Barra occupies the southwestern tip of the city, where the Bay of All Saints meets the Atlantic. The neighbourhood wraps around Porto da Barra beach — generally rated the best urban beach in Brazil — and extends inland through a grid of mid-century apartment blocks, restaurants, and shopping streets.
This is where many visitors choose to base themselves: safer than the Pelourinho after dark, with the Farol da Barra at one end, the sea on the other, and a 24-hour atmosphere fuelled by the university students who live here.