A Local’s Guide to São Paulo, Brazil
São Paulo is a country within a country. It is Brazil’s economic epicenter and the nation’s financial, industrial, and cultural capital.
Its 12 million inhabitants (22 million if you count the metro area), known as Paulistanos, are proud of their city's reputation as an industrious and serious place and consider it something distinct from the rest of Brazil. They’re not wrong.
The size of the city borders on absurd. When flying into Congonhas airport (the domestic airport in the Campo Belo neighborhood), the high rises stretch on for almost 20 minutes of flight; the horizon practically lost in the enormous sea of apartment towers. Landing here is a tourist attraction in its own right.
Once on the ground, you’ll feel the city pulse with an infectious energy as you marvel at the sheer volume of humanity going about their daily business, a mass of traffic, motorcycles, buses, trains, cars, and an ever-growing population of cyclists all competing for space.
São Paulo, or Sampa as we locals call it, definitely earns its status as a serious city for business. And an unfortunate result of that is that the development and urban sprawl does mean that on the surface the city can feel a little bit ugly, overwhelming, and chaotic. But don’t be fooled. While the endless corporate towers and high rise condominiums might give an impression of a place committed to all work and no play, nothing could be further from the truth.
Read on for my detailed guide to visiting Brazil’s largest city, my hometown!
Table of Contents
Where is São Paulo?
São Paulo city is located within the greater state of São Paulo in southeastern Brazil.
It's about 430 km (270 miles) south of Rio de Janeiro and it lies 60 km inland from the coast, separated from the sea by the formidable Serra do Mar mountains which are covered in some of Brazil's only remaining Mata Atlantica - Atlantic Rainforest.
If flying into São Paulo, keep in mind that the city has two airports: Congonhas (CGU) and Guarulhos (GRU). Congonhas is the domestic airport and is located right in the middle of the city. Guarulhos, the international airport, is on the eastern edge of the city, technically in a different municipality. Without traffic, getting from Guarulhos to somewhere around Avenida Paulista (São Paulo's principal street) should take 45 minutes to one hour.
Also, know that São Paulo is located on a plateau almost 500 meters above sea level. This means that its climate is a bit different from places like Rio de Janeiro, which is at sea level. As a result, São Paulo gets hot, but rarely becomes sweltering.
Why visit
São Paulo’s endless high rises seen from Farol Santander
Overshadowed by iconic destinations like Rio de Janeiro, Iguazu Falls, and Salvador, it’s fair to ask “is São Paulo really worth visiting?”
For me, the answer is a definitive yes, but the truth is that it’s not a city that everyone will like.
São Paulo offers a world class food scene, great museums and cultural institutions, unrivaled nightlife, interesting architecture, killer street art, and hundreds of live music events every week and in every genre. Not to mention a populace of friendly, helpful, and exceedingly attractive people.
This is very much a destination for people who like cities, want to enjoy culture and cuisine, and are interested in seeing a Brazilian metropolis without the typical tourist trappings.
If you're coming to Brazil looking for nature, beaches, incredible scenery, and rest and relaxation, the truth is that you probably won’t have a good time here.
If you're only coming for a week or 10 days, I'll be sad that you miss seeing my city, but even I admit that there are other places more worth focusing on (Rio chief among them).
Having said that, I think that a visit to São Paulo is very worthwhile for those planning longer trips around the country or anyone who likes art, culture, and megacities. For those who do visit, I typically find that it's most interesting to see Sampa at the end of a trip because it provides such a stark contrast to everywhere else you're likely to have been.
A brief history of São Paulo
The MASP museum on Avenida Paulista
São Paulo is the capital of São Paulo state and by far the largest city in Brazil. The city itself has a population of over 12 million people, while the greater metropolitan area (which includes adjacent cities like São Caetano, São Bernardo, and Santo Andre) is home to more than 22 million. This is a megalopolis unlike any other in South America.
Early history (1554): Officially founded in 1554 by Jesuit priests, for the first 300 years of its history São Paulo was little more than a tiny, isolated outpost on a high plateau separated from the coast by the practically impenetrable Serra do Mar mountains. It was entirely a backwater.
Jesuits (1600s through early 1800s): The Jesuits first sent missions here to proselytize and minister to the small population of Portuguese, Indigenous, and mestizo inhabitants. Later, explorers, slave traders, gold hunters, and adventurers, collectively referred to as the Bandeirantes, would use São Paulo as their base for expeditions pushing ever further west into the interior of the state and country. São Paulo continued like this - as little more than a small stop over city - for most of its history until the mid 1800s.
Pátio do Colégio, the site where São Paulo was founded
Coffee boom and waves of foreign immigration (1800s to 1930): It was not until the mid 1800’s that wildly lucrative coffee exports, made possible by a rail connection with the port city of Santos, transformed São Paulo and put it on its path to becoming Brazil’s financial, commercial, and industrial capital.
The coffee boom produced incredible wealth, although much of it was concentrated in the hands of just a few companies/families. Some of this wealth can still be seen in the few remaining “mansions” from that era that wealthy families built in neighborhoods like Higienopolis just outside of the historic center.
Coinciding with the boom in coffee exports, the period between 1890 and 1920 saw explosive population growth, mainly in the form of new immigrants.
