Salvador rewards a thin wallet: the city's most venerated church, its Orixá lake and its west-facing sunset beach cost nothing, the historic elevator costs 15 centavos, and a market breakfast runs R$8. Three days built entirely on that.
Bahia's most venerated church, built 1745-72, where visitors tie coloured fitas do Bonfim to the railings — three knots, three wishes. The Sala dos Milagres upstairs is crowded with wax limbs and crutches left in thanks.
The peninsula tip beyond Bonfim holds the 1583 Forte de Monte Serrat and a whitewashed hermitage chapel on grass that drops straight into the bay. Fishermen cast from the rocks and the view back to Ribeira costs nothing.
A freshwater lake ringed by a jogging track where eight giant Orixá figures — Iemanjá, Oxum, Xangô among them — stand on platforms out in the water, sculpted by Tatti Moreno in 1998. Open and free around the clock.
The only city beach in Salvador that faces west, which makes it the default sunset gathering — flat bay water, applause when the sun drops behind Itaparica. Vendors work the sand with R$5 beer and R$10 caipirinhas.
Brazil's largest open-air market outside Amazonia: 12 hectares of Cidade Baixa alleys selling dendê palm oil in reused bottles, live chickens, sacks of dried shrimp and Candomblé ritual supplies. Open 5am-6pm daily.
A concrete shed of plastic tables on the Rio Vermelho waterfront where two dozen stalls fry fresh-landed fish to order. A whole fried pescada with pirão and farofa feeds two for about R$45; caldinho de sururu is R$6.
Open since 1931 on the Ribeira seafront, this parlour serves more than 40 tropical flavours — umbu, cajá, mangaba, tapioca — scooped into metal bowls. The terrace looks straight over the bay towards Itaparica.
The cobbled square just beyond Pelourinho where Salvador's cheapest hostels fill colonial houses and neighbourhood bars put plastic chairs on the street. Bottled Bohemia runs R$8 and the fort terrace at the end is free.
The lancha from Terminal Náutico crosses Baía de Todos os Santos to Mar Grande on Itaparica island in about 40 minutes, passing the round Forte de São Marcelo. Departures run every 30-45 minutes from 06:00, tide permitting.
The island beaches run flat and shallow past coconut palms, with barracas lending shade for the price of a drink. A grilled fish plate at a beach shack is about R$35, and the 1610 Nossa Senhora das Neves church sits behind.
The 1873 art-deco lift drops 72 metres from Praça Municipal to Comércio in around 20 seconds and carries some 28,000 people a day. Two blocks north the 1889 Gonçalves funicular makes the same climb for the same coin.
A restored 17th-century sugar estate on the shore below the Contorno, with a sculpture garden of Mario Cravo pieces set on the rocks and free gallery entry Tuesday to Sunday. The bay-facing terrace catches the sunset.