[PARATY, BRAZIL] — Here’s a quick overview of Paraty, the perfect Dutch colonial town just a few hours drive from Rio and Sao Paolo. It’s so perfectly preserved and looks like you’re on a movie set. The stone lined streets are dotted with cute galleries and simple restaurants, but the best thing to do in Buzios is to take an all day schooner ride along Brazil’s stunning Costa Verde coast. Stopping along the way to snorkel, take a schwimbob or swim into shore and have a fabulous lunch in a beach shack.

I was there way back in 2001, before digital cameras, so I only have bad scans from old prints.

 

Paraty and Ihla Grande as part of Brazil’s stunning 325 mile long Costa Verde, just hours from Rio and Sao Paulo. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Paraty and Ihla Grande are so well preserved, they’re a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The first time I was in Paraty, it rained like crazy and we were having dinner. The power went out and water flooded the restaurants. Everyone carried on like nothing was happening, they just brought out candles and flashlights and continued serving food. I thought it was crazy at the time. And wonderful.

I later learned that the town was actually built to flood! Since the 1600s, it was designed to let the water rise without harming anything, then efficiently drain back out again.

I don’t have a lot of notes or recommendations from way back then, we just poked around and stumbled onto things. But here’s TripAdvisor’s recommendations for Paraty. And some other tips from local artists as featured in the NYTimes. And some great suggestions on the Top 20 things to do in Paraty from CultureTrip.

Take an All Day Schooner Cruise Along the Costa Verde

The absolute best thing to do is to book a full or half day schooner cruise. It’s a blast and The Thing To Do. Refitted schooners leave regularly to go poke along the coast, stop for schwimbobs in the emerald green waters, snorkel or swim into beach bars for beers and bites. It’s so much fun.

The crews are fun, cranking Brazilian music that every single person knows the words to, swooning and swinging and smiling to the lilting and soothing rhythms. Serving fresh fruit, Caipirinhas. If you want see the living version of “good vibes”, jump on a schooner. So many people, of every age and socioeconomic situation, all smiling and swaying in the sun.

God, it’s so much fun.

More Information on Paraty

Here’s a great love letter story from the NYTimes and here’s another guide to Paraty from the NYTimes. You can see there hasn’t been a lot of recent press, but here’s a newer article on Paraty from the NYTimes. Here’s an article from AirMail. And here’s an article on the best shops in Paraty from Condé Nast Traveler.