These economic migrants came primarily from Italy, other parts of Europe, Japan, and the Middle East (Lebanon and Syria primarily). While millions made their homes in São Paulo, many more immigrants passed through the city’s migrant processing centers on their way to the countryside, in search of employment on coffee plantations and farms.
Casa das Rosas, an early 20th century mansion built on Avenida Paulista (and the only one from the period that remains)
Domestic immigration (1930-1970): The city has, of course, not only been formed by external migration. Beginning in the middle of the 20th century, millions of mostly black Brazilians from the impoverished Northeast of the country made their way to the nation’s southern cities, São Paulo chief among them. They came to São Paulo to escape extreme rural poverty and in the search for better opportunities in the farms and factories of urban, industrial Brazil.
The population of the city in this timeframe grew from a modest 60,000 to a staggering 600,000. Through the 1960’s vast numbers of migrants continued to arrive from all over the world.
Modern day: More recent decades have seen the arrival of significant populations of Koreans, Chinese, Bolivians, Peruvians, and people from various African countries, adding to the city’s already kaleidoscopic diversity.
Evidence of this migration is most easily perceived by observing the racial makeup of the city, but also through the thousands of Northern and Northeastern restaurants, bars, and stores, cultural centers, many Candomblé centers of worship, musical influences, and much more. Because many of these immigrants and their descendants are poorer, you often won't really notice this influence unless you head away from the center and into more peripheral areas.
São Paulo in its current state has expanded far beyond its original center, pushing out in all directions in an almost never-ending urban sprawl. High-rise condominiums literally stretch as far as the eye can see.
The historic center was slowly abandoned as Avenida Paulsita arose as the city's new center for banking and commerce. Gradually, the financial center left there too, and in the past two decades we've seen the rise of glass and steel skyscrapers all along the famous "Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima”, with neighborhoods like Pinheiros, Itaim Bibi, and Berrini now constituting the financial and economic downtown.
Today's São Paulo is the economic heart of Brazil, accounting for over 20% of the country's GDP and the undisputed financial capital of South America. It has the regional headquarters of companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon, as well as most major Brazilian corporations. World class museums and art institutions dot the city, theaters and concert venues put on events every night of the week, and traffic clogs the streets from morning until late into the evening.
I think you get the idea, but I'll sum it up like this: you're far more likely to see people walking around in business suits than in bikinis.
Office buildings and skyscrapers along Avenida Paulista
How long to spend
In my opinion, 3 days is the right amount of time for most first-time visitors who want to see the highlights, get a quick feel for the city, and partake in the culinary and cultural scene.
The fact is that if all you want to do is see São Paulo's highlight attractions, you could do that in just a day. But because of the city's size and the types of things that make it worth visiting, it's not a place that lends itself to efficient sightseeing. This isn’t a place full of “checklist” sights and what you'll want to see will be spread out around the city. To see it all without criss-crossing the city like mad man, you need some time.
So, with 3 days you'll be able to see the “historic” center, stroll down Avenida Paulista, go for a walk or bike ride in Ibirapuera park, check out some museums, and hang out in a few interesting neighborhoods like Liberdade (Sao Paulo's Japantown), Vila Madalena, Pinheiros, and maybe even Bom Retiro (Koreatown). It'll also give you time to try out some of the city's great restaurants and spend an evening or two out on the town enjoying some nightlife.
It's not long enough to really understand São Paulo, but it's a good introduction.
Another consideration is that the city really is much more fun on the weekends. Walking down Avenida Paulista on a Sunday when it's pedestrianized is always a highlight and then you have weekly events like the Saturday Japanese fair, the Saturday Benedito Calixto flea market, and so much more. So, if you can swing it, try and come for a weekend.
For a truly local look at the city, spend a morning or afternoon exploring Sampa with local guide Renato. From the city center to hidden corners of Pinheiros and Vila Madalena, explore better with a local!
What to see & do
Deciding what to do in São Paulo and how to divide your time is a little different than in other destinations.
The city doesn’t boast many obvious tourist attractions, so you should do some research and come here with a sense of the type of visit you want to have.
You won't be able to fill your days with just sightseeing, so you should first determine the general types of things you want to do, and then focus on the specifics.
Though a bit clichéd, think of it in terms of vibes. Are you primarily interested in art & culture, food & drink, music, party and nightlife, off-the-beaten path and urban exploring, shopping and leisure, etc.?
Once you know the types of things that you'd like to do while here, then you can start thinking about the specifics.
Below, I give a general overview of the different types of things to do along with some examples of each. For much more in-depth information, check out my article on 35 things to do in São Paulo.
Sights
The Theatro Municipal theater
Your traditional sights are admittedly pretty limited. In the city center you have:
The Edificio Altino Arantes/Farol Santander - Locally known as the Banespa building (or Banespão), it's an Art Deco skyscraper modeled after the Empire State Building. Most of the building is offices, but a lot of it also taken up by the “Farol Santander”, a sort of museum that has a 27th story viewpoint and then a number of other entire floors with different art exhibitions. Entrance is 40 Reais and totally worth it.
The Copan building - A very cool building designed by famed Brazilian architect Oscar Niemey. It's famous for its wavy design and egalitarian, mixed socio-economic model (for residents).
