Salvador

Salvador needs 3 days: the Pelourinho (colonial historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site) on one, urban beaches on another, and a Morro de São Paulo trip on the third. December-March is summer and Carnival season, Brazil's biggest and most traditional alongside Rio's. It's cheaper than Rio or São Paulo, with one of the best value-for-money ratios in the country. It's the birthplace of Afro-Brazilian culture: Brazil's first capital and the main port of colonial slavery, it's today the epicenter of capoeira, candomblé and an African cultural identity more visible than in any other city in the country.