Sao Francisco square in Sao Cristovao was not much more than a typical square for the area. We weren't even sure we were in the right place but finally found a UNESCO sign on a nearby building.  Surprisingly there is a lack of preservation in the surrounding streets though there are a couple of older churches. In all we spent maybe 1.5 hrs there.

it feels like they don't know what they have there. There wasn't any tourist infrastructure at all. We visited late morning mid week. We were the only obvious tourists, foreign or domestic, there were school kids running around the neighbouring streets and everything was closed, including the little tourist info office. It felt safer and cleaner than I expected given the state of northeast Brazil these days but there arent any of the quaint guesthouses or little restaurants catering to visitors you expect to see around a WHS these days.

The easiest way to visit is a side trip from Aracaju, a pretty standard coastal city with plenty of accomodation options. There is a local bus leaving from the old central bus station quite regularly and takes less than an hour. We actually caught an Uber there and took the bus back. For us it was a logical stop as we worked our way down the coast from Olinda to Salvador but unless you are in the area and have time to kill it has nothing to add to the experience of visiting those other beautiful sites.