three-night minimum.) — Gisela Schmitt

Eat and Drink

“At Banana da Terra, the chef Ana Bueno cooks contemporary Caiçara [the main Indigenous community of the area] cuisine in a charming restaurant in the historic quarter. She offers things like mango and shrimp salad and a hamburger made with crab meat. After dinner, go to Gelateria Miracolo for ice cream and try the flavor made with cupuaçu, an Amazonian fruit that’s closely related to cacao.” — S.F.

“Head to Graúna [about 12 miles north of Paraty], a beautiful valley in the Atlantic Forest, for lunch at Le Gite d’Indaiatiba. The chef is like a wizard of the forest. She makes her ravioli with taioba, an edible plant from the jungle [similar to collard greens]. Call ahead and ask them to prepare the sauna, which is next to a swimmable waterfall on the property.” — G.S.

“Fugu Japanese Food is a new restaurant that serves fish that’s been caught fresh the same day, like sororoca [a white local fish] and prejereba [tripletail]. Don’t miss the tuna starter with locally grown shiitake mushrooms or the teishoku, a wooden box with 12 different small portions of menu items, including the day’s fresh catch. There’s also a great sake selection. For dessert, have the wasabi ice cream.” — D.R.

Shop

“Recently, one of my favorite designers from São Paulo, Flavia Aranha, opened a store in Paraty. Her pieces are timeless, produced in organic fabrics or natural fibers dyed with Brazilian plants and herbs.” — D.R.

“For handwoven baskets, go to Cestarias Regio Paraty in the historic center. They come in all sizes and are made by local communities. I love the ones made from covo, a fiber extracted from bamboo, that are used to go fishing.” — G.S.

“Visit the village of Cunha in the Paraíba Valley, where the Japanese couple Mieko and Toshiyuki Ukeseki started firing ceramics in a noborigama [a traditional Japanese wood-fired chamber kiln] in the 1970s. A small community of ceramists joined them, and you can buy their pieces at their ateliers or at the ceramics festivals that Cunha hosts throughout the year.” — L.S.

Take Home

“To pick up authentic Indigenous arts and crafts, such as vases and musical instruments, go to Canoa Arte Indígena. I bought several baskets from there that now decorate my office in São Paulo.” — S.F.

“Paraty has some of the best cachaça in Brazil. My favorite brand is Cachaça Maria Izabel. [Maria Izabel] and her daughters own a sugar cane plantation in Sítio Santo Antônio, about six miles north of Paraty, where they still produce the spirit by hand. You can do a tasting at the distillery and buy bottles there, or at shops in town.” — V.M.

“The Livraria das Marés is a big-city bookstore in a small town. It’s a contemporary space designed by the architect Bel Lobo with black metal shelves and a wood-paneled floor and ceiling. There’s a delightful cafe at the back.” — D.R.

Explore

“Don’t miss Saco do Mamanguá, which is the world’s only tropical fjord. You can only get there by boat, and you’ll pass Caiçara villages along small beaches. From there, you can hike to the peak of Mamanguá’s Pão de Açúcar for dramatic views of the entire Ilha Grande Bay. Another option is to rent kayaks at one of the beaches and paddle deep into the mangroves at the very end of the fjord.” — G.S.

“Fazenda Bananal is a great place to take children. It’s a nature preserve in the forest with a farmhouse. There are walking trails, farm animals and a restaurant called Ninho that’s absolutely incredible. Many of the ingredients come from the farm. I had the best slow-cooked pork of my life there.” — V.M.

“Visit Quilombo do Campinho [a settlement about 10 miles south of Paraty founded at the end of the 19th century by formerly enslaved people]. There’s a restaurant that serves fresh grilled fish and a shop with beautiful wooden animal sculptures, rugs made of straw, bamboo furniture and jewelry made from local tropical seeds. On the way home, stop at the village of Paraty-Mirim, where you can buy artisanal wares from the Guaraní tribe; then swim at its gorgeous beach, which is bordered by mountains and a river.” — L.S.

“One of the best ways to enjoy Paraty by sea is to book Gisela Schmitt’s Sem Pressa boat tour, which takes you to the surrounding coves and swimming spots (my favorite is Saco da Velha) while offering delicious local plates like cachaça- and beet-cured prejereba [tripletail fish], fresh oysters and mussels.” — V.M.

Practical Matters

“It’s fun to be in Paraty during one of its festivals. There’s FLIP [Festa Literária Internacional de Paraty], a large and influential literary festival [this year it will be held in October] and loads of other events throughout the town.” — L.S.

“The best time to visit is from May to August, when there’s less rain, the sky is beautiful and the sea is wonderful.” — G.S.

These interviews have been edited and condensed.