Parati Travel Forum

Hello, I've booked a holiday to Brazil in November, flying to Rio and also visiting the Iguassu Falls. We're then hiring a car and driving to Parati for 6 days. I already heard that the best beaches are reachable by either boat or car? Can someone eloborate on this please? And also what else is recommended to do. We're not just beach bums - we do like a bit of culture and history as well! :o)
cheers,

you don't need a car in Paraty, cars cannot even enter in the historic area; to go to the beaches take a boat to the islands and take a taxi; another idea is beside Paraty is to go to Ilha Grande, take the ferry in Mangaratiba or Angra dos Reis, cities before Paraty if you consider Rio.

A car is very usefull here and the road Rio-Santos is very good and safe. Only during the weekends it has more traffic. Indeed, the best beaches are not in walking distance of the center of Paraty, but they are just 15 - 20 minutes away by car.
What to do here?
- Visit the beautiful beaches of Trindade and Laranjeiras.
- Visit the well preserved historical center, the churches, the old houses with mysterious masonic symbols. Hundreds of restaurants, bars, cafés with live music at night. Many shops.
- Visit the caminho do ouro, the gold trail. The gold and diamonds from Minas Gerais was brought to the harbor of Paraty, where it was shipped to Portugal.^
- Visit the many waterfalls with natural swimming pools in the middle of the Atlantic Rain Forest (Paraty lies in the middle of The National Park of Serra da Bocaina, 1340 km2 of forest). Many movies like "The esmerald forest" have been made here.
- Make a boat trip in the bay of Paraty with 65 islands and 300 beaches; go swimming and diving.
- Visit an ancient farm, the Fazenda Murycana, hiking, horseriding...
- Visit one of the famous alambics, the distilleries of cachaça, the sugar cane rhum.
- visit one of the Guarani indian villages.
- visit a quilombo, a village of the descendents of the escaped black slaves in the middle of the forest.
Want to know more? Just mail me.

Luc, Paraty RJ, Brazil

Thank you very much for your replies.

Just as a foot note to our visit in case anyone else does a search on things to do in Parati - as we're now back from our visit....
1) Definately go see the beaches of Trindade. They are really beautiful. And as Parati doesn't have a decent beach it's well worth the short trip (less than an hours drive away).
Go past the first large main beach and past the headland (have to walk the last part) to the second and 3rd beaches. Just relax on the beautiful sand and take in the scenery or have a swim. The tropical forrest makes a great backdrop to the beach and sea. You can also take a boat to the Natural Pool but we walked to it along the beach and through part of the coastal forrest (it's a good path but a bit tricky in places. We did get the boat back!).
There are some places to eat on the beach and i'd really reccomend a plate of deep fried calamari! Best I had on the holiday - or perhaps that was just because the setting was so good - and the beer!).

2) Do a schooner trip from the harbour in Parati - but don't pre book. Wait till the last minute and then you might get one with not many people on (unless you like a rowdy noisey crammed boat that is).