The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 454 km round trip from Paraty - roughly 8 h 40 in the saddle. It goes by way of Ilha Grande State Park, Sítio Roberto Burle Marx and back through Ilha Grande State Park. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Morro da Vila Velha
Paraty sits between the mountains and the sea, and Morro da Vila Velha, a hill beside the old town, is a good vantage for seeing why. The mountains of the Serra do Mar rise steeply behind, covered in Atlantic forest, and the bay in front is dotted with islands. Portuguese settlers took the site in the sixteenth century, and in the eighteenth it became the port for gold from Minas Gerais, carried down the Caminho do Ouro on mule trains and loaded onto ships. UNESCO listed Paraty and Ilha Grande together in 2019, recognising both the culture and the nature.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Morro da Vila Velha is where the day begins. Next is Ilha Grande State Park.
2. Ilha Grande State Park
Off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, between Rio and Paraty, Ilha Grande rises from the sea, a mountainous island covered in Atlantic rainforest, with dozens of beaches, coves and waterfalls. For much of the twentieth century, it was home to a notorious prison and a leper colony, which kept development at bay, and today, most of the island is protected as a state park. It is part of the UNESCO site Paraty and Ilha Grande, Culture and Biodiversity, listed in 2019.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ilha Grande State Park comes up 82 km in. Next is Sítio Roberto Burle Marx.
3. Sítio Roberto Burle Marx
Roberto Burle Marx changed the way the world thought about gardens. The Brazilian landscape architect, painter and plant collector, who died in 1994, designed the wave-patterned promenade along Copacabana beach, the gardens of the Ministry of Education in Rio, and hundreds of other parks and gardens, using native tropical plants in bold, abstract compositions. In 1949 he bought a former coffee estate in Barra de Guaratiba, in the far west of Rio de Janeiro, and turned it into his home, studio and laboratory, filling it with thousands of plant species collected on expeditions across Brazil. Sítio Roberto Burle Marx was added to the World Heritage list in 2021.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Morro da Vila Velha. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Morro da Vila Velha to Ilha Grande State Park
Morro da Vila Velha → Ilha Grande State Park is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Ilha Grande State Park to Sítio Roberto Burle Marx
Ilha Grande State Park → Sítio Roberto Burle Marx is 96 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Sítio Roberto Burle Marx to back through Ilha Grande State Park
Sítio Roberto Burle Marx → back through Ilha Grande State Park is 96 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Ilha Grande State Park to Morro da Vila Velha
back through Ilha Grande State Park → Morro da Vila Velha is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.