Things to do in 3 days in Sao Paulo, Brazil: the ultimate travel guide

Despite the fact that I went there for work more times and I could not visit it properly in one shot, here I decided to make a summary of the things to do in 3 days in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

First of all I must say I have never seen such huge city: it is the largest city of Brazil and of the Southern emisphere since the metropolitan area counts around 23 million of people. It is also the richest and most cosmopolitan center of the country.

Ready to discover it?

The first thing is to say is that the city is really huge and besides the underground, you must keep in mind that not all the attractions/ landmarks are reachable directly (or far from the closest underground station) so you must walk a lot, or take a taxi or Uber but you have to face also a traffic which is quite dramatic and chaotic.

This is the first recommendation you must keep in mind before starting a visit of the city. Anyway, let's start to explore the most important landmarks. Please remember that this is not a chart, but only what you can see/do in 3 days in Sao Paulo.

1) Let's start from the site where the city was founded, the Patio do Colegio, originally the church and the school founded by the Jesuits Manuel de Nobrega and Josè de Anchieta, in 1554.

Now you can access to the restaurant and see the first original wall of the Casa de Anquieta.

2) Not far from it, you can also visit the Catedral da Sè de Sao Paulo, the fifth largest Gothic cathedral in the world, built in 1589 and rebuilt again after 1911 after several modifications/renovations. The cathedral is for sure interesting as it present the classic simplicity of the gothic cathedrals. In the Cathedral square you can find the underground station, Sè.

3) Once left the church and if you walk along the Rua Boa Vista, you get to another historical building, that is the Mosteiro de Sao Bento ( Monastery of Sao Bento). This complex includes the Colegio de Sao Bento and the Basilica de Nostra Senhora de Assuncao.

Please do not forget to visit the church (also really simple and not too fancy) and if you are visiting it on Sunday at 10am, please do not miss the concert with the organ and Gregorian chants.

4) Not far from it, and always at a walking distance, you can get to the Museum Catavento (Catavento Cultural e Educacional), with its nice buiding, the old Palacio das Industrias built between 1911 and 1924. The museum has 4 sections (universe, life, society, creativity) and is an interactive one. Please remind that on Saturdays the museums in Sao Paulo are free of charge.

5) Then the itinerary goes through the Mercado municipal Paulistano, known as Mercadao, as one of the most important markets of the city. Here you can find local specialties and try delicious food and tropical fruit.

Source: Por Felix Tansil - Obra do próprio, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/

Here i recommend to try a coxinha, similar to the Italian "panzerotto" and filled with meat, and take also some beer served with ice (something never seen before).

6) Let's take now the metro and go to the Avenida Paulista, the financial centre of the city, where you can find the highest skyscrapers, the banks and also nice liberty-style houses.

If you are fond of art you can also visit the Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo - Assis Chateaubriand.

7) Not far from the Avenida Paulista you can find several places to go and attractions: you can find the enchanting district of Vila Madalena, a district with nice restaurants, boheme bars where they play jazz or bossa nova. In particular, this district is the centre of the Sao Paulo's street art. In particular, if you go to the Beco de Batman (Batman Alley), in Rua Goncalo Afonso. I will write a dedicated post to this stunning district, that I really loved.

8) Another interesting district, not far from the Avenida Paulista, is for sure the district of Jardins, elegant district with many skyscrapers, shops, restaurants and trendy bars and pubs. It is recommended to walk along Rua Oscar Freire.

9) Another beautiful place at approx. 3 km from the Avenida Paulista (30 min on walk), is the biggest park of the city centre, the famous Parque Ibirapuera (Ibirapuera Park), comparable to what a Central Park represents for New York. It has a big lake in the middle and several interesting buildings such as Museu Afrobrasil, Palacio das Exposicoes, the Planetarium, the Auditorium and the Japanese Pavillon. Because of the quantity of landmarks, I will also write a dedicated post.

10) Another interesting park is the Parque da Agua Branca - Doutor Fernando Costa, located in Barra Funda, a bit more local and enchanting with its tropical vegetation, villas, birds, arena with horse stables (a sort of hippodrome). On Saturday morning there is also a fair of biological agriculture. It is ideal to get some relax from the stress of this gigantic city.

11) Not far from the Parque da Agua Branca, there is another landmark, the Memorial da America Latina, that represents the story of Latin America, from the tribes to the arrival of the European countries and finally the independence. It is a political, leisure and cultural complex inaugurated in 1989 and designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer.

