Travelling to São Paulo?
São Paulo is the southern hemisphere’s largest city and Latin America’s food capital: home to the biggest Japanese community outside Japan and the biggest Italian one outside Italy, and both of them cook. Avenida Paulista goes car-free on Sundays.
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What to see in São Paulo
8 ROUTESOur routes, not a list of everything. Places that have been there for centuries: no opening times or prices, which go stale.
- 01
São Paulo in a day
9 hIn 2007 this city deleted all its outdoor advertising. Fifteen thousand billboards, the signs, everything. And what appeared underneath was the city.The MASP · Avenida Paulista · The Mercadão · PixaçãoRead the full guide - 02
A weekend in São Paulo
20 hThe main avenue closes to traffic on Sundays and tens of thousands of people appear walking six empty lanes. That’s the day.Saturday: the old centre · Saturday afternoon: Vila Madalena · Sunday morning: Paulista without cars · Sunday: Ibirapuera and NiemeyerRead the full guide - 03
What to see in São Paulo
8 hThe museum’s paintings float on glass panels with no wall behind. You see the back, and the caption is on the other side.The glass easels · The wave building · The concert hall in the station · What was left when the billboards came downRead the full guide - 04
Where to eat in São Paulo
3 hThe largest Japanese community outside Japan lives here. They arrived in 1908 on a ship, and half this city’s cooking comes from that.Liberdade · Sunday pizza · Feijoada, and its days · The pastel at the street marketRead the full guide - 05
São Paulo’s neighbourhoods
5 hThere’s a 2004 photo, taken here, that is the image of Brazilian inequality: a swimming pool and a favela touching, with nothing between.Paulista and Jardins · Vila Madalena and Pinheiros · The centre · The city of twenty millionRead the full guide - 06
Day trips from São Paulo
9 hThe English built an entire English village in the middle of the rainforest, with a clock copied from Big Ben. It’s still there, an hour away.Paranapiacaba · The Atlantic rainforest · Santos and the port · The northern beachesRead the full guide - 07
From São Paulo airport to the city
1 hThe train doesn’t reach Paulista and the coach does. If your hotel is there, that’s the whole decision.The coach, which goes to the hotels · The train, and where it reaches · The taxi and the apps · Note: there are two airportsRead the full guide - 08
São Paulo: practical tips
1 hYou don’t take your phone out in the street. It isn’t guidebook paranoia: it’s what everyone who lives here does and will tell you.The rules of the phone and the street · The weather, which does as it likes · The traffic and the metro · Money, tips and the languageRead the full guide
Airport to city centre
3 OPTIONSThe real options, with what actually decides it: which terminal it leaves from and where it drops you. Fares and timetables live with the operator, who keeps them current.
- TrainL13 Jade (Expresso Aeroporto)Luz · Palmeiras-Barra FundaThe metropolitan train leaves from the airport station. Depending on the service, direct to Luz or with one change.·Fares and timesCPTM
- BusAirport Bus ServicePaulista/Augusta · Congonhas · Tietê · Barra FundaCoaches routed through the hotel districts. Given São Paulo traffic, leave slack.·Fares and timesAirport Bus Service
- TaxiCentro (~25 km)Official cooperatives with arrivals desks and set fares by zone.·Fares and timesAeropuerto de Guarulhos
VIP lounges in São Paulo
9Before you fly, or on the layover. Pay per visit, whatever airline.