The Estação da Luz train station - a lovely Belle Epoque era building
The Patio do Colegio - The building and location where the city was founded in the 16th century. It's also basically São Paulo's only remaining colonial building
Sé Cathedral - Our wonderful and massive gothic cathedral
Mosteiro São Bento - A beautiful church and monastery (the bakery is excellent too!)
Theatro Municipal - Gorgeous Belle Epoque theater that offers guided tours and classical music shows.
The Municipal Market (O Mercadão) - Great place to see fruit from all over the country and try a famous "sanduiche de mortadela".
Avenida Paulista - São Paulo’s most iconic avenue and the city’s main thoroughfare. Best on Sundays when pedestrianized.
Ibirapuera Park - This is not in the historic center, but I'm including it anyways. This is São Paulo's main park and the city's green lung. It also houses a collection of excellent museums, various of which are iconic architectural works.
Museu do Futebol - A museum about soccer housed in an old soccer stadium.
Great viewpoints - SESC Paulista, SESC 24 de Maio, Edificio Italia (Terraço Italia), the rooftop of the MAC museum (also not in the historic center), Farol Santander, and the roof of the Martinelli building.
Avenida Paulista - Once the city's main thoroughfare (but still its most important street!), a walk down Avenida Paulista is a right of passage for anyone visiting the city. It's lined with interesting architecture, museums, parks, and even a great viewpoint (SESC Paulista).
Art & Culture
An exhibit at the Korean Cultural Center on Avenida Paulista
There are far too many museums and cultural centers for me to list them all. The city has hundreds of museums, galleries, art house cinemas, and cultural centers. There's also unparalleled street art. Below, I've just listed some of the main museums.
MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo. Considered Latin America's most important museum, this is a pretty traditional museum that houses mostly international works (with the stars of the show being European art) from as far back as antiquity right up to modern day. It's somewhat comparable to NY's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Museu Afro Brasil - Located inside Ibirapuera park, this is a very interesting (and somewhat confusing) museum dedicated to highlighting the perspective and influence of black Brazilian people and culture on the country.
MAC - Museu de Arte Contemporanea. A contemporary art museum that has a great restaurant and a lovely rooftop. It's free.
Pinacoteca - A very cool museum of Brazilian art housed in a gorgeous building in the Luz neighborhood. It has a mixture of modern and contemporary art with a constantly changing line up of artists and exhibitions.
MAM - Museu de Arte Moderna. Sao Paulo's modern art museum is, like the Museo Afro Brasil, inside Ibirapuera park. Its building was also designed by Niemeyer and is considered a masterpiece. Currently closed for renovations (as of April 2025), it's mostly modern art by Brazilian artists.
MIS - Museu da Imagem e do Som. This is the "Museum of Image and Sound", which I find can be hit or miss. Obviously focused on visual, audio, and immersive art/exhibits, it also routinely hosts cool events. Check the exhibit list before you go.
You also have the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center and about a million others! For cinema buffs, the Cinemateca Brasileira is a cool visit. The city’s dozen or so SESC cultural centers also often have interesting temporary exhibitions and events. And lastly, if you're interested in the city's history, the Museum of Immigration is quite interesting.
Nature
One of the two lakes in Ibirapuera park, with high rises in the Jardins and Paraiso neighborhoods visible beyojnd
São Paulo more than lives up to its name as a concrete jungle, so don’t expect much in this department. Within the city limits you have 3 major options for a jaunt into nature: Ibirapuera park, Serra da Cantareira, and Pico do Jaragua. The Guarapiranga resevoir is a bit of a hidden gem and a nice escape for anyone who wants to spend an hour or two walking or kayaking.
For those who want to hit the beach, you’ll have to go a bit further. The closest escape is to the cities of Guarujá or Praia Grande, each about 1.5 hours away. The port city of Santos has a beach, but not one you want to go swimming at.
For those with more time to get away, the Litoral Paulista (Paulista coast) has fabulous beaches from as nearby as the towns of the “Riviera” all the way up to Ubatuba and the border with Paraty in Rio de Janeiro state. Good rule of thumb - the further north you go, the better the beaches become.
Urban exploring
Street art in the city center with the Banespa building in the background
For those travelers who simply enjoy spending hours walking and wandering, getting a feel for a city’s different neighborhoods, we get you! We feel the same. São Paulo is excellent for this.
A few neighborhoods worth exploring are:
Centro - this is the “historic” city center, where most of the principal touristic sites are located. It has various different neighborhoods within it and I recommend exploring Republica and Sé, but avoiding Luz, Santa Ifigenia, and Campos Eliseos .
Bela Vista/Bixiga - once a traditional Italian neighborhood.
Santa Cecilia - the center of São Paulo hipsterdom! More fun in the evening than the daytime.
Liberdade - Japantown. Although still home to many Japanese restaurants and grocery stores, few Japanese residents actually remain.
Higienopolis - one of the city’s first “suburbs”, this is a bastion of old money and also home to a sizable population of Jewish Paulistanos. It’s also just quite pleasant to walk around.
Bom Retiro - São Paulo’s Koreatown and an area jam packed with KBBQ restaurants, bars, and Korean shopping/commerce. It’s also a center of Brazilian textile/clothing production.
Jardins, Pinheiros, and Vila Madalena - three wealthy areas a bit beyond the center that are pleasant and offer great shopping, dining, and nightlife.
