Olinda rewards walking without a plan. The historic hill is compact enough that you will stumble across most of the main sights within a few hours — a baroque church on every corner, artists' studios with open doors, tiled facades catching the afternoon light. Start at the Alto da Sé for orientation and views, then work your way downhill through the cobbled streets, stopping at the Convento de São Francisco and the Mosteiro de São Bento along the way. The Mercado da Ribeira and the surrounding lanes fill up in the late afternoon with galleries, craft stalls, and cold beer.
Olinda's Carnival reputation is built on the bonecos gigantes — enormous papier-mâché puppet figures, some three metres tall, that lead processions through the streets. Visiting the Casa dos Bonecos Gigantes workshop at any time of year shows you how they are made and stored between festivals. The Museu do Mamulengo offers a related but distinct tradition: the folk puppet theater of Northeast Brazil, with hundreds of hand-sized mamulengo figures collected from across the region.