Ships dock at the Salvador Cruise Ship Terminal downtown Salvador. It is within easy walking distance to the sights.

Printable map to take along.

Cruise calendar for this port.

Watch a destination video.

Salvador is located on a peninsula which shields the large Baía de Todos os Santos ("Bay of All Saints") from the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the third largest in Brazil, sprawling for dozens of kilometers inland from the coast. Most visitors head for the coastal neighborhoods that cluster around where the bay meets the ocean. A 100m cliff runs along the entire bay shore, dividing the city into Cidade Alta, up on the cliff, and the Cidade Baixa down by the bay. The former features Pelourinho, the old city center that packs historical sites, colonial architecture, museums, restaurants, bars, hostels, artesanal shops, and music/dance/capoeira academies into a convenient, if tourist-swarmed, set of winding cobblestone streets. The latter features a commercial center with lots of bus traffic coming in from all over Salvador.

The old city center can be easily explored on foot. To get between the upper and lower sections, take the Elevador Lacerda or the cable car, remember to take small change as the fare is just R$0,05. The streets between the two are considered dangerous even during the day.

It pays to compare your cruise line shore excursions here.

Mercado Modelo, which is within easy walking distance from the cruise ship terminal.

The Historic District is another shopper's venue.

Brazilian Real

Currency Converter

Portuguese spoken.

There is both telephones and Internet access in the cruise terminal.

Basic hours for most stores and businesses are from 9am to 6pm, with an extended lunch hour from around noon to 2pm.

Many museums are closed on monday.

National holidays:

January 1
Carnival - the five days leading up to Ash Wednesday
Good Friday
April 21 - Remembrance of Tiradentes
May 1 - Labour Day
Corpus Christi
September 7 - Independence Day
October 12 - Nossa Senhora Aparecida
November 2 - Dia dos Finados (the Day of the Dead)
November 15 - Proclamation of the Republic
December 2

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