Eating
Dining out is a past time in São Paulo and within minutes of arriving you are certain to notice the sheer number of restaurants on every street. You can find everything here, both in terms of cuisine and budget. From street eats to fine dining, you have it all.
Rather than get into a list of restaurants, we’ll just give you a few neighborhoods to focus on: you should plan on trying some modern Brazilian food in Jardins or Itaim, Japanese in Liberdade or Paraiso, Italian in Bixiga or Mooca, traditional counter food and snacks in the City Center, Korean or Jewish food in Bom Retiro, Northeastern/afro-Brazilian food in Republica or the North Zone, and all manner of hipster eats in Pinheiros and Vila Madalena.
You also must be sure to visit a Feira, an outdoor street market/farmers market, where you can try fresh pastel (Brazilian empanadas) and caldo de cana (sugarcane juice).
Where to stay
Itaim Bibi’s exceedingly unique Hotel Unique!
For the vast majority of visitors, the best part of São Paulo to stay in is the area immediately surrounding Avenida Paulista. The adjacent neighborhoods of Jardins, Consolação, Paraiso, and Bela Vista are all good choices as well. I would strongly recommend not staying in the historic center.
Vila Madalena and Pinheiros, two somewhat more bohemian areas (though this is an outdated description - development and gentrification have long since come for both), are also popular options, particularly for younger travelers preferring apartments and Airbnb/VRBO type accommodation.
Business travelers often choose to stay in the new business districts of Itaim Bibi, Faria Lima, and Berrini.
If you’re planning to use public transport during your visit, you’re best off staying near to Avenida Paulista where you have access to the Green, Yellow, and Blue lines as well as quick connections to the Red. Hotel options are abundant in the immediate vicinity of the avenue, but you can stray a bit further into the neighborhoods of Jardins, Consolação, Paraiso, or Bela Vista and still be walking distance to the subway.
If you’re a public transport enthusiast or plan to be criss-crossing the city a lot, staying near the Paraiso metro stop is particularly useful. You have access to both the Green and Blue lines in the station, as well as very quick connections to the Red and Yellow.
If you’d rather stay somewhere else in the city but still want to use the metro, I’d recommend limiting your options to Pinheiros or Vila Mariana.
If you plan to use taxis or Uber, Vila Madalena and Itaim Bibi become viable options, depending on your interests and budget.
Transportation & getting around
A crowded subway car on the yellow line
São Paulo is definitely not the easiest place to get around. The city’s growth has rapidly outpaced its urban planning, congestion is constant, and traffic jams can even occur on Saturday afternoons.
A visit here will certainly require you to use a combination of walking, metro, and uber/taxi. While the bus network is quite extensive, navigating it can be daunting for visitors and buses can be very slow (and crowded).
Even so, public transport can generally get you most places you want to go in reasonably quick times. When it can’t - or when you're in a rush - Uber and taxis are ubiquitous, and comparatively cheap.
Metro
The public transportation system in São Paulo is good compared to the rest of Brazil, but fairly poor by most western standards (though much better than what you get in the majority of American cities).
Consider this: for a city of 12 million people with a metro area of 20 million, São Paulo has just 5 subway lines.
That said, the metro is safe, clean, relatively efficient, and it covers most areas tourists will want to visit.
Be aware, though, that stops on each line are few and far between - the distance between two stops can often be more than 30 minutes on foot - and the vast majority of neighborhoods lie far outside its range. Some wealthy neighborhoods, like Itaim Bibi, also do not have metro stops (mostly because of opposition from NIMBY residents).
A fare on the metro costs 5.20 BRL and payment for tickets at ticket counters must be made in cash. Visitors cannot get a reusable metro card, so will need to buy single use tickets.
Bus
Bus networks are extensive and cover almost everywhere in the city, but journey times can be very long once you get outside of the central neighborhoods. Drivers will almost never speak English and payment must be made in cash. The routes can be confusing so I always recommend using the Moovit app to check which bus to take.
Bus rides cost 5.00 BRL as well and you can pay directly on the bus. Buses only accept cash and though they do give change, you must have small bills. Drivers will refuse your payment if you try to pay with large bills.
There is a color coding system for buses that indicates the direction of their route (i.e. the color of the bus tells you the direction of its route), but it's too complicated for me to explain and won't really help you anyways. Just use Google Maps or Moovit.
Taxis
Taxis can be found all over Sao Paulo. They are white cars, with official taxi signs and markings. In central areas and business districts they drive around, meaning that you can hail one on the street. You’ll also find them parked at designated locations in pretty much every neighborhood.
Fares are all metered, with a slight difference in price based on the time of day (fares at night have a slightly increased rate). All taxis have POS machines, so you can always pay with a credit card. However, make sure you carefully read the amount on the terminal and make sure that it matches the meter before you pay.
Scams involving taxis in São Paulo are extremely rare and they are safe to take. Drivers are also pretty honest and will rarely try to do things like take absurdly long routes to run up the cost.
They cost a bit more than an Uber, but not significantly so for short and medium-length journeys.
Uber/99
Rideshare apps are ubiquitous in São Paulo (and all of Brazil) and perfectly fine to use. Uber and 99 are the two most prominent companies. Always be sure that your driver and car license plate match the description on the app.
You can also use Uber to call an official taxi, which would usually be my recommendation if calling a ride late at night or after you’ve been drinking.
