Cobblestones, cachaça, and Atlantic Forest on the sea
Paraty is one of Brazil's best-preserved colonial towns — a UNESCO site where 18th-century whitewashed mansions line streets deliberately paved with rounded stones to flood at high tide and flush out the sewage. The surrounding coast hides 65 islands and some of the Atlantic Forest's last intact remnants, and local distilleries produce artisan cachaça that the town has made famous across Brazil.
Founded in 1667, Paraty was the principal port through which Minas Gerais gold flowed to Portugal — its streets grew rich on the Gold Trail (Caminho do Ouro) that linked the interior mines to the Atlantic. After the gold rush ended and a new road bypassed the town, Paraty froze in time; its isolation became its greatest heritage asset, landing it UNESCO status in 2019.