Experience the best of Santos

Santos lies on São Vicente island, where the Serra do Mar mountains drop to the Atlantic. Its port, the largest in Latin America, has shipped coffee since the nineteenth century, and the old Coffee Exchange now houses the Museu do Café, with a stained-glass hall and a trading floor. Pelé spent most of his career with Santos FC, and a museum in a restored nineteenth-century mansion tells his story.

A beachfront garden of more than five kilometres runs along the bay, with lawns, flower beds and a promenade. A vintage tram rattles through the historic centre, and a funicular rises Monte Serrat hill for views over the estuary and the port. Ferries cross to Guarujá, whose beaches face the open sea, and the road and railway climb the Serra to São Paulo.

Fried fish and shrimp stews are everyday dishes, and the cafés of the old coffee-trading centre keep up a habit of strong coffee. The weather is warm and humid, with a rainy summer from December to March and mild winters.