Bahia

When Brazilians are far from home they dream of Bahia - of its powder-fine beaches and reef-ringed islands; of waterfalls in the Diamond mountains of the arid sertão, of cobbled streets and pastel-painted houses in Salvador. They long for capoeira and the rich spicy smell of Bahian cooking; the rhythms of axé and the colour of the world's largest carnival. "Você tem que ir." they say. "You must go." Bradt's Bahia shows the way to the World Heritage sites of Salvador (which has the largest collection of colonial baroque in the world) and the Discovery Coast rainforests; to the best of the beaches around the resorts of Itacaré, Porto Seguro and Trancoso; and beyond to the unspoilt island of Boipeba; the northern Linha Verde near Mangue Seco; and the little-explored coast of Sergipe and Alagoas states to Bahia's north.