There's a lot of options for how to visit the Paraty WHS, which is not surprising considering it is a Mixed site and consists of a number of different locations, including the offshore island of Ilha Grande.

Like previous visitors, our main base for our visit was the town of Paraty. We stayed for three nights just outside the historic centre in one of the many guesthouses. The town is a popular getaway spot for the nearby cities of Rio and Sao Paulo. The weekend after we visited, despite being late winter, nearly everything was booked out for a cachaca festival.

We found the historic centre charming, although there's not that much to see other than cafes and souvenir shops (although some had great local handmade handicrafts). Two of the most interesting spots were the Casa da Cultura (with a variety of exhibits, and a few details of the WHS listing) and the Church of Sacred Art at Igreja de Santa Rita, both with free entry. It's easy to cover this part of the site in a couple of hours.

The next location in the listing is the Morro da Vila Velha, on the northern side of the town, containing the Forte Defensor Perpetuo. It's a short stroll along a path from near the end of Alameda Princessa Isabel, although the fort and its museum was closing for siesta just as we arrived, so I'm not sure how interesting it is. There's not much to see outside. When walking back down to the main beach, you'll spot a small sign about the WHS, the closest thing to a plaque.

Probably the most interesting natural side of the site is Ilha Grande and the two reserves on it (which also contain some cultural remains). The island seems a very popular destination for getaways from Rio. Ferries to the island depart from the town immediately to the north, although there are also some longer transfers from Paraty. There are no cars on the island despite it being quite sizeable - a hike around the entire island takes almost a week, although you can also get boat transfers to the various beaches.

We considered visiting Ilha Grande but didn't have enough time to make a visit worthwhile. Instead, we took one of the many boat day trips that leave Paraty to the nearby beaches and islands, just touching on the Environmental Protection Area of Cairuçu location. The boat trips are cheap, with most of the profits probably coming from serving lunch and the inevitable cocktails onboard. There's also beaches right in Paraty, but not as clean.
 
Two of the other popular day trips from Paraty are to Trinidad Beach, 30km south on the other side of the Protection Area of Cairuçu. Plus jeep rides into the Serra da Bocaina National Park with some stops at waterfalls and a local cachaca distillery.

Overall, it's a lovely area to visit, with plenty of options for easily visiting the various components of the site. However, it's hard to see the OUV - no wonder it took so many submissions to get this added to the list! It'd be interesting to hear from someone who visits Ilha Grande.

In Rio, there's multiple buses per day to Paraty with Costa Verde, whose office is tucked away downstairs at the bus terminal. There's two bus companies that travel the longer journey to Sao Paulo.