Coastal mountains in Brazil

Mountains separate Vitoría from Minas. These were once covered in lush Atlantic coastal rainforest, which now survives only in isolated patches and has been replaced by pine and coffee plantations. The road to Minas is nonetheless picturesque, climbing steeply off the coastal plain and winding its way around the hills and through steep valleys. Many of the towns here were settled by Germans and Swiss and their alpine heritage lives on in a curiously kitsch way: the temperature never drops below freezing, but the tourist chalets are built with long sloping roofs that look like they could fend off a ton of snow. Some customs brought over in the 1840s by the first German and Swiss settlers, are loosely preserved in the villages of Santa Leopoldina and Domingos Martins, both around 45 km from Vitória, less than an hour by bus (two companies run to the former, approximately every three hours). Domingos Martins (also known as Campinho) has a Casa de Cultura with some items of German settlement. Santa Leopoldina has an interesting museum, covering the settlers' first years in the area. Santa Teresa, which lies beyond them, is a favourite weekend retreat for people from Vitoría. It is linked to Santa Leopoldina by a dirt road.