Paraty or Salvador?

Salvador comes out a little ahead because the beach is part of the city. Calm Porto da Barra is a short walk from town, there is a long run of ocean beaches north towards Stella Maris, and the sea is warm all year. Paraty's own town beaches are murky and mostly used for sitting at a kiosk.

Paraty's best swimming is a boat ride away, in the forest-backed coves of the bay, or about forty minutes south at Trindade with its clear rock pool. These beaches are lovely, but each one is a day out rather than a quick morning swim, and the water is noticeably cooler in winter.

Salvador has much more to eat. Bahian cooking is one of Brazil's great regional cuisines, based on dendê oil and coconut. It goes from acarajé sold by baianas in white lace to clay-pot moqueca, with the São Joaquim market for fruit and spices.

Paraty has good grilled fish and its blue-green azul marinho stew, and cachaça tastings at distilleries in the hills are a real draw. Apart from that the choice is narrow, and much of the cooking in the old town is aimed at visitors.

Both have UNESCO-listed colonial centres, but Salvador gives you far more to see. Paraty's appeal is the town as a whole rather than any one sight: whitewashed houses with coloured doors over big, uneven paving stones, the waterfront church of Santa Rita and a fort on the hill. You can see it all in one unhurried day of walking.

Salvador's Pelourinho is a much larger hillside district of baroque churches, led by the gilded interior of São Francisco. Beyond the old town, the city adds the Afro-Brazilian Museum, the modern art museum at the seafront Solar do Unhão and the ribbon-hung Bonfim church on its own hill, enough to fill several days.

Salvador has a real night out. Rio Vermelho's seafront bars stay full well past midnight, Barra draws a younger crowd, and the Pelourinho squares fill up at weekends. Carnival here is one of the largest street parties anywhere.

Paraty is mostly about dinner and a caipirinha with a guitarist playing. Trindade's beach parties liven up the high season, but outside long weekends the town goes to bed early.

Paraty has the much more dramatic setting. Steep rainforest drops into a bay of green islands, with waterfalls and swimming holes in the hills and the fjord-like Saco do Mamanguá a boat ride away. Coastal trails lead south to wild beaches, and the calm water suits paddling and snorkelling.

Salvador's surroundings are low and coastal: the Bay of All Saints, the Abaeté dunes and reefs to the north. Its standout is seasonal, with humpback whales passing offshore from about July to October.

Salvador makes the better base for outings. The colonial river town of Cachoeira and nearby Santo Amaro are inland, Praia do Forte and its castle ruins are to the north, and ferries cross to Itaparica and the islands of the bay.

Paraty is more somewhere to stay put. Trindade is easy, and the pottery town of Cunha and the beach town of Ubatuba are each an hour or more away. Ilha Grande, Rio and São Paulo really need overnight stays.

For families the two are much the same. Both are warm towards children and neither has zoos, aquariums or theme parks of note. In Paraty children enjoy boat days with swimming stops, the Trindade rock pools and the waterfall slide, but the old town's huge paving stones are hard going with a pushchair.

Salvador has Porto da Barra's shallow water, the turtle centre at Praia do Forte and capoeira in the squares. Parents need to watch belongings and steep cobbles more closely there, which is why many families stay at a beach hotel.

Getting around takes about the same effort in both, for different reasons. Paraty's car-free centre takes ten minutes to cross on slow, rounded stones, but the islands, waterfalls and distilleries need a boat, a taxi or a tour.

Salvador is a large city on two levels, linked by the Lacerda Elevator. Its metro mostly serves the airport and bus station, so visitors rely on cheap taxis and ride-hailing, especially at night.

Neither is a shopping destination, and what you'd buy is quite different. Paraty has galleries, linen boutiques and handmade jewellery in colonial shopfronts, with bottled cachaça and painted wooden boats to take home.

Salvador sells Bahian crafts such as berimbaus, lace and Bonfim ribbons at the Mercado Modelo. It also has air-conditioned malls in the newer districts for everyday shopping.

Salvador is easier on the budget. Street food, beach-shack meals, ride-hailing and simple guesthouses in Barra all cost little, and many sights charge little or nothing to enter. The big exception is Carnival week.

Paraty charges resort prices for pousadas in the historic centre and the better restaurants, and long weekends and festivals push rates higher. Shared schooner trips, local buses and staying outside the old town help keep costs down.

Salvador wins easily here. It is the home of samba-reggae and axé, its bloco drum groups hold open rehearsals in the Pelourinho and Liberdade, and the Balé Folclórico da Bahia dances most evenings. The Teatro Castro Alves adds a symphony orchestra and touring shows.

In Paraty, music means bossa nova and MPB played in restaurants. Puppet theatre and festival concerts add a little, but most of the year there is no formal programme.

Neither town has a spa tradition of its own, but Paraty is the easier place to unwind. Out of season its car-free streets are quiet, and garden pousadas with hammocks and pools, plus small retreats in the forest and by the bay, are built for switching off.

Salvador's easygoing manner helps, but its centre is noisy and hot. Visitors who want rest usually stay in a quiet guesthouse in Santo Antônio or a resort up the coast.