Things to do in Salvador, splurging
Baroque churches, destination dinners, and the best Bahian cooking money can buy.
This is Salvador for people who eat seriously, sleep well, and want the city's cultural depth without roughing it. The three days move between the gilded colonial core, the literary ease of Rio Vermelho, and the bay-facing stretch of Porto da Barra, with a dinner worth booking waiting at the end of each one. Mornings are slow and curious; evenings are properly booked in advance.
Day 1: Pelourinho: gold, azulejos, and Dadá
Start with the Baroque church that justifies the trip, lunch with a living legend of Bahian cooking, and end the night at the city's top tasting table.
- 9:30 AM
Pelourinho
Start the day with a slow stroll through the UNESCO colonial heart, pastel mansions, Baroque churches, and the morning light on the cobblestones before the crowds arrive.
Map - 10:30 AM
Igreja e Convento de São Francisco
Wall-to-wall gilded woodcarving and Portuguese azulejos, one of Brazil's most spectacular Baroque interiors, right in the Pelourinho core.
Map - 12:30 PM
Sorriso da Dadá
Dadá's Pelourinho kitchen; order a moqueca or the bobó de camarão to share, with farofa de dendê.
Map - 2:15 PM
Museu Afro Brasil (MAFRO)
Essential Candomblé sacred objects, Afro-Brazilian art, and the monumental Carybé panels, the cultural fixture of any serious visit to Salvador.
Map - 7:30 PM
Ori
Fabrício Lemos's contemporary Bahian cooking, tasting menu or à la carte; book for a special night.
Map - 9:30 PM
Bar de Neuzão
Plain neighbourhood bar near Pelourinho; a cold beer at a plastic table and the street going by.
Map
Day 2: Rio Vermelho: literature, heritage kitchens, Tereza Paim
A morning in Jorge Amado's house, a lunch of near-extinct Bahian dishes, and dinner at the address that defines Bahian haute cuisine.
- 10:30 AM
A Casa do Rio Vermelho
Jorge Amado and Zélia Gattai's house, kept as they lived in it, with their voices and letters in every room.
Map - 12:30 PM
Dona Mariquita, Cozinha Patrimonial
Lunch-only heritage kitchen: order the efó or xinxim de galinha, pre-industrial Bahian cooking that's nearly impossible to find elsewhere.
Map - 2:30 PM
Largo de Santana
Largo de Santana, the breezy square, sit, watch the neighbourhood rhythm, walk it off before dinner.
Map - 7:30 PM
Restaurante Casa de Tereza
Tereza Paim's Bahian cooking in an art-filled house: casquinha de siri, bobó de camarão, moqueca.
Map
Day 3: Porto da Barra: art, the bay, and a long evening
A morning dive off Porto da Barra, contemporary art on the Corredor da Vitória, a French institution with a bay view, and an Italian-Bahian splurge dinner to close the trip.
- 11:00 AM
Dive or baptism at Porto da Barra
PADI-affiliated reef and bay wreck dives, visibility is exceptional Dec to Mar, this is the standout active experience right off Porto da Barra.
Map - 12:30 PM
Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Bahia
Contemporary Bahian art in a restored mansion on the Corredor da Vitória; an easy hour before lunch.
Map - 1:30 PM
Chez Bernard
French since 1963, Gamboa de Cima, bay view, lunch for the light. Book a few days ahead.
Map - 7:30 PM
Mistura Contorno
Italian-Mediterranean-Bahian, bay view, locals' anniversary splurge. Book a few days ahead.
Map
Where to stay
Hotel Villa Bahia
A restored 18th-century mansion in the Pelourinho core: twelve rooms, serious design, and you walk out the door onto the cobblestones of Day 1.
Fera Palace Hotel
Beautifully restored belle-époque hotel on the Pelourinho edge, steps from Ori and Bar de Neuzão, with the kind of lobby that earns its rack rate.
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