Lençóis

Lençóis is a small city in Bahia, Brazil. The city is very charming with cobblestone streets and many wonderful hole in the wall restaurants. Lençóis and the nearby Vale do Capão serve as a "base camp" of sorts for tourists from all over the world setting out to explore the Chapada Diamantina National Park, with or without a guide.

Understand
Lençóis was founded in 1844 when diamonds were found in the countryside.

By bus
There are buses coming from Salvador everyday. And there are often extra buses during the high season. Just check the current departure times on the apps from Clickbus or Buscaonibus. The trip takes about 6 hours.

From Brasilia there are buses, too. You can depart in the afternoon and arrive in the late morning in Seabra. It costs around R$170 (Feb 2021). There you may have to walk six minutes to another intercity bus station. Just ask where you arrive. The bus to Lençois is for R$15 (Feb 2021). The app from Buscaonibus shows all operating bus companies on this route with their departure times.

By car
From Salvador, take the BR-324 until Feira de Santana, then take the BR-116 until it meets with the BR-242 (Bahia-Brasília) highway; or take the BA-052 from Feira de Santana to Ipirá, and then the BA-488 to Itaberaba, then continue along the BR-242 heading west. Lençóis is just 12 km off the BR-242 Bahia-Brasília highway.

By foot
Since Lençóis is a small, you can walk anywhere around town. To get out of town to see the sights in the Chapada Diamantina, book a tour and they provide transportation and guide. There are some waterfalls, swimming holes and natural slides on the outskirts of Lencois all at a walking distance.

Other than that the main attraction of Lencois the town serves as a good base for trekking trips into Chapada Diamantina National Park. There are day trips as well as longer treks of up to 5 days. The trips can be organized with a tour agency which takes care of everything including transport, guide food etc., but you can also buy a map of the park and venture out on your own. The tour agencies charge upwards of R$120 per day.

By car
The roads outside Lençóis are full of pot holes. Be prepared for a bumpy ride when you leave the town to go on tours.

You can rent a car for R$100 for 12 hours (200km limit) or R$150 for 24 hours (no km limit). This is a cheaper alternative for seeing some of the nearby attractions without booking through a tour agency.

See
Most attractions that are in easy walking/hiking distance are to the west.

Do
On OsmAnd or Mapy.cz there are natural attractions and trails of the area shown.
 * Tours - There are tour agencies all over Lençóis. You can book tours at the tour agencies themselves or through your hotel/hostel.  They can take you by car to many of the locations listed in the "see" section.  Short hikes are involved in actually getting to the sites.
 * Rock Climbing - You can get a guide to take you rock climbing through the tour agencies. They provide all the equipment and a personal English speaking guide.
 * Hiking - There are many trails and places you can go on your own or you can go with a group tour. If you go on your own, ask at your hotel/hostel where you should go or check Wikiloc and download the traces to your GPS device.
 * Camping - Some hostels, like Pousada dos Duendes will arrange group camping trips. You can go on several day hikes and the guides will provide all the food and camping gear.  If you have the time, it could be a lot of fun.
 * Rappelling - Book through a tour agency. Make sure you check where they are going and how far the descent is.  Some days they have smaller places to rappel that aren't worth the price.

Buy

 * Dois Irmãos This shop near the main square sells nice camping and hiking gear.
 * There are many other shops that sell t-shirts, post cards etc.

There is a agency and a  in town.

Budget
In the Vale do Capao nearby there are also hostel, which are cooler in the daytime during summer in Lençois. And from there a variety of natural attractions in the national park are easier to reach. For dorms just look on booking.com and sort by price.



Go next

 * Chapada Diamantina National Park
 * Vale do Capão - a small town on the other side of the national park. A completely different vibe from Lençóis.
 * Salvador which has a direct connection by intercity buses
 * For Brasilia take the bus first to Seabra. There are overnight buses to Brasilia.