Flavors of Bahia 6 Days 2026
Tour overview:
This immersive 6-day Salvador itinerary celebrates the city’s vibrant Afro-Brazilian heritage, rhythmic soul, and cultural diversity. Explore Salvador’s historic Pelourinho district, Afro-Brazilian Museum, and iconic churches; experience hands-on percussion and Candomblé workshops that reveal the city’s spiritual and musical roots. Savor Bahian cuisine, visit colorful markets, and enjoy an evening of traditional folklore dance and music. Delve into the creative legacies of local icons Jorge Amado, Carybé, and Pierre Verger before journeying into Bahia’s serene countryside to the colonial town of Cachoeira. A perfect blend of history, rhythm, and culture in Brazil’s most soulful city.
Day 1 - Arrive Salvador
You will be welcomed upon arrival and transferred to your hotel. Overnight at Villa Bahia Hotel.
Day 2 - Salvador - African Heritage & Percussion
For those wishing to focus on Salvador’s permeating African Influence, in this, the most African city in the Eastern Hemisphere. We trace the African roots of Salvador on a city tour combining the residential areas at the mouth of the bay and continue to the older Historical Center of Salvador, the Pelourinho area. We visit the Afro-Brazilian Museum, which traces the West African origins of the city, and see the superb wooden sculpted panels of theorixá's by Salvador's most celebrated artist, Carybé, one of the city´streasures. We visit the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, the famous Black church, built with meager resources over a period of almost 100 years in the heart of the famed Pelourinho Square so called after the pillory or whipping post that stood in the main square. In this square, we also visit the intimate Bahian Gastronomy Museum, which focuses on the African influence on Bahia cuisine.
Bahia is the percussive heart of Brazil, its rhythmic soul is African, with a mind boggling myriad of rhythms that has attracted many international musicians to these shores, Paul Simon, Michael Jackson, to name but a few of the more famous. The origins of intrinsically Brazilian musical formats have their origins here - samba, bossa nova, axé. As proof of its musicality Salvador is a member of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network in the music category, one of just sixteen currently in the world. Under the expert guidance of local professional percussionist we investigate and contextualize varied aspects of the percussive jungle that is Bahia, focusing on the more important and accessible rhythms in a workshop that is instructive, interactive, engaging and fun. This is a great option for families and is ashands-on as participants wish it be or feel comfortable with Participants try their hand at various instruments such as the rhum, rhumba and lê drums of the Candomblé, also the surdo, caixa, timbau and repique drums of the sambareggae, as well as hand percussion instruments agogo, reco-reco and caxixi, and ofcourse the formidable berimbau, the integral instrument of the capoeira. Dinner at Barra Vento Restaurant (no beverages). (BLD)
Day 3 - Market Culture, Lower City & Folklore Show
Down through the centuries Salvador’s São Joaquim market provided an essential link to the farming hinterland of the western shores of the bay. It was to where the sugar cane and tobacco came to be exported. Also to where the farming produce to supply the city came. Ever bustling and bordering on the chaotic, today the market still sells a myriad of products and produce, from fruits and vegetables to spare parts for domestic appliances, to sacred herbs and religious artifacts of the candomblé, to the ingredients for Bahia cuisine’s signature dish, the moqueca - cilantro, limes, garlic, coconut milk and dendê palm oil. We visit the market (is there a better place to seek to understand a city than it local markets? and later savor the famous moqueca dish in a local city restaurant.
Note: This tour is not a cooking class, but a cooking demonstration.
The Lower City: Another Perspective: In a city known for its contrasts, none are more evident than its geography. The Upper City (Historic Center) is located 70 meters above sea level, while the Lower City extends throughout the financial center and adjacent suburbs. This area of the city differs in ambiance and content compared to the Lower City. The Lower City tour offers another perspective of the sprawling city, taking us to the quiet waters of the Itapagipe Peninsula where life moves at a slower pace than the bustling upper city. Fishermen fish from dugout canoes, locals collect shellfish at low tide, schooners lie at anchor, all protected by the famous Bonfim church, one of the most important churches of pilgrimage in Brazil and deeply syncretised with the Candomblé (visit). We continue to the Monserrat district with its panoramic view of the city and on to the Mercado Modelo, a thriving market for local artifacts and souvenirs.
