Cheap things to do in Salvador
Baroque churches, Bahian street food and cold beer without burning through your wallet.
This is a trip built around eating well for next to nothing, walking historic neighbourhoods, and spending evenings at the kind of bar where nobody is putting on a show. It suits anyone who wants to understand Salvador rather than just photograph it, and who knows that the best acarajé costs less than a bus ticket back home.
Day 1: Pelourinho: gold, food and cold beer
Start inside one of the continent's most extravagant Baroque churches, eat your way through a proper Bahian buffet at the cooking school, spend the afternoon with Candomblé sacred objects at MAFRO, then finish the night at a neighbourhood bar where the beer is cheap and the street life does all the entertaining.
- 10:15 AM
Igreja e Convento de São Francisco
Wall-to-wall gilded woodcarving and Portuguese azulejos, one of Brazil's most spectacular Baroque interiors, cheap entry.
Map - 12:30 PM
SENAC Restaurante Escola
The cooking-school buffet piles on caruru, vatapá, moqueca and acarajé for a bargain price, best cheap Bahian spread in the neighbourhood.
Map - 2:30 PM
Museu Afro Brasil (MAFRO)
Essential Candomblé sacred objects, Carybé panels and Afro-Brazilian art, the must-see cultural collection of Salvador.
Map - 7:30 PM
Poró
Small plates of modern Bahian cooking in Santo Antônio, a 15-minute walk up from Pelourinho.
Map - 9:00 PM
Bar de Neuzão
Local neighbourhood bar steps from Pelourinho, cold beer, cheap prices, good people-watching to end the night.
Map
Day 2: Rio Vermelho and Largo de Santana
A writer's house museum eases you into the morning, a lunch-only kitchen feeds you old Bahian recipes most visitors never find, and the evening ends at Dinha's acarajé stall on Largo de Santana.
- 10:30 AM
A Casa do Rio Vermelho
Jorge Amado and Zélia Gattai's house, kept as they lived in it; a small ticket and an unhurried hour.
Map - 12:30 PM
Dona Mariquita, Cozinha Patrimonial
Lunch-only heritage Bahian kitchen, old pre-industrial recipes like efó and xinxim de galinha, exactly the cheap, authentic feed this trip is about.
Map - 2:30 PM
Largo de Santana
Largo de Santana is right next to Acarajé da Dinha, a free, breezy afternoon wander around the square, perfect for digesting lunch.
Map - 7:30 PM
Acarajé da Dinha
Rio Vermelho's best-known acarajé stall; order it with vatapá, caruru and shrimp, and say how much pimenta you want.
Map
Day 3: Porto da Barra: sea, fortress and dough
Walk the ramparts of the 17th-century fort, settle into the city's favourite sheltered cove with a coffee from a beach vendor, then cross to Rio Vermelho for pasta and a last acarajé at Regina's stall.
- 9:30 AM
Farol da Barra
1698 fort and lighthouse right on the point, walk the ramparts, soak in sweeping views over Baía de Todos os Santos, free to explore outside.
Map - 10:30 AM
Porto da Barra
Grab a coffee from a beach vendor and ease into the morning at this beloved sheltered local cove, calm, warm, and free.
Map - 12:30 PM
Pasta em Casa
Neighbourhood Italian in Rio Vermelho for handmade pasta at fair prices; a short bus or taxi from Barra.
Map - 7:30 PM
Acarajé da Regina
Regina's acarajé, fried to order for over 40 years; order one completo and eat it standing by the stall.
Map
Where to stay
Laranjeiras Hostel
A dollar-friendly Pelourinho hostel that puts Day 1 and its neighbourhood bar literally on your doorstep.
Grande Hotel da Barra
Budget hotel right at Barra, so the fort walk and beach morning on Day 3 start the moment you step outside.
Make Salvador your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Pelourinho: a few days ahead
- Olodum: weeks ahead
- Balé Folclórico da Bahia: a few days ahead
- Arena Fonte Nova: a few days ahead
- Ilha dos Frades: a few days ahead
- Ilha de Itaparica: a few days ahead
Skip these
- Mercado Modelo as authentic craft: stock is mass produced with tourist starting prices. Buy real craft in Santo Antônio ateliers.
- Morro de São Paulo as a day trip: two to three hours each way on an often rough catamaran for a few hours ashore.
- Half price mega schooners mean crowding, loud sound systems and rushed swims. Choose mid price small group boats.
- Street guides in Pelourinho who attach themselves and bill at the end. Decline firmly at the first sentence.
The full Salvador travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around