Bahia is Brazil’s fifth-largest Brazilian state, boasting glorious stretches of coastline, some of the country’s finest surf beaches and vast mountain ranges.
Salvador
Once Brazil’s capital city, Salvador was the jewel in the crown for the Portuguese Empire. As a major port for Brazil’s sugarcane and slave trade, it was the country’s most important city for three centuries. These days it’s a vibrant, chaotic metropolis, skirted by favelas – a heady mix of music, capoeira, drumming in the streets, history and possibility.
Chapada Diamantina
Chapada Diamantina National Park offers panoramic mountain views and thundering waterfalls, as well as natural swimming pools and caves. Lençois and Mucugê are two old diamond-mining towns located within the park, with colonial architecture and charming pousadas to explore.
Morro de São Paulo
A chic, car-free island buzzing with international tourists, upscale bars and restaurants. There’s even a zipline, which whisks daring visitors from the top of a cliff into the waters below.
Boipeba
A deliciously sleepy island with the ocean on one side and a river on the other. Boipeba is an idyllic paradise, which just the right amount of creature comforts.
Península de Maraú
With the lively village of Barra Grande at its tip, this narrow strip of land is teeming with elegant restaurants and pousadas, sandy streets and inviting stretches of beach.
Itacaré
Popular with surfers, this vibrant beach town is surrounded by tropical forests, rivers and waterfalls.
Trancoso
Perched high on a hill, this once sleepy hippy village has grown to become one of Brazil’s most sought-after beach destinations.
Photo: By Cleide Isabel – Flickr, CC BY 2.0 (Chapada Diamantina), Ministério do Turismo (Morro de São Paulo), Panta LH – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Boipeba), Alison McGowan (Trancoso)