Recife

The site of the oldest synagogue in the Americas, founded in 1636 under Dutch rule. Today's building is a restored museum, and glass panels in the floor look down on the excavated well once used for ritual bathing.

A cobbled street in the old port quarter lined with pastel-painted merchant houses. On Sunday afternoons it closes to cars for a craft fair, the best time to walk it.

A waterfront square holding the marker from which the city measures its distances, with a huge compass rose laid into the paving. From the jetty in front, small boats shuttle across to a sculpture park on the reef wall.

Dozens of Francisco Brennand's ceramic sculptures stand on the coral reef wall that shelters the city's waterfront. The tall column at its centre is the park's emblem. There's almost no shade out there, so sunset suits it better than midday.

Ceramicist Francisco Brennand made an old tile factory in western Varzea his lifelong workshop, and thousands of his pieces fill its gardens and galleries. It is far out, so many visitors come by taxi and pair it with the Ricardo Brennand Institute next door.

A castle-style building holds medieval armour and blades with Brazilian landscapes by the Dutch painter Frans Post. Few places hold this many of his canvases. A long drive through woodland leads in, and from the entrance it is a fair walk to the main hall.

A 19th-century prison turned craft market, its old cells now shops along wings laid out in a cross. One cell has been left in its prison state, so you can look inside.

A market opened in 1875 under an iron frame made in France, the oldest iron public building left in Brazil. Many stalls sell medicinal herbs and items for religious rites, and the place is liveliest in the morning.

An urban beach backed by high-rise flats, where shallow pools form inside the reef at low tide. Shark warning signs stand along the sand, and you must not swim beyond the reef.

A beach village down the south coast where, at low tide, jangada rafts carry you out to natural pools among the reefs. Departure times move every day with the tide table, so check it the day before.

A chapel inside the Santo Antonio convent complex. It opened in 1697, yet decoration went on until 1724. Gilded wood carving covers almost every inch of wall, altar and ceiling, and the only way in is through the Franciscan sacred art museum.

A converted warehouse on the old docks, now a museum about life in the dry interior, the sertao, and the music of accordion singer Luiz Gonzaga. Marco Zero lies a short walk south along the quay, so the visit slots neatly into an old-port stroll.

A small square in front of the 18th-century church of Sao Pedro dos Clerigos, ringed by brightly painted two-storey houses. Their ground floors are bars and eateries, so by evening tables spread across the cobbles while the floodlit church front glows.

A museum of the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation, set up by sociologist Gilberto Freyre, showing Northeastern life through sugar estate tools, Afro-Brazilian religious objects and backland fair goods. Master Vitalino's clay figures are here. It lies in Casa Forte.

A beach at Tamandare, a little over 100 km south, where the small white chapel of Sao Benedito stands on sand under coconut palms. Low tide bares shallow pools between estuary and reef, and boat tours pause on the riverbank for a mud bath.

A fort the Dutch began in 1631 on Itamaraca Island, 34 km north. It reopened in 2018 after eight years shut for restoration and now displays finds from its excavations. From the beach in front, small boats cross to the sandbar island of Coroa do Aviao.