12) Eating in a shopping mall: Part of the life of the people of Sao Paulo that I noticed is that there are many shopping centres around the city and one feature I saw for sure was that at lunch time these areas are totally crowded. The shopping malls have different kind of restaurants ( from fast food to gourmets): you can go to the luxury ones of Higienopolis or try simple food restaurants that have a superb meat, potato filled with any ingredient you want, delicious smoothies, ice cream shops and many more.

13) The nightlife: well you cannot skip this part. Sao Paulo has a vibrant nightlife that offers you almost anything you want - pubs, latin clubs, trendy bars and lounge bars, rock bars,etc. In particular, I recommend the beautiful Skye Bar.

Source: www.tripadvisor.com

Other nice options are for sure the rock bar Dublin in Vila Olimpia or The Blue Pub in Bela Vista. Important: in some bars they ask for your credit card number, or identity card and passport and you get a drink card. Before going out you must pay the amount. Do not lose the drink card!

Other things to do:

• Since we are in the country of football (pais do futebol), you should visit also the Museu do Futebol (regarding the story of Brasilian football) and also other stadiums like Allianz Parque or Corinthians Arena.

• If you are fond of art, another interesting landmark is the Pinacoteca do Estado or if you love the theatre, you may consider to go to the Renault Theatre or the Teatro Municipal de Sao Paulo. 

• Regarding the parks, you can also consider to have a relaxing walk in the nice park Villa Lobos.

Where to eat:

• Well the food is superbly delicious and for this reason you can find it on the markets like the Mercadao, in bars like close to the Mosteiro de Sao Bento where to drink delicious drinks like the cajù juice (you can take it with water or milk). Anyway I try to summarize some of the places where I ate.

• One place whose main clients were office employees was the Bela Grill, a place where you can have a buffet lunch and you pay based on 1 kg of food. You can even try the famous Brazilian churrasco. You can get even the dessert (sobremesa) and coffee for free.

• Eat a coxinha in the Mercado Municipal Paulistano.

• Not properly a Brazilian food, but in Vila Madalena I also enjoyed the The Raw Burger N Bar, where you can eat the home made burgers and home made beer.  

• In Vila Madalena, you can also consider to eat the typical Brazilian feijoada at Feijoada da Lana.

• Unless you find some fancy restaurants, in general the prices are not high. For sure, due to import costs, the wine prices are quite high for the average prices you can find in Sao Paulo.

How to use transport in the city:

• The city is built over hills so you can find really steep roads and you could go constantly up and down from hills.

• There is an underground network that can take you to the historical centre and to the main stations but when it comes to reach some of the attractions you must take other transport ways.

• If you decide to walk, please consider that the distances in Sao Paulo are huge: do not underestimate them because it could take more time than you think and consider also that it is not a flat city.

• Therefore, the most recommended way to go is for sure Uber, cheaper than the taxi's. It is recommended to buy a Brasilian card because the costs for foreigners can be really expensive. 

• The transport way is for sure the taxi, not so expensive. Anyway when you travel by car, taxi or Uber, please consider the terrible traffic of Sao Paulo, especially in peak hours.

• From the airport to the city: the options are the bus (around 47 Brazilian reais), Uber (around 53- 60 Brazilian reais) or the taxi (120-150 Brazilian reais), Consider always the traffic: it could take from 45 minutes to even 1h30 - 2 hours depending of the traffic! If you take the bus, you will have to sign a paper with the insurance and do not forget the baggage tags you will be given, that are necessary to get the baggage back.

Where to sleep:

• Budget accomodation: Sao Paulo Hostel Club, located in the Jardins district, at 200 meters from Avenida Paulista, breakfast included, prices from 40 Euros per night per double room.

• Mid-range budget: Matiz Manhattan, located in Jardim Paulista, not far from the subway station Consolacao, breakfast and parking included, prices from 80 Euros per night per double room.

• Luxury accomodation: Etoile Hotels Jardins, located in the Jardins district, close to the Oscar Freyre street and the Avenida Paulista, breakfast included, suite with kitchen, spa bath and many other services, prices from 235 Euros per double room per night.

Safety:

Despite many catastrophic warnings you could get before leaving your country or getting here, if you use the normal prudence and safety precautions, you won't have any sort of problems in the city. I did not see the city as particularly dangerous, but as any huge city you must always take the minimum safety precautions. I find myself comfortable in any situation, area and also saw women walking alone on the streets and checking their smartphones. Anyway, I recommend to take a super thin wallet like this one to reduce the risk of being robbed: Slim Wallet RFID Front Pocket Wallet Minimalist Secure Credit Card Holder.

Anyway enjoy this vibrant and great place and also their friendly people! :-)