Paraty
Table of Contents: Culture and History / Travel to Paraty, visa requirements / Get around / Paraty attractions and sightseeing / City tours / Shopping, Paraty souvenirs / Good restaurants and cheap meals / Paraty nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs. / Hotels, youth hostels, lodging / Contact / Get out / Community Projects More from Rio de Janeiro (state): Ilha Grande, Paraty, Penedo, Rio de Janeiro More from Southeast (Brazil): Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro (state), São Paulo More from Brazil: Central West (Brazil), Northeast (Brazil), North (Brazil), Southeast (Brazil), South (Brazil) More from South America: Amazonia, Andes, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Falkland Islands, Guyana, Los Roques, Pantanal, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Tierra del Fuego, Uruguay, Venezuela |
Paraty (also spelled Parati) [1] is a coastal historic town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was first settled by the Portuguese in 1667. Its old churches, cobbled streets and nearby forests, waterfalls, islands and emerald-green sea attract lots of tourists interested in mixing cultural tourism and more natural settings.
Culture and History
Paraty grew in the 18th century as a strategically important port for exporting the gold mined in Minas Gerais. When shipments in nearby Rio became attracting attention and ambition by pirates and privateers from rival European powers, the Portuguese begun using Paraty as their safe port for getting their gold to Lisbon. Together with Ouro Preto, the town was part of the Royal Road (Caminho Real or Caminho do Ouro, Gold Road), a route used to export gold in colonial times. It was also an obligatory sleep-over stop for travelers between Rio and São Paulo until the late 1800s, when the inner road was opened. This made Paraty be forgotten and stalled in time, away from "progress" and disfiguration and helped it preserving its old city as it was in the past. In the 1970s, it was rediscovered as a popular tourist destination.
Travel to Paraty, visa requirements
Paraty is 260km from Rio de Janeiro and 300km from São Paulo. Buses connect the city with those capitals.
Buses to and fro Rio depart about nine times a day. The trip takes about four hours. The price for the trip from Rio is R$ 44.00 and R$ 44.00 from Paraty to Rio. (2007)
The trip to and fro São Paulo takes about six hours and cost ca. R$ 37.00. There a about four to five connections daily. (2007)
Get around
The historic town is compact and can be covered on foot and cars, safe for taxis picking up or dropping passengers, are not allowed into the city center.
Vans pick up tourists at the city perimeter for a day-trip to the small fishermen's village of Trindade
Paraty attractions and sightseeing
- The historic center - cobbled streets, old buildings, churches etc.
- Beaches - Especially in Trindade: Cachadaço, do Meio, etc.
- Islands - Ilha dos Meros has the best diving conditions
- Waterfalls - Pedra Branca and Andorinhas
- Puppet theatre - 2 weekly presentations of a famous puppet group
- Casa da Cultura - a cultural center
City tours
- A boat trip through the bay. You can even find your own private beach on one of more than 300 islands. Small boats are available for charter near the river mouth. Negotiate a price before leaving.
- Diving
- FLIP[2] - This literature festival usually takes place in July. It gathers some of the best national writers and guest international authors. Hotels can get pretty crowded, book well in advance for this period.
- Dance with the locals on an old double-decker ferry-turned-dance-club. Just wander down to the dock after dark.
- Trekking the Caminho do Ouro. Access located in the Paraty-Cunha road
Shopping, Paraty souvenirs
- Cachaça (see Drink below)
Good restaurants and cheap meals
- Camarão casadinho - a regional shrimp dish
Paraty nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs.
- Cachaça - Paraty is one of the famous producers in Brazil, as in fact a century ago cachaça was known as parati. Dozens of excellent brands are available.
Hotels, youth hostels, lodging
The historical center has plenty of charming hotels and pousadas. Cheaper options can be found at the newer neighborhoods, outside the tourist area. Wathc out for the busy periods of FLIP (see Do above), Carnival and New Year's.
- Pousada Porto Imperial, R. Ten. Francisco Antonio s/n, (24) 3371-2323 (fax (24) 3371-2111, ), [3]. Right into the historic center, this hotel is set in a tastefully decorated colonial house next to the Matriz church. Many of the air-conditioned rooms are located at the internal patio and garden. R$200-R$340 (check out high/low season prices).
Contact
There is an internet cafe on the second floor of a house across from the fountain park on the main road, at the eastern edge of the historic city center.
Get out
Community Projects
- Paraty Tourism
- Green Map System Parati [4] is an ongoing mapping project that connect travelers to sustainable options in the local community. This volunteer project is implementing a web-based Green Map [5] which locals and students contribute to in order to present historical, ecological, and cultural points in the community.
More from Rio de Janeiro (state): Ilha Grande, Paraty, Penedo, Rio de Janeiro More from Southeast (Brazil): Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro (state), São Paulo More from Brazil: Central West (Brazil), Northeast (Brazil), North (Brazil), Southeast (Brazil), South (Brazil) More from South America: Amazonia, Andes, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Falkland Islands, Guyana, Los Roques, Pantanal, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Tierra del Fuego, Uruguay, Venezuela |
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