The 7 Best History Tours in Salvador

1.Salvador Historic Walking Tour – Pelourinho

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 62 reviews Our pick

Explore Salvador’s Pelourinho on a 2.5-hour small-group walk with local culture, landmark views, Baroque churches, and practical city tips.

“The tour was a leisurely stroll around the beautiful Pelourinho neighborhood. The guide shared interesting information about the history and culture of Salvador and its inhabitants. While I enjoyed the tour, it felt like it could have been more substantive in the number of sights covered. Also the cost felt too high — possibly double the value of the tour as it structured at present.”

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2.Historical African oriented City Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 52 reviews · 5 to 6 hours (approx.) · from $190Top rated

Explore Salvador’s African heritage through historic churches, Afro-Brazilian religion, Orixá sculptures, Pelourinho, lunch, and a private guide.

“Vagner e Josuel know a lot about Salvador and it’s history. They gave us a very professional and organized tour in a nice pace for us to enjoy calmly every spot of this beautiful and vibrant city. They also gave us tips on where to eat and events where we could have some fun. Almost at the end of the tour they brought us to a local restaurant where we’ve tried some of the delicious and unique food from Bahia. I’ve enjoyed a lot and will recommend this tour to my friends.”

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3.Full-Day Historic Private City Tour of Salvador with Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 50 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $170

Review of Salvador’s full-day private city tour, covering Pelourinho, Bonfim, historic forts, Bahia lunch, costs, walking, and practical tips.

“Our guide Marcos spends time at the gym and apparently worked and lived in London. His English is very good and he knows the city of Salvador well. The tour is complete but Marcos could have put in some more legwork in pointing the interesting bits at the San Francisco Convent, for example. Instead he took us in and then just left us wander around on our own. This also happened at the main square.”

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4.Full City Tour Historic and Panoramic

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 24 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $180

Review of Salvador’s 8-hour city tour, covering Pelourinho, Bonfim, Barra, Mercado Modelo, churches, views, value, and practical tips.

“Wir hatten diese Tour auch schon vor einigen Jahren gebucht und da sie voriges Mal sehr interessant war; wir viel über Bahia und besonders über Salvador ( Geschichte der Stadt und ihrer Bewohner,ein wenig auch über Brasilien)gelernt hatten, buchte ich die Tour wieder. Der Fahrer kam sehr pünktlich und überraschte uns damit, eine private Tour mit uns machen zu wollen( warum,teilte er uns nicht mit) Zuerst führte er uns mit dem Auto durch mehrere Favelas, erzählte uns einiges dazu, danach ins hübsche Ribeira, wo wir uns die Füße etwas vertreten und Eis essen konnten . Nach einem kurzen Stop bei der Kirche Bonfim und bei einem Fort kamen wir endlich…”

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5.Historic City Tour in Salvador

★★★★★★★★★★3.6 · 17 reviews · 4 hours · from $24Best value

Review of Salvador’s 4-hour historic city tour, covering Pelourinho, Lacerda Elevator, Barra Lighthouse, guides, value, and practical tips.

“We made this reservation for a tour in Spanish. But everyone else on the tour was Portuguese - so we were the only spanish-speaking people on the bus. Then the tour guide told us he would do the tour in Portuguese, but with a few short pieces of information in Spanish. We were also disappointed that most of the historic sites were "drive-by" or "walk-by" (without time to enter). So by the end of the tour, we really learned very little about Salvador de Bahia.”

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6.Quilombo Heritage Daytrip with Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★3.4 · 3 reviews · 8 hours · from $170

Explore Bahia’s Quilombo Kaonge, make manioc flour, meet a community elder, enjoy lunch, and visit Santo Amaro and Cachoeira from Salvador.

“The tour guide was absolutely excellent and extremely knowledgeable but I felt like for the price and activities we did at the Quilombo the tour was a bit of a disappointment. The activities and things were just a few basic demonstrations which I felt like was not much for the price. This was the cheapest Quilombo tour I found though so make that what you will.”

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7.Discover Trancoso: Explore Beaches, History & Local Culture

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 1 reviews · 8 hours · from $51

Explore Trancoso from Porto Seguro with beach time at Praia dos Coqueiros, the Quadrado, church, views, and Bahian culture.

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