Compared to costs in Europe and North America, rides here are very cheap (with most costing from $3-10 USD).
When to visit
A summer day in Parque da Independênciain in the Ipiranga neighborhood
Best time to visit: Fall and spring (March-May and September-November)
The best time of year to visit São Paulo is certainly September through November or March through May. These months are mostly dry with mild temperatures and there are few major events on the calendar, meaning that prices are reasonable and you won’t encounter huge crowds.
Visiting in summer: December to February
Summer in Brazil can be hot and wet all over the country and it’s high season for domestic tourism. Because São Paulo isn’t really a tourist destination for Brazilians and because much of the population escapes to beach houses, beach regions, or their home towns far away, these are fairly dead months here.
Being in the city between Christmas and Carnaval can be pretty odd. In some ways, it's really nice - you'll often encounter deserted streets (great if you're a cyclist like), traveling around the city takes half the time it usually does, and you'll never compete for space at museums, restaurants, parks, or anything else.
But… it's also genuinely pretty empty in the city. The people who are around are also unusually subdued; with Christmas coming up (and Carnaval on the horizon), everyone tends to be saving money for gifts and vacations and trying to stay in shape, so there's not a lot going on.
Visiting in winter: May to September
Visiting São Paulo in winter is an interesting option. While temperatures are quite mild compared to the northern hemisphere (the coldest days will rarely see temps drop below 50°F - 10°C), it can be grey and a bit dreary.
It doesn't outright rain much, and you do get plenty of winter days with warm weather and bright blue skies, but São Paulo is known as the city of “garoa” (rain/drizzles) for a reason.
So, a winter visit can be a bit hit or miss. If you're only coming for 3 days, the potential for not great weather could be a bummer. If you have more time here, that consideration matters less.
Visiting during the holidays: Christmas, New Year, and Carnaval
For most Brazilians, opinion is divided over whether you should come for, or avoid like the plague, dates with major festivities (like New Year or Carnaval).
Regardless, you should expect prices to double or triple during these dates and for most major Brazilian cities to be in full party mode (i.e. extra chaotic!).
Something unique to São Paulo to consider is that a large portion of the city’s residents are originally from other parts of the country and many of them choose to take long public holidays and summer vacations to get out of São Paulo, heading for their home states, the countryside, or the beach.
The effect is that during the summer and around festivities the city actually empties, becoming a bit of a ghost town.
Visiting during Carnaval
If you’re considering a visit to São Paulo for Carnaval, don’t expect festivities anything close to the level of Rio or Salvador. That said, the city is starting to come into its own and finally embrace the party. Carnaval celebrations have gotten better year after year.
You don’t have the same scale of mindbogglingly massive blocos (block parties) as other cities, but you’re still sure to find hundreds of boisterous parties all over.
A Carnaval bloco in the Campos Elíseos neighborhood
From the Art Deco skyscrapers of the city center to the leafy streets of Vila Madalena, crisscross the city on tour with local guide Renato!
Restaurants & dining
The eclectic and delightful restaurant Conçeição Discos in Santa Cecília
The food scene here is hands down the best in the country. Not only is the food significantly better (and much more interesting) than somewhere like Rio, but the service is typically cheerful, quick, and efficient.
Irritating things like overcharging or adding items to the bill, which do happen in other cities, are a rarity here except for in some clubs and late night bars. Nonetheless, always check your bill carefully before you pay.
Aside from the dizzying array of regional and modern Brazilian options on practically every street, there are entire neighborhoods dedicated to Japanese, Italian, and Korean cuisine along with buzzing inventive eateries all over the city’s more than 100 neighborhoods. And, of course, the best Brazilian churrascarias (steakhouses) anywhere in the country.
For sushi lovers, you can find amazing fish and Omakase menus prepared by Tokyo-born chefs. While not cheap, an entire meal could cost you the price of a few cocktails in New York City.
There’s elegant Amazonian food in Itaim, Italian comfort food in Mooca and Bixiga, Korean barbeque in Bom Retiro, Jewish restaurants in Santa Cecília and Higienopolis, elevated Brazilian cuisine at high end eateries in Jardins, and Middle Eastern food on almost every block… The options are truly endless.
There are lots of great restaurants all over the city, and even some "destination” restaurants in truly far flung corners (like the always amazing Mocotó), but in general you'll find the greatest concentration of good and trendy restaurants in Jardins, Itaim Bibi, Pinheiros, Liberdade, and the city center.
For more information on dining in São Paulo, and a list of some of my favorite restaurants, check out my article on São Paulo’s best restaurants.
Nightlife and partying
A busy bar/boteco on Avenida Berrini in the Brooklin neighborhood
The nightlife in São Paulo is some of the best in the world and unmatched anywhere else in the Americas. Go to New York on a Tuesday night or a Sunday evening and the bars and streets will be practically empty. Not here - in São Paulo every night is a potential party night.
Saturdays and Sundays are for barbecue and live samba starting in the early afternoon and then whatever you're into once evening starts.
Wednesday nights see office workers blowing off steam in clubs until 4 am, the weekend party begins in earnest on Thursday, and Saturday sessions can begin at lunch and go through Sunday morning.
If you’re worried about whether São Paulo has your style of nightlife, don’t be. You'll find electronic music clubs, rock bars, dance clubs for every musical genre, relaxed outdoor bars, entire intersections that fill with casual revelers, and everything else you can image.
