Experience the best of São Luís do Maranhão

São Luís do Maranhão stands on an island between two bays on Brazil's north-east coast, and is the only Brazilian state capital founded by the French, who named it after Louis XIII in 1612. The Portuguese took it soon after, and the old centre, on the hills above Praia Grande, has hundreds of eighteenth and nineteenth-century houses faced with painted tiles. It is a World Heritage site.

The Palácio dos Leões, the governor's palace, overlooks the bay on the site of the old French fort, and the Fonte do Ribeirão is an old public fountain. The city is known as the Brazilian Jamaica for its reggae clubs. The Lençóis Maranhenses National Park lies to the east, and the colonial ruins of Alcântara face the city across the bay.

Arroz de cuxá, rice with a paste of sesame, shrimp and roselle leaves, and torta de camarão, a shrimp pie, are the signature dishes. Each June and July the bumba-meu-boi folk festival fills the streets with music and costume.