Buzios or Paraty?

Buzios has the stronger beach offer, mainly because of its range and how easy it is to reach. Calm, clear coves such as Ferradura and Tartaruga on the bay side and long surf beaches like Geriba on the Atlantic side are all on the same small peninsula, so you can pick by mood each morning.

Paraty's own town beaches are murky and mostly for sitting at a kiosk. Its best swimming is from schooners among the forested islands, or forty minutes away at Trindade, but the bay water there is noticeably warmer than Buzios's upwelling-chilled sea.

The two eat about equally well, and both lean on grilled fish and shrimp aimed largely at visitors. What differs is the setting. In Buzios the pull is a table on the Orla Bardot watching the sun go down over the bay, with menus that lean Mediterranean.

Paraty dines by candlelight in old townhouses and has a dish of its own, the blue-green azul marinho fish stew. It also has the cachaça distilleries in the hills, which make a better excursion for anyone curious about Brazilian drink.

Here Paraty is far ahead. Its whole centre of whitewashed eighteenth and nineteenth century houses on great uneven stones is the attraction, with baroque churches, a fort above town and the story of the gold route from Minas Gerais behind it.

Buzios has a few streets of the old fishing village, the chapel of Sant'Ana, the boats on Ossos beach and the Bardot statue. That is an hour's stroll, not a reason to go.

Buzios has the livelier nights. In summer Rua das Pedras fills with a dressed-up crowd from Rio, São Paulo and Argentina, moving from late dinners to lounge bars and small clubs, with beach parties at New Year and Carnival.

Paraty has no clubs to speak of. Its evenings are long dinners and live guitar in old-town bars, with Trindade's beach parties for a younger crowd. Both towns go quiet out of season, Paraty more so.

Paraty's setting is much grander. The Serra do Mar drops straight into a bay of green islands, and behind the town the Serra da Bocaina rainforest holds waterfalls, swimming holes and paved stretches of the Gold Trail. Boats reach the fjord-like Saco do Mamanguá, and there is a steep climb to its viewpoint.

Buzios is a dry, scrubby peninsula best seen from the water. Its strengths are particular rather than broad: steady wind for kitesurfing at Rasa and Manguinhos, turtles in the bay coves, and first-rate diving at nearby Arraial do Cabo.

Neither town is a touring base, but Paraty gives you more to do. Trindade's wild beaches are close, the pottery town of Cunha lies over the mountains and Ubatuba is along the coast, with Ilha Grande worth a night of its own.

From Buzios the options amount to Cabo Frio and its seventeenth-century fort, and Arraial do Cabo for boat trips and diving.

Both work about equally well for families, with calm water and no attractions built for children. Buzios has the easier swimming, in shallow bay coves where small children can dig and paddle, and plenty of pousadas with pools, but getting between beaches means hills and taxis.

Paraty offers more adventure, with boat days, the rock pools at Trindade and the waterfall slide, though its paving stones defeat pushchairs and the summer rain needs planning round.

Buzios is harder to get around once you leave its small walkable centre around Rua das Pedras, the Orla Bardot and Armacao beach. The rest of the hilly peninsula means taxis, hired buggies or quad bikes, or water taxis between the bay coves, because the local buses are of little use to visitors and some roads have no pavements.

Paraty is the easier town on the ground. Its car-free centre takes ten minutes to cross, if slowly over the big rounded stones, boats leave the quay for the bay beaches and local buses run to Trindade, though the waterfalls and Mamanguá still need a taxi, a hired car or a tour. Getting there takes longer, though: about four or five hours from Rio or São Paulo, against roughly three hours by road from Rio's airport to Buzios.

Both offer a pleasant after-dinner browse rather than real shopping. Buzios leans towards fashion, with Brazilian swimwear and beachwear labels, linen and an evening craft fair along late-opening lanes.

Paraty is more about craft and galleries in colonial shopfronts. The things to bring home are local cachaça, indigenous basketry and painted wooden boats.

Paraty is the somewhat cheaper stay, though neither is a bargain by Brazilian standards and both charge far more over New Year and Carnival. In Buzios the spread-out layout adds a steady run of taxi and boat fares on top of resort-priced pousadas and restaurants.

Paraty's shared schooner trips, local buses and simple fish places keep daily costs down, and rooms just outside the old town cost noticeably less than those inside it.

Paraty has a little more to offer, though neither is a place to plan evenings around performance. Besides informal samba and bossa nova in old-town bars, it has a long puppet-theatre tradition and a festival calendar that brings concerts and street performance.

In Buzios live music means musicians in waterfront restaurants on summer evenings, and nothing more.

Both rely on pousadas rather than any bathing tradition, and both are restful mainly for their pace. Buzios's version is a hillside pousada with a small spa and a pool facing the sea, as long as you stay away from the noise of Rua das Pedras in high season.

Paraty's is a garden house with hammocks in the quiet old town out of season, with yoga studios and secluded forest or bayside retreats for a complete switch-off.