Cunha

Cunha sits at around a thousand metres on the ridge between the Paraiba valley and the Paraty coast, and its reputation rests on ceramics. In the 1970s a group including the Japanese potter Toshiyuki Ukeseki built the first noborigama here - a Japanese climbing kiln, chambers stepped up a slope, fired with wood over days - and a community of studios grew around it. Firings are events, and several studios open to visitors. The other draw is agricultural: lavender fields, pine, trout and cheese on the cool slopes, with viewpoints over the range. The old road down to Paraty, part of the colonial gold route, is unpaved, spectacular and slow, and is the interesting way to arrive or leave.

What you actually see

• Noborigama kilns - Japanese climbing kilns fired with wood over days.
• Open pottery studios - the community that grew around the first kiln.
• Lavender and trout farms - the cool-slope agriculture around the town.
• The old road to Paraty - unpaved colonial route over the range.

When to go

April to September. Two days.

Honest expectations

Studios keep their own hours and firings are occasional - check before travelling if that is the reason for the trip. The road to Paraty is rough and impassable for low cars after rain. The town itself is plain; the interest is outside it.

Nearby

Paraty is over the range on the coast; Sao Luiz do Paraitinga is west.