Harbor Town of Paraty travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises, spa and resorts

A stunning seventeenth-century colonial harbor town on Brazil‘s Costa Verde, Paraty is a perfectly preserved UNESCO World Heritage site. Paraty meaning ”river of fish” in the Tupi language, was founded in 1667. The town’s growth was based on its location at the end of the Gold Trail connecting Rio and Europe to the gold mines in Minas Gerais by the sea. Photo by: Rodrigo_Soldon

After the gold business ended, Paraty became the center of the famous Brazilian rumlike drink, cachaca. The town became so synonymous with the drink that for a while the beverage was known as a Paraty. Today it is beautiful town surrounded by a tropical forest and remote beaches. Photo by: Claudio Barbosa

Wander the colorful, cobbled, car-free streets where horses and carts still make deliveries and take in jaw-droppingly beautiful architecture. Churches like the Capela de Santa Rita or the Igreja Matriz da Nossa Senhora dos Remedios are immaculately preserved. Admire the pastel-painted homes and the riot of color that are the shop fronts flaunting bright hammocks. Photo by: Eriberto Almeida Jr

Paraty is all about food, music, and, of course, cachaca. Try the local cuisine: fish and banana gratin or banana-and-cheese-stuffed squid in coconut milk. Spend the night in any of the basic yet beautiful pousadas: simple rooms with antiques and local art on display. With no motels or fast food outlets to be seen, this is a low-key as it gets. Although quite and remote it is not undiscovered. Mick Jagger, Linda Evangelista and Tom Cruise have all been known to visit this world and nobody cannot blame them. Photo by: neofito

Photo by: André Pipa