Paraty

Introduction

Paraty - RJ

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Paraty is a city in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Founded in 1667, the city still has many aspects of its original Portuguese colonial architecture. This includes and impressive fort and nice central plaza with a stunning church. Another amazing feature of this old port city is the fact that is was designed so that the tide would wash up on the streets to clean out the trash. Outside of the town are several nice islands that are wonderful no matter the time of year. Lastly for the seafood fan this is the city of choice! Therefore if you have a few extra days in Rio and get tired of the big city hop over to this beautiful off the beaten track town and buy some cheap fruit in the local market near the port.

Sights and Activities

• Fort the old colonial fort echo's of fighting off pirates and other sea bandits.
• Colonial Centre, the old narrow colonial streets have an unspoiled feel and worth a walk around. Peeking into shops that have been used since the 18th century is a wonderful way to spend a day.
• Shopping is easily found with many local artists setting up shop selling from crafts to high class
• Islands are worth visiting and usually require a fun boat ride.
• Carnival - Paraty hosts a Carnival of their own that has a very different flavor from the famous Rio de Janeiro Carnival. Paraty's version is much more traditional, less crowded and set in a utopian environment; it is closer to Venice's version than Rio's. In Carnival, Paraty's celebrations play on fantasies, with masked blocos , or carnival groups, along with children and adults in fancy dress and effigies of famous personalities. Costumes are black or white, king or pauper. They often aim (harmlessly) to scare the passers-by with skulls and deformed papier machê heads. While most of Carnival celebrations take place in the historic district of Paraty, there are plenty of other events on the local beaches, including the Bloco de Lama (block of mud), which traditionally starts from the Praia do Jabaquara before continuing around the town. This group represents a prehistoric tribe whose objective is to frighten off evil spirits.
• The FLIP, Paraty International Literature Festival is a unique opportunity to discover a different face of Paraty. In August 2003 the FLIP,Paraty International Literature Festivaljoined the family of world literary festivals such as Hay-on-Wye, Adelaide, Harbourfront de Toronto, Festival de Berlin, Edinburg and Mantua. With the presence of worldwide acclaimed authors such as Julian Barnes, Don DeLillo, Eric Hobsbawm e Hanif Kureishi, the first FLIP stabilised a quality standard that has been kept in the following editions. In a short period, it has gained a name as one of the main literary festivals, acknowledged by the quality of the invited authors, the enthusiasm of its public and the laid back hospitality of its host town.

The FLIP has already received some of the great names of world literature such as Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Martin Amis, Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, Anthony Bourdain, Jonathan Coe, Jeffrey Eugenides, David Grossman, Lidia Jorge, Pierre Michon, Rosa Montero, Michael Ondaatje, Orhan Pamuk, Colm Toíbín, Enrique Vila-Matas, Jeanette Winterson, J. M. Coetzee and Marcello Fois.

Events and Festivals

• Festa Literária Internacional de Paraty (FLIP) is an annual literary and cultural event in Paraty.
• Paraty em foco is an international photography festival, usually held in September.
• Paraty International Film Festival

Getting There

By Plane

The nearest airports are located in Rio de Janeiro, with a large number of domestic and international services throughout South America and further away.

By Bus

Paraty is not the easiest city to get to although it is easier now with more direct buses. The long trip is worth the visit to see an unspoiled place and to eat great food.

Sleep

Budget

• Misti Chill Hostel & Pousada
• Geko Hostel Paraty

Keep Connected

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Post

Correios is the national postal service of Brazil. It is a government run postal service and overseen by the Brazilian Ministry of Communications. Post offices are generally open from Monday to Friday from 09:00am to 5:00pm, although post offices located in shopping malls have their own opening hours, usually from 10:00am to 10:00pm. There are no set opening hours at weekends and as post office owners can choose when to open and close. More and more post offices are open until 1:00pm on Saturdays though. You can check things at the nearest post office. Sending postcards, letters and parcels is a rather straightforward process and services are reliable, though not overly fast when sending post internationally, mostly taking about a week to the USA and Europe, and there is a track-and-trace service for this as well. Domestically, there are both next day as well as more expensive same day delivery options. Stamps are available at post offices, as well as some kiosks or other places where they sell postcards.