Trancoso and a coastal road trip in Brazil
Perched on a forested bluff above a vast beach in northeast Brazil, the little town of Trancoso is one of the most charming seaside spots in South America. Founded by Jesuits in 1586, it enjoyed centuries of obscurity before hippies and surfers discovered it in the 1970s. Wealthy holidaymakers from Sao Paulo followed, and these days, beach houses here change hands for millions – yet Trancoso has been spared from mass tourism by its sheer remoteness, and still has a laid-back and faintly bohemian air.
The coast to the south is gloriously untamed for almost 300 miles to the next big city, Vitoria. It's worth striking out along the sandy road that shadows this shore, broken here and there by wide river estuaries of dazzling beauty, with colourful old fishing boats for ferries. This is the area where the Portuguese first came ashore in South America in 1500. You needn't go far to find Unesco-protected rainforest reserves, indigenous reservations with welcoming cultural centres, tiny fishing villages settled by the first European colonists, and an endless succession of magnificent beaches.
Where to stay in Trancoso
At the heart of Trancoso is the "quadrado", a big, villagey green fringed with colourful old fishermen's cottages, many of which now house restaurants and boutiques. In the evenings, locals play football before its simple, whitewashed church, and at night, its trees are lit with hundreds of lanterns.
Created by the Dutch fashion designer Wilbert Das in 2009, UXUA Casa Hotel & Spa is Trancoso's original high-end boutique hotel, and still its best. Occupying a dozen rustic-luxe casitas set amid a jungled garden beside the quadrado, it's a stylish haven of peace in the heart of the action. The hotel also has its own beach bar, and staff can arrange all manner of adventures, including visits to the local artisans' workshops with which Das collaborated on its design.
Recently opened beside a beach outside town, the new Fasano resort has 40 pale, minimalist villas set amid manicured grounds. There's a huge swimming pool, a spa, a gym, and two good restaurants. It's a coddling, self-contained little world, and also offers easy access to still wilder beaches nearby, best reached by boat or on a quad bike over the dunes.
The road south
The first essential stop on the road south of Trancoso is Praia do Espelho, or "Mirror Beach", so named for the pools that form on it at low tide, reflecting the sky. Occupying a mellow old farmhouse atop a lonely hill beside the beach is Hotel Calá & Divino, a timeless and faintly otherworldly place with immaculate little bungalows for guests, and immense ocean views.
An idyllic garden by the sea
First settled by the Portuguese in 1534, the remote fishing community of Caraiva is said to be the oldest colonial village in Brazil. Backpackers from the country's big cities discovered it a few years ago, but its village council has fought with great success to preserve its tranquillity. Most of its guesthouses and restaurants are excellent, and there are no cars on its sandy lanes, no new buildings, and no streetlights to steal the show from its fabulously dark night skies.
Tucked away on a quiet side street is Le Paxa, the home of a successful former record producer, with two beautifully furnished casitas for guests. They stand in glorious isolation in a garden by the sea, beneath the spreading canopies of ancient trees, and only steps from a low picket fence with a gate that opens directly onto yet another sublime beach.
The owner is a great guide to the village, and can arrange trips by river boat to the cultural centre at the nearby reservation of the Pataxo indigenous people, where there are daily talks and demonstrations of rituals and other cultural traditions.
A beach in the back of beyond
Two hours further on lies Corumbau, another sleepy riverside village, beyond which there stretches perhaps the most magnificent of all the ocean beaches south of Trancoso. Set back behind the sands is the Fazenda Sao Francisco, a hotel with a dozen huge guest villas spread out amid the palm trees on an old coconut plantation. Like the Fasano, it's a great place to kick back for a few days, with good food, a huge swimming pool, a tennis court and plenty of water sports equipment.
How to get there
Among the top experts on luxury travel in Brazil is Tom Robinson of the Rio-based tour operator Dehouche, which can arrange tailor-made trips from £4,500 per person for 12 nights, including flights.
Tom Yarwood was a guest of Dehouche; dehouche.com
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