Salvador walking tour & city guide

Pelourinho

Pelourinho's cobbled streets climb between colorful houses and churches like the São Francisco Church, covered inside with gold. The Lacerda Elevator, an Art Deco lift, connects the Upper City with the Lower City and the Mercado Modelo.

Beaches and culture

Barra, with its lighthouse fort, is a favorite place for sunset. Salvador's Carnival is one of the largest street parties in the world, and capoeira, a mix of martial art and dance, is performed in the squares.

A day in Salvador

Take the Lacerda Elevator from the lower city to the Pelourinho, where colorful colonial houses and baroque churches line the cobbled streets. Visit the São Francisco Church, covered in gold.

In the afternoon, go to the Barra lighthouse for sunset over the ocean. On Tuesday evenings, the Pelourinho often fills with drumming groups and music.

Good to know

Salvador is the heart of Afro-Brazilian culture. Watch capoeira and try acarajé, a fried bean fritter with shrimp, sold by Baianas in white dresses.

Be careful in quiet streets at night. Carnival here is a street party with huge sound trucks.

Music and faith

Salvador was Brazil's first capital and its main slave port, and African heritage shapes everything here, from the food to the religion. Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian faith, has temples across the city, and the Bonfim Church is famous for the colored ribbons tied to its gates for good luck. Olodum's drummers made the Pelourinho world-famous, and music spills out of bars and squares almost every night of the week.