Paraty: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Paraty, on a bay between the mountains and the sea halfway between Rio and São Paulo, was the port through which the gold of Minas Gerais left for Portugal in the eighteenth century. When new roads and then the railway bypassed it, the town was all but forgotten for a century — which is why it survives almost untouched. A World Heritage site since 2019. Two hours on foot; the paving is brutal, wear flat shoes.

A short history of Paraty

Paraty received the status of a town in 1667, but rose to prominence in the 18th century, when gold from the mines of Minas Gerais came down to it along a paved mountain road and was shipped from here to Rio de Janeiro and Portugal. When a more direct road to Rio was built, the port lost its importance, and later neither coffee nor sugar cane could save it. By the end of the 19th century the town had almost emptied, and so its colonial centre was preserved almost unchanged. In 2019 the town and the nearby island of Ilha Grande were declared a World Heritage Site.

The ten best sights in Paraty

1
Igreja Matriz
The church of the elite
2
Igreja do Rosário
Built by the enslaved
3
Igreja de Santa Rita
The postcard church by the water
4
Igreja das Dores
The church of the ladies
5
Casa da Cultura
The town’s museum
6
Forte Defensor Perpétuo
A walk up from Pontal beach
7
Praia do Pontal
The town beach
8
Caminho do Ouro
The stone road of the gold
9
Cachoeira do Tobogã
A natural rock slide
10
Poço do Tarzan
A swimming hole in the forest

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Tours in Paraty →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Paraty:

Free walking tours in Paraty

The town of the gold

Rua do Comércio · The streets are paved with large irregular stones, the pé-de-moleque, and slope slightly toward the bay: at the highest spring tides the sea flows into the lower streets and washes them, as the builders intended.
Igreja do Rosário · Each of Paraty’s churches belonged to one part of colonial society. This one, of 1725, was built by and for the enslaved Africans, who were not allowed into the churches of their masters.
Igreja de Santa Rita · The white church by the water that appears on every postcard of Paraty, built in 1722 by the brotherhood of the pardos libertos, freed people of mixed race; it houses a museum of sacred art.
Igreja Matriz · The largest church, of the white elite, begun in 1787 and finished only in 1873 — the gold had stopped flowing long before, and the money ran out again and again.
Igreja das Dores · The chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, of 1800, by the sea, built for the women of the aristocratic families; behind it is the small cemetery of the brotherhood.
Casa da Cultura · A museum of the town in a colonial mansion, telling of the gold road, the cachaça and the caiçaras, the fishing people of the coast; Paraty also hosts FLIP, an international literary festival held here every year since 2003.

The gold road and the cachaça

Inland, the old paved road of the gold climbs into the Atlantic forest of the Serra do Mar, past waterfalls and the distilleries that once made Paraty’s name synonymous with cachaça. Half a day by car; bring swimwear for the pools.

Forte Defensor Perpétuo · A fort first built in 1703 to protect the gold ships from pirates, rebuilt in 1822 and named after the title the new emperor of Brazil, Pedro I, took that year: perpetual defender of Brazil.
Caminho do Ouro · A stretch of the paved colonial road, built in part by enslaved labour, on which mule trains carried gold and diamonds down from Minas Gerais to the port; guided walks follow the stones through the forest.
Engenho D’Ouro · One of the cachaça distilleries of the valley. In the nineteenth century Paraty had dozens of them, and in Brazil a paraty was a common word for a glass of cachaça.
Cachoeira do Tobogã · A smooth sloping rock under a waterfall that local boys slide down standing up, to the applause of the visitors; it is slippery and people do get hurt, so sitting is the wise way.
Poço do Tarzan · A deep pool in the river under the forest with a rope to swing from, a few minutes from the slide; the water comes cold from the mountains.
Cunha · Up the old road in the mountains, a town of potters: since 1975 they have fired their ceramics in noborigama, the climbing wood-fired kilns of Japan, brought by a group of Japanese and Brazilian artists.

The coast by boat and trail

South of Paraty the mountains fall straight into the sea, and many beaches can be reached only by boat or by trail through the forest. A day; schooners leave the quay every morning, and the road to Trindade is steep.

Quay · The quay where the gold was once loaded, now lined with painted wooden schooners that take visitors on day trips to the islands and beaches of the bay — the bay holds dozens of islands.
Paraty-Mirim · A calm beach with an eighteenth-century church standing right on the sand, the remains of an older settlement; from here boats cross to the Saco do Mamanguá.
Saco do Mamanguá · A narrow arm of the sea about eight kilometres long between steep forested mountains, often called the only tropical fjord in Brazil, with mangroves at its end and a few caiçara fishing families along its shores.
Trindade · A fishing village discovered by hippies in the 1970s, whose people fought for years against a developer who tried to evict them; it kept its beaches and its relaxed air.
Cachadaço natural pool · Behind a barrier of huge boulders at the end of the trail, a natural pool of calm, clear sea water full of fish, perfect for snorkelling; it is calmest at low tide and on days without swell.
Praia do Sono · A long beach of a caiçara community with no road, reached by an hour’s walk through the forest or by boat from Laranjeiras; there is camping and a few simple places to eat.

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Getting to Paraty and getting around

Bus station · Buses to Rio and São Paulo, four to six hours
Quay · Schooners to the islands

Cheap eats in Paraty

Paraty eats the caiçara way: azul-marinho, fish stewed with green banana, which turns the broth blue-grey; fried fish and shrimp at the beach; and a cachaça from the valley, neat or in a caipirinha. A plate at a beach kiosk costs about ten to twenty dollars.

Engenho D’Ouro · Cachaça tasting
Praia do Pontal · Fried fish at the kiosks
Trindade · Shrimp at the beach

Holy places in Paraty

Four churches, one for each class of colonial society.

Igreja do Rosário · The enslaved
Igreja de Santa Rita · The freed
Igreja Matriz · The elite
Igreja das Dores · The ladies

Nature and day trips near Paraty

Atlantic forest, waterfalls, a tropical fjord and beaches without roads.

Saco do Mamanguá · The fjord
Praia do Sono · The beach at the end of the trail
Caminho do Ouro · The forest road

Things to do in Paraty with kids

With children: a rock slide, a swing into a pool, a fort and a natural aquarium.

Cachoeira do Tobogã · The slide — sitting down
Cachadaço natural pool · Snorkelling with fish
Forte Defensor Perpétuo · Cannons over the bay

Museums in Paraty

The town museum, sacred art and the potters of the mountains.

Casa da Cultura · The town’s story
Igreja de Santa Rita · Sacred art museum
Cunha · The kilns

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Frequently asked questions about Paraty

What is there to see in Paraty?

The top sights in Paraty are Igreja Matriz, Igreja do Rosário and Igreja de Santa Rita. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Paraty?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Paraty without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Paraty?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Paraty, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The town of the gold.

How do you get to Paraty and get around?

The main ways are Bus station and Quay. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Paraty, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Paraty that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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