Bahia By Night only Show (Theater Miguel Santana): After hotel pick and drive to the Pelourinho historical and then short walk the intimate Miguel Santana Theatre district where the the Balé Folclórico da Bahia Company performs a seamless presentation of the multiple African traditions that underpin Bahian culture. Tocon textualize the ensuing performance a detailed description is provided by your guide prior to the show. After show, Dinner at Cuco Bistro (no beverages). (BLD)
Day 4 - Cultural Icons & Local Nightlife
Candomblé is the reverence of the natural forces that regulate the planet on which we live. Brought to Brazil by the enslaved, it remains mysterious to many and misunderstood by others but is key to understanding the permeating influence that underpins Salvador’s uniquely African identity. Its role in the struggle against the blight of slavery cannot be overstated. We visit a traditional Candomblé terreiro or house of worship, established at the turn of the 20th century, far from the then city center so as to avoid the overbearing repression of the traditional belief system. The subsequent expansion of the city has meant that the temple’s grounds have been surrounded by the burgeoning metropolis, the background against which the terreiro maintains the traditional religious and social values of ancestral ways. Participants in the visit will gain an insight into the religious, historical and social aspects of Candomblé.
Novelist Jorge Amado, artist Carybé and photographer Pierre Verger formed a formidable triumvirate of outstanding talent and artistic output in Bahia from the 1950´s until their passing. All were great friends, and each in his own genre and style documented daily life in Salvador and Bahia, focusing on the wide palette of cultural traditions and ethnic characteristics that form the mosaic that is Bahia, its markets, street scenes and religiosity. In respect of their importance, each now honored with a permanent exhibition center celebrating their respective life’s works. Jorge Amado´s legendary home in Rio Vermelho, where he received so many of the world’s literary luminaries as his guests, now converted into an emotive museum of his life and work. The 17th century São Diogo fort at Porto da Barra beach houses an interactive audio-visual exhibition of the works of Carybé, he the master sculptor and painter who used such a wide range of materials and techniques; engravings, sculptures, watercolors, oil and acrylic canvases. Also at Porto da Barra beach, Santa Maria Fort is home to a permanent interactive digital exhibition highlighting the iconic photographs of Pierre Verger, a French ethnologist, deeply inspired and trusted by Candomblé religious leaders, allowing him unparalleled access to sacred rituals. Like his two friends Amado and Carybé, he also documented daily life in Salvador, markets and street scenes, his iconic black and white photos testament to the city´s cultural wealth. This cultural space also exhibits works by other leading local photographers. Each evening the works of Carybé and Verger are projected on the façades of their respective museums at 18:30 and 19:00, on days that the museums ae open to the public. (BL)
Day 5 - Full Day Excursion to Cachoeira
We leave the city behind to explore the farming hinterland on the western side of the All Saints’ bay. This is the land of sugar cane plantations, peaceful colonial towns and busy country markets, a day of insights into the life in rural Brazil in the cradle of Brazil´s African heritage. We drive north out of Salvador on the main highway and then head westwards, stopping at busy country market in Santo Amaro. Little has changed over the years in this traditional fruit and vegetable market, ever popular with locals. We continue our drive westwards through rolling hills to Cachoeira, a Unesco World Heritage site and the jewel of the Bahian hinterland nestled in the deep valley of the Paraguaçu River. The town’s importance goes beyond its architectural wealth, being home to a thriving cultural output grounded in African traditions so visible in local art traditions, mainly wood sculpting. African religious traditions are epitomized by the Sisterhood of the Boa Morte, a sorority which traces its origins back to the time of slavery. After lunch we take a walking tour of the town, with an opportunity to browse in some local wood carvers stores. We cross to the western bank of the slow moving river and visit the Dannemann cigar company where we can also see world-class cigars being expertly rolled. This excursion is a journey back in time to the Brazil of yesteryear. (BL)
Day 6 - Salvador / Depart
After breakfast the morning is at leisure. Private transfer from hotel to airport to take flight bound for home. (B)