Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GETTING AROUND
BY BUS
There are three local bus terminals of most use to visitors:
Terminal da França in the Cidade Baixa, Estação da Lapa
and the
centro histórico
terminal at Praça da Sé. Entry to
most buses (R$2.80) is through the rear doors, but the
executivos
(R$6) are boarded from the front.
Praça da Sé
Rua Chile (near Praça Municipal). Regular
and
executivo
buses to Barra; the latter (marked “Iguatemi”)
continues on down the coast to Rio Vermelho, and
eventually to the Iguatemi shopping centre, from where
you can easily walk back across to the
rodoviária
; this is the
fastest way to reach the
rodoviária
by public transport,
though still count on at least 45min in transit. The
“Aeroporto” service, meanwhile, follows the same route
until Rio Vermelho, before continuing along past Pituba to
Itapuã, and on to the airport - cutting journey times to any
of the beach areas to at least half that of a regular city bus.
Estação da Lapa
Av Vale do Tororó, Barris. Well laid-out,
with destinations clearly labelled. To reach the centre, any
bus with “Sé”, “C. Grande” or “Lapa” on the route card will do.
Terminal da França
Avenida da França (next to the ferry
terminal). Services include #12-14 to Lapa, #342 to the
rodoviária
plus
numerous to Bon Fim.
BY TAXI
Taxis are plentiful, although all the beach areas except
Barra are a long ride from the centre. Meters start at R$3.75
and will quickly top R$50 for rides across the city.
Taxi companies
Radio Taxi Cometas (
T
71 3377 6311);
Chame Táxi (
T
71 3241 2266); Teletáxi (
T
71 3341 9988).
3
INFORMATION AND ACTIVITIES
Tourist information
Helpful English-speaking staff can be
found at the tourist o
ce at the Lacerda elevator on Praça
Municipal (daily 8am-6pm;
T
71 3321 3127,
W
bahia.com
.br). There are also information desks at the airport (daily
7.30am-11pm;
T
71 3204 1244), in the Pelourinho at Rua
das Laranjeiras 2 (daily 8.30am-9pm;
T
71 3321 2463) and
at the rodoviária (daily 7.30am-9pm;
T
71 3450 3871). An
additional source of information is the tourist hotline,
“Disque Bahia Turismo” - call
T
71 3103 3103 (24hr).
Setembro 3809, on the seafront (
T
71 3264 3820,
W
divebahia.com.br), offers dive trips (including the
Sacramento shipwreck) in the bay (R$250), and Discovery
Scuba trips for beginners (R$150-280).
Travel and tour companies
Privé Tur, Rua Manuel
Andrade 55, Sala 310, Pituba (
T
71 3535 0707,
W
privetur
.com.br), organizes city tours, beach trips and schooner
cruises. Tours Bahia, Cruzeiro de São Francisco 4/6,
Pelourinho (
T
71 3322 4383,
W
toursbahia.com.br), offers
a range of good-quality services, covering city tours, airline
tickets, transfers and money exchange.
DIVING AND TOUR OPERATORS
Diving and scuba
Dive Bahia Porta da Barra, Av Sete de
ACCOMMODATION
Salvador is the second most popular tourist destination in Brazil and correspondingly full of hotels. Unless you want be near
the beaches, the best area to head for is
Cidade Alta
, not least because of the spectacular view across the island-studded
bay. The wealthy suburb of
Barra has by far the closest of the beaches to the centre, and plenty of cafés and nightspots,
though the best resorts lie strung out along 25km of coast east of here. Unless otherwise mentioned, all the places listed
below include
free wi-fi
and
breakfast
.
reception area. It's worth the splurge for the lovely rooms,
which have comfy beds and flat-screen TVs, as well as
DVD and CD players. There's a small rooftop pool, and a
panoramic terrace from whi
ch you c
an soak up the views of
the Baía de Todos os Santos.
R$470
Galeria 13
Rua da Ordem Terceira (aka Rua Inácio
CENTRO HISTÓRICO
★
Casa do Amarelindo
Rua das Portas do Carmo 6,
Pelourinho
T
71 3266 8550,
W
casadoamarelindo.com;
map pp.208-209.
Step into a little oasis in the heart of the
Pelourinho, with terracotta floors, tropical plants and
sculptures of
orixas
(gods) dotted around the tranquil
THE SALVADOR BUS
An easy (and safe) way to tour the city is to take the
Salvador Bus
(
T
71 3356 6425,
W
salvadorbus.com.br), an open-topped double-decker tourist service that makes a loop four
times a day (Mon-Sat) around the main attractions: tickets start at R$45 for one day (one loop
is 4hr, but you can hop-on, hop-off ). Buses run from Rio Vermelho along the coast, past Barra
up to the Praça Municipal and Mercado Modelo before taking in the Bonfim church and
eventually ending up at the Salvador Shopping mall. Check the website for the latest times.
FROM TOP
PELOURINHO, SALVADOR
P.211
; DIOGO
SEE BOX, P.230
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