Trancoso

The Quadrado is a long rectangle of grass on a bluff above the sea, with a whitewashed sixteenth-century church at the seaward end and low fishermen's cottages painted in flat colours down both sides - a Jesuit village plan that survived because Trancoso was almost unreachable until a road arrived in the 1970s. Hippies found it, then Sao Paulo, then an international set, and the cottages that once held fishing families now hold restaurants and shops at prices that are among the highest in the country. It remains genuinely beautiful, particularly at dusk when the grass fills with people and the church is lit. Beaches below - Nativos, Coqueiros, Espelho a drive south - are reached down paths from the bluff.

History

Pedro Álvares Cabral reached this stretch of coast on 22 April 1500, and Jesuit priests founded the village in 1583 as São João Baptista dos Índios. It stayed a small fishing village for centuries, and its growth as a beach town sped up in 1999, when a highway linked it to Porto Seguro and its airport (Wikipedia, Trancoso, Bahia).

Highlights

• The Quadrado - a grass rectangle of painted cottages above the sea.
• A sixteenth-century church - white at the seaward end of the square.
• Beaches below the bluff - Nativos and Coqueiros down the paths.
• A village turned resort - fishermen's houses now restaurants and shops.

When to go

September to March. Three days. December to February is peak and priced accordingly.

What to expect

This is expensive - restaurant and accommodation prices on the Quadrado are among the highest in Brazil and out of line with the region. Getting there involves a ferry that queues in season. The beach clubs charge substantial minimums. Out of season much of it closes.

Nearby

Arraial d'Ajuda is north; Caraiva is south down the coast.

Key facts