From the swanky clubs of Itaim Bibi, to the Samba bars of the Zona Leste (East Zone), drag shows in Bixiga and Republica, heavy metal bars just off Paulista, and the techno and house raves in Barra Funda’s abandoned warehouses, there’s something for every taste.
Since São Paulo is so big and because bars come and go so frequently, rather than give you a list of specific places to check out, I’ve broken down the distinct vibes of a handful of popular nightlife neighborhoods.
Centro/Bixiga
The city center and Bixiga neighborhoods are popular for live music, LGBTQ-friendly establishments, drag shows, cool cultural events, and casual bars/botecos. It’s a diverse crowd in all senses and you’ll find Paulistanos from all over the city.
Nightlife around the República area of the center has changed a lot in recent years with some great bars and live music clubs (like Jazz B), but be aware that it can still feel pretty seedy on the street.
Itaim Bibi
If you’re looking for brash see-and-be-seen nightlife filled with the city’s wealthy and elite, head to the glitzy bars and clubs of Itaim, the home of the city's new financial district and one of its wealthiest neighborhoods.
Barra Funda
For ravers, deep house aficionados, and fans of techno and electronic music, make your way to the ex-industrial neighborhood of Barra Funda.
Here, you need to know where you're going as the raves and clubs are not close to each other and you can't just walk around and find a spot.
Santa Cecília
With craft beer, artisan cocktails, and overflowing sidewalk parties - all adjacent to a fairly gritty part of the city center - Santa Cecília is definitively São Paulo’s hipster hangout. The crowds are always friendly and welcoming, so it’s a great spot to make new friends while bar crawling.
It's become a little bit of a caricature of gentrification over the last couple of years, so prepare yourself for a lot of esoteric tattoos, interesting outfits, and directors of marketing posing as struggling artists. But there are also still plenty of struggling artists (they just can't afford the cocktails anymore!).
I'm kidding, but I'm not…
Pinheiros
Pinheiros used to be a commercial district, but has gentrified hard over the last two decades.
For a period, it, like neighboring Vila Madalena, was a center for bohemian Paulistanos, but it’s now one of the city’s most desirable neighborhoods and all types of people, from artists (the few who can still afford the rent) to bankers, have made it home. It’s packed with bars ranging from simple hole-in-the-walls to mixologist-approved speakeasies, and countless botecos and live music venues.
One of my favorite areas to check out is called "Baixo Pinheiros". There, you have a concentration of fun and youthful bars on Rua Guaicuí and then more upscale, but still relaxed ones on Rua Vupabussu where the crowds spill out onto the street from Thursday to Sunday.
Vila Madalena
Nightlife in São Paulo has expanded beyond just the city center and Vila Madalena, but this neighborhood is still a major party point for locals, expats, and international and domestic tourists.
The attraction is the incredibly dense concentration of establishments all around the intersection of Rua Fidalga and Rua Aspicuelta. If you want to be sure that you’ll find busy bars and clubs (most with live music) any night of the week, Vila Madalena is a safe bet.
I find nightlife in Vila Madalena to be a bit generic and not terribly interesting (and it’s certainly the only area in the city that can feel “touristy”), but I understand the appeal.
If you want to go bar hopping, it's realistically still one of the best neighborhoods to do so.
Tatuapé
The East side’s answer to Itaim Bibi, Tatuapé and nearby Analia Franco are the Zona Leste’s wealthiest neighborhoods and this is an interesting place for a night out.
The bars and clubs look similar to a lot of what you’ll find elsewhere in the city, but the people are decidedly more racially diverse. This is because the city’s east zone has large black and mixed race populations and with the geographic center of the city over an hour away for many of them, Tataupé has come to function a bit as the east’s epicenter.
Whereas weekend nights in the city's wealthy and central districts can sometimes feel fairly international (in the sense of the music and general vibe), bars and clubs in Tatuapé tend to stick more to Brazilian music, and you'll get lots of samba, pagode, and funk (often played live).
This isn't somewhere to consider if you're only in town for a few nights, but it's worth checking out at least once if you're staying for longer.
Costs & expenses
São Paulo is pretty cheap compared to most of Western Europe and North America, but it’s quite expensive compared to the rest of Brazil, and many other places in South America.
Nonetheless, midrange travelers can usually get by on $60-100 USD a day (or significantly less if you’re staying in a room instead of an entire apartment or hotel), including accommodation.
Below I’ve included some ranges of costs for typical travel expenses.
We're definitely feeling the effect of inflation here and prices have risen pretty significantly over the last couple years. To keep this section current, I updated all these prices in April 2025. I used a rough rate of 5.7 BRL to the USD to get the dollar conversions.
Hotels
Expect for a clean and comfortable international standard 3-star hotel to cost $40-80 USD per night.
AirBnB prices have risen significantly, but you can still usually find nice one bedroom apartments for around 40 or 50 USD a night. If you go outside of the most popular neighborhoods, prices drop significantly.
Meals & food
Sit down lunch at a decent restaurant: 40-80 Reais ($7-14 USD).
Casual “prato feito” lunch at a boteco or lanchonete: 25-50 Reais ($5-8 USD)
Street snacks like pastel, coxinha, etc.: 6-12 Reais ($1-2 USD).
