Salvador, Bahia

Salvador, the capital of Bahia state, is a city of contrasts: divided into two levels, a new modern city and an old colonial city within the city, a vibrant carnival locale and a busy tourist attraction.

An exotic tropical city in a vast country that encompasses everything from deserts to rain forests. Near the equator and nearer the South Atlantic Ocean Salvador is what Americans are imagining when they think of the place where "The Girl from Ipanema" strolled.

You can't go to Salvador, a major city located on a pensinsula on Bahia's coast, without spending time in the old city of colorful colonial buildings, cobblestoned streets and a sense of history clustered around the Largo do Pelourinho, also known as Praça José de Alencar.