Bahia, Brazil
Trancoso
The most Brazilian of the three, and the hardest to arrange well.
The house reading
There is no big party on the Quadrado at midnight. That is exactly what makes the place.
At midnight the Quadrado is a grass square with the white church at the end, lights strung through the trees and people standing outside the restaurants. No stage, no sound system, no countdown on a screen. People toast where they are, and that is why those who know come back every year.
The parties that made Trancoso’s New Year famous happen away from the Quadrado, on the beaches and at the beach clubs, and they are closed. They start on the 27th and run into January. Between them and the quiet midnight in the village, the week organises itself: a full night, a slow day, the beach, and again.
The hard part is the house. The good ones on the Quadrado and along the shore close about a year ahead, many for the whole season rather than by the week. Then comes the table: restaurants on the Quadrado for the 31st are booked months in advance, and without one, midnight becomes an ordinary night in a crowded village.
When
27 December to 2 January
Where
Trancoso, Bahia
Getting there
Porto Seguro, about an hour away
Who it suits
Anyone who wants sand underfoot and a midnight that still feels Brazilian
The nights that decide the week.
The shape repeats each year, with the names changing. What does not change is where you need to be on each of them.
27 DecemberOpening
- The first party of the season
The season opens as the people staying the whole week arrive. It is the night that sets the groups you will meet again on the others.
30 DecemberThe eve
- Dinner on the Quadrado
The best night for a long table in the village restaurants, without the tension of the next day. Booked months ahead.
31 DecemberMidnight
- The Quadrado, the beach or a closed party
Three different routes: toasting on the Quadrado by candlelight, watching the fireworks from Nativos and Coqueiros, or going into one of the closed parties. Two are possible, with the right logistics.
1 to 2 JanuaryThe day after
- The beach and a long lunch
The village slows down and the further beaches empty out. That is when Trancoso becomes Trancoso again.
The ground
What is around, and where it is worth being.
The beaches
- Nativos, the busiest and where the fireworks are
- Coqueiros, next door, with the good beach bars
- Itapororoca, isolated and calmer
- Taípe, with the cliffs and the parties
- Rio da Barra and Itaquena, for the empty days
The tables on the Quadrado
- Capim Santo, from chef Morena Leite
- Silvana & Cia, a bistro of more than thirty years
- O Cacau, for the moqueca
- Maritaca and Rabanete
- Uxua Beach Club, for lunch on the sand
What the season shows in Trancoso.
Market reference figures, not our prices. The Quadrado is grass and uneven and the streets are dirt, which changes what makes sense to wear and how you move between the village and the beach.
Trancoso
The village, the square and the late afternoon light.
Full service, charged separately
The house is the start. The week is the service.
In Trancoso the team solves what the village does not: the shopping done before you arrive, a driver who knows the dirt roads in the dark, and someone awake when the house receives fifteen people after a party.
The house
- Daily housekeeping and laundry
- A house manager throughout the stay
- The kitchen stocked before you arrive
- Flowers and the table set on the 30th and 31st
- Maintenance and support on call
The table
- A private chef at midnight, if you would rather dine at home
- Market and cellar chosen with you
- Butler and waiting staff
- A barman and staff for the night
- Tables reserved in the Quadrado restaurants
Around it
- Driver and car throughout the stay
- Transfers from Porto Seguro and private flights
- Discreet security, where it makes sense
- A nanny and support for anyone travelling with children
- A boat by the day and access to the parties of the week
One person coordinates all of it, and answers you directly.
The service is contracted and charged separately from the house rate. You choose what is in and what is out, and we propose the right size in writing, item by item, before anything is confirmed.
On the Quadrado, midnight happens quietly. That is the charm of the place.
Get in touchOr compare with Punta del Este e St. Barths.