Bahia

The state

Bahia is where the Portuguese first landed in 1500 and where Brazil was governed from until 1763, and it remains the country's most visible centre of Afro-Brazilian culture. Salvador's historic upper town, Candomblé terreiros, capoeira and samba de roda give the capital a cultural density few Brazilian cities match. Beyond it, the state covers a vast territory: more than 1,100 km of coastline with islands such as Tinharé and Boipeba, the Recôncavo towns around the Bay of All Saints, the cocoa coast of Ilhéus, the Discovery Coast around Porto Seguro and, far inland, the table mountains, caves and waterfalls of Chapada Diamantina.

For agencies, Bahia supports almost every format: cultural FIT and small-group tours in Salvador, MICE and incentive groups using the capital's hotel base, beach extensions on the south coast, and hiking or photography programmes in the Chapada. Distances are real, so multi-region itineraries usually combine domestic flights with long road transfers; Chapada Diamantina sits several hours inland from Salvador, and Morro de São Paulo is reached by boat. Salvador's wettest months are April to June, while the Chapada's dry season from May to September is best for trekking.