Bowl of Açai: 20-35 Reais ($3-7 USD).
Glass of fresh orange juice: 10-15 Reais ($2-3 USD).
Alcohol
A caipirinha (Brazil’s national cocktail) will cost anywhere from 15-45 Reais depending on how fancy the bar ($3-8 USD).
A standard “longneck” - 12 oz bottle of beer - at a bar will cost 12-20 Reais ($2-3.50 USD).
A 600 ml bottle of beer will cost about the same; 15-20 Reais ($3-5 USD).
A pint of craft beer will run you anywhere from 20-40 Reais ($4-7 USD).
Coffee
An espresso usually costs 8-12 Reais ($1.50-2 USD)
A cup of Brazilian filter coffee is about 4-6 Reais ($1 USD)
Taxi & Uber
Official taxi from Guarulhos airport to city center: 120-150 Reais (about $25-30 USD)
Uber ride from Guarulhos airport to city center: 60-100 Reais ($12-18 USD)
20 minute Uber ride within the city: 15-40 Reais ($3-8 USD)
Public transport
Bus ride - 5 Reais (1 USD)
Metro ride - 5.20 Reais (1 USD)
Car rental
$10-30 USD per day for an automatic sedan. SUVs cost significantly more. Domestic agencies like Localiza, Movida, or Unidas are almost always cheaper than big international chains. My personal favorite is always Localiza.
Useful things to know
There is no Colonial or historic architecture
São Paulo preserves almost none of it’s original colonial buildings. Don't come expecting a cute candy-colored center like in Salvador, Olinda, or Paraty. Even Rio, where the city center is a mix of old and new, has preserved far more of its original architecture.
That said, there are some lovely examples of Art Deco skyscrapers and a wild mishmash of architectural styles on display. For fans of brutalist architecture, it’s a paradise. Enormous murals, street art, and graffiti also adorn the sides of countless buildings, effectively turning the center into an open air exhibit.
The city center is having an interesting moment
After decades of decline, recent years have seen a push to “reclaim” and revalue the city center. Many of the city’s most interesting new restaurant openings are here and there are countless great galleries, bars, shops, and cultural institutions. Some of São Paulo’s best nightlife, particularly for those seeking more alternative options, is also here.
The streets are bustling and alive with foot traffic and restaurants and bars spill out onto the sidewalks, which is a distinctly different feeling from the city’s wealthy and car-centric neighborhoods.
This regeneration (gentrification?) is most visible in the República and Santa Cecilia neighborhoods.
Even so, it's an unavoidable fact that the city center presents some challenges. Homelessness, while much less visible than in the past, is still omnipresent and both petty and violent crime can occur.
Things are usually pretty tame in the day time, but this isn't an area to wander aimlessly, especially at night (pay the few dollars and take an uber!).
You need to carefully plan your itinerary
São Paulo is not a place where you just wing it and walk around. It's also not a city where you can just show up and figure out what you're going to do each morning.
There are few outright obvious tourist sights and the city is enormous and sprawling. Getting around can take far longer than it should and trying to cram visits to distant parts of the city into one day is the perfect way to get stuck in grinding traffic and ultimately see nothing at all.
First time visitors with only a few days should concentrate on the historic center (downtown) and a few neighborhoods around Avenida Paulista. To keep your visit manageable, consider the following neighborhoods as those within the scope of visiting: Centro/Downtown (historic center), Avenida Paulista, Consolação, Bela Vista/Bixiga, Santa Cecília, Bom Retiro, Liberdade, Jardins, Pinheiros, Vila Madalena, Itaim Bibi, and Vila Mariana.
Safety in São Paulo
Riot police during a protest in São Paulo
Just about everyone who plans a trip to São Paulo, or anywhere in Brazil, finds themselves asking the question, “Is it safe?”. And the answer is mostly yes.
For the average visitor, São Paulo is a pretty safe place to visit. With some common sense and basic precautions the vast majority of visitors have problem-free visits.
Even so, the situation is very different than in major cities in Europe, Asia, much of North America, and even other South American capitals. The fact is that petty and violent crime are a reality in urban Brazil and there are some steps that every visitor should take to keep themselves safe.
When in wealthy neighborhoods
In wealthy neighborhoods away from the historic center (like Jardins, Itaim Bibi, and Pinheiros), the security situation is good and you are unlikely to encounter problems by day or night. Violent crime is rare and most incidents in these neighborhoods are phone thefts and purse snatch and grabs. But armed robberies are still not unheard of.
So, it’s always best to keep your wits about you, keep your phone in your pocket while on the street, and take an uber/taxi at night if walking any significant distances.
When out sightseeing, avoid dressing flashily and do not wear any jewelry or watches (even if of little or no value). If you carry a camera, put it in a bag or backpack when not in use and always scan the area around you before taking it out. The idea is to make yourself as uninteresting as possible to potential thieves.
If dining on the sidewalk, don't leave your phone on your table and put bags/purses on the little hooks often affixed to the bottom of tables. These are both mostly unnecessary precautions, but better safe than sorry.
When in/around the city center
The question of safety in the city center is different than in the wealthy areas.
While well-to-do Paulistanos will often claim that the area north of Avenida Paulista is basically a post-apocalyptic hell scape, this is an undeserved reputation and one born largely out of ignorance (if you press, they’ll generally acknowledge that they haven’t been there in years!). That said, the center does have a lot of homelessness and visible crime and drug use are facts of life.
