The historic centre of Olinda is a UNESCO World Heritage Site not because of any single monument but because of the ensemble: the whole colonial hill, with its interlocking network of steep cobbled streets, baroque churches, 17th- and 18th-century townhouses in faded yellows and blues and terracottas, and the green hill itself pushing up through the rooftops. Wandering without a fixed itinerary is the point.
The core of the historic centre is walkable in two to three hours if you are moving with purpose, but the town rewards slower movement. Doors are often open — artists' studios, small guesthouses, a woman selling tapioca from a griddle on the pavement — and the inclines mean that every turn produces a new view of the coast or the city below. The streets are at their most alive on weekend afternoons, when musicians play in doorways and the bars fill up. On weekday mornings the hill is almost quiet, which is a different and equally good reason to come.