Police presence in the areas around Praça da Sé (the Cathedral), the Sao Bento Monastery, and all the cultural institutions in between them is generally high. During the week, there are also always loads of workers and shoppers out and about, so things feel busy and pretty fine.
Nonetheless, there are some things you should do to try and avoid any problems:
You would be well-advised to avoid walking in the city center anytime after dark, especially alone.
Even during the day time it’s best to always keep your phone in your pocket (no eyes glued to Google Maps) and to move with purpose when walking around.
Don't walk around with your phone in your hand, staring at Google Maps. Instead, if you need to check the map, step inside a restaurant, cafe, bar, shop, or office. The employees will all know what you're doing and no one will mind.
When taking photos, do a quick scan before pulling out your phone and then put it away when you're done.
While walking, avoid passing next to and under overpasses (if possible) and don’t cross through alleyways or take stairways where you don’t have a clear line of sight to the exit (i.e. you can’t see what is around the bend).
Areas like Luz, anywhere east or north of the Municipal Market, Santa Ifigenia, and Campos Eliseos are best avoided altogether (with the exception of visiting Luz's cultural institutions - just don't go walking around after).
This advice is not meant to frighten you - I very much like the city center and spend a lot of time there. I also guide tours here, so am out all the time with tourists. I rarely hear about people having issues, but that doesn't mean we should be blasé about the potential problems.
Tips to stay safe
I covered most of this above, but wanted to go a bit more in depth. If you've traveled in Brazil before, much of this advice is pretty standard, so shouldn't be anything new.
Be especially vigilant in the Luz and Santa Ifigenia areas
Special care should be taken in the Luz and Santa Ifigenia areas, both of which have high crime rates and some squares which function as open air drug markets.
Luz houses the wonderful Estação da Luz (Luz train station), the Pinacoteca museum, and Parque da Luz (Luz park), all three of which merit a visit. They lie adjacent to each other and there is always a large and visible police presence, so once you’re there, walking from one to the other is fine. Still, the seediness of the area may be a bit… eye-opening and I would 100% advise against walking around the rest of the neighborhood.
The Santa Ifigenia area, particularly around Praça da Princesa Isabel, is best avoided at all times.
Avoid purse and phone snatching
When eating at open air restaurants or sidewalk tables, don’t leave your phone on the table or your bag hanging over the chair. Tables at many restaurants have hooks on the underside of the table on which you can hang your bag.
Never stand on the curb or the sidewalk staring down at your phone. Thieves, especially those on bicycles, target unaware pedestrians standing near the street.
Keep your phone in your pocket while walking
While on the street, if you need to peak at your map, take a call, or read your messages, just pop into a nearby shop or restaurant. Owners and staff will know what you’re doing and won’t mind. Once you’re done, put your phone away and head back onto the street.
Taxi scams
Scams involving taxis are exceedingly rare, but there are a few things to be aware of.
All taxis in São Paulo must openly display that they are a taxi (it will be very apparent), prominently display the identification of the driver, and must use a visible meter. Never get into a private car that is not obviously a taxi.
When taking taxis always make sure that the meter is turned on. If a driver doesn’t turn the meter on, ask them to stop and get out of the car. I haven't heard of this happening, but it's still always best to check.
Although not common, another scam sometimes happens when people pay by card. What they'll do is put a different value on the POS machine than what the fare actually cost. i.e. if your fare was 50 reais, they might type in 500 or 5,000. If the client notices, they can just claim it was an innocent mistake. Drivers who attempt this also might scratch the screen of the POS machine to make it hard for clients to see what's displayed on it.
If you are ever handed a POS machine where you cannot clearly see the value on the screen, do not pay.
Bar scams
While things like druggings and spiked drinks do occur here, it’s not at all common. You should still always be careful with your drink, but there’s no need to become paranoid. The most likely problem you’ll encounter is, after a long night out, an inflated bar tab.
At sit down bars, paying as you go is basically unheard of. So you’ll normally get a tab, known as a “comanda”. It may just be a piece of paper that gets updated with your drinks or it may be a plastic card with a number which the waiter notes each time you order something. Sometimes you won't get either, and it will just be up to your waiter to note your tab.
At the end of a long night, some places will give you a bill that lists many more items than what you drank. It can be hard to contest this if you have no idea of what you’ve consumed, so remember to at least keep rough track of your/your table’s drinks and to check the bill carefully before paying. If you have a paper “comanda” check that the number of drinks marked on it matches what’s being charged on the bill.
This type of overcharging is pretty rare and most likely to happen in not particularly nice clubs and packed bars in the Vila Madalena area, but it does happen.
Be vigilant, but don’t go crazy!
If any of the above has you anxious about your visit, don’t be! São Paulo is consistently ranked as one of Brazil’s safest states (and cities) and tens of thousands of visitors and tourists enjoy their time here without encountering any issues. The key is to be aware and vigilant while still having fun and enjoying all that Brazil has to offer!
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Renato Goes
Brazil Expert based in São Paulo
Bom dia, gente! 👋
Hi, I'm Renato, and I've been a tour guide and travel consultant here in Brazil for the last 10 years. If you're looking for some local advice on your trip, I'd love to help!
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