Four days in one of the great food cities of the world. A market hall in the old center, the biggest Japanese neighborhood outside Japan, a pizza evening, street art and coffee in Vila Madalena, and a slow last day that ends with feijoada. Galleries and parks fill the hours between meals.
4 daysAnyoneLate September14 places
Copy this plan to your own trips, then change anything you like.
Before Day 1. The city is vast and the roads are slow, so choose a base near Avenida Paulista and let tonight be a simple dinner.Details
Two airports
Guarulhos is the large international airport, well out on the northeast edge of the city, roughly 25 kilometers from the center. Congonhas is the smaller airport inside the city, closer to Avenida Paulista, and it handles many flights within Brazil. Traffic can stretch any ride, so ask your hotel what to expect.
The metro
The metro and the trains reach most of the places in this plan, and they are a calm way to cross a city where the roads clog. Check ahead for the lines and the hours, and stay with the crowd rather than traveling alone in the late evening.
Street sense
Keep phones and watches out of sight on the street, and carry only what you need. The old center is a place for daytime. After dark, take a ride app or a licensed taxi, and ask your hotel which streets to avoid.
Weather
Late September is mild, but storms arrive suddenly and the streets can flood for a while. Carry a light rain jacket and keep a museum or a cafe in mind. Day 1 starts in the old center, so bring flat shoes.
Day 1. The old center
4 stops · 1.9 km
The city began here, on a hill above two rivers. A market hall for breakfast, the place where the first school stood, a great cathedral and an opera house. A day for daytime, on foot, with the evening kept for dinner elsewhere.
1
MorningWorth the time
Mercado Municipal de Sao Paulo
A grand old market hall with tall stained glass windows and stalls piled high with fruit, cheese, spices and dried fish. Come hungry: it is the home of two of the city's favorite foods, the thick mortadella sandwich and the crisp pastel.
Go whenMorning, before the lunch crowd fills the hall.
Local tip Walk the whole hall once before you eat, then share a mortadella sandwich and a pastel between two. Keep your phone and wallet put away while you move through the crowd.
The market hall is known for a thick sandwich piled with sliced mortadella and a little cheese on soft bread. Share it between two, because it is very large.
Local tip Eat at the counter, and keep your phone put away while you wait.
The spot where the city was founded in the sixteenth century, around a small school and a church. Walk in, look at the courtyard and think of how large the city has grown from here.
Go whenLate morning, once you have eaten.
Local tip Go in the daytime, when the center is busy. The courtyard is small, so a quarter of an hour is enough to read the story of the place.
Treat
A crisp pastel
A pastel is a thin, crisp pastry fried to order and filled with cheese, meat or palm heart. A classic snack, often eaten with fresh sugarcane juice.
Local tip Eat it hot, standing at the counter as the locals do.
About 2 min walk0.1 km
3
AfternoonWorth the time
Catedral da Se
A large neo-Gothic cathedral with a copper dome, on a wide square in the center of the city. Step inside and look up at the tall stone arches. The square outside is a good place to watch the city pass.
Go whenAfternoon, in the daylight.
Local tip Step inside and look up first, then sit on the square for a few minutes. Keep your phone out of sight on the square, and check ahead for visiting hours.
An opera house from the early twentieth century, with an ornate front that looks out over a square in the center. Look at the building and its details from the street, and check ahead for tours and performances.
Go whenLate afternoon, then head to dinner while it is still light.
Local tip Look at the front and the square from the street. Check ahead for tours and performances, and take a ride app rather than walking the center after dark.
Sao Paulo has a very large Italian community, and the old cantinas serve big plates of pasta, braised meat and polenta for the table. A warm, noisy, family sort of dinner.
Local tip Share plates, and take a ride app home rather than walking the center late.
If it rains. Storms in Sao Paulo come on suddenly. The market hall and the cathedral are covered, so the day can carry on. Keep the Patio do Colegio for a dry hour, and take a ride app between stops.
Day 2. Paulista and Liberdade
4 stops · 2.5 km
A day on the avenue that is the heart of the modern city, then a neighborhood with a long Japanese story. Art in the morning, sushi at midday, a quiet park and an evening built around pizza.
1
MorningWorth the time
Avenida Paulista
The long avenue of tall towers, cafes and bookshops that runs along the ridge of the city. Walk a stretch and look at the mix of old mansions among the glass. Check ahead for the days when it is closed to cars.
Go whenMorning, when the avenue is calm.
Local tip Walk along the museum side first. On the days when the avenue is closed to cars, it fills with walkers, bikes and street performers, so check ahead.
A famous art museum raised on two red concrete columns, so the open square beneath it stays free for the street. Inside, the paintings hang on glass stands in one wide room. Check ahead for the days it is open and for its free day.
Go whenMorning, when the rooms are quiet.
Local tip Walk under the red frame and look at the glass stands that hold the paintings. Check ahead for the opening days, and for the free day, which draws a long queue.
A cultural center on Paulista with a front of fine timber lattice, showing Japanese design, craft and food. A calm place to slow down before the afternoon. Check ahead for what is on.
Go whenMidday, before you head to Liberdade for lunch.
Local tip Take a few minutes to look at the timber front and the shop of crafts. Check ahead for the exhibition that is on.
In Liberdade you can choose from sushi counters, ramen shops and small places that serve one dish well. A good place to eat lightly and to try something new.
Local tip Look for a place full of regulars, and order a small plate to start.
The neighborhood with the largest Japanese community outside Japan, with red paper lanterns on the lampposts, shops full of tea, sweets and tableware, and counters for ramen and sushi. Check ahead for the Sunday street fair.
Go whenAfternoon, with an appetite for something small.
Local tip Look for the lanterns along the main street, then try a few small things rather than one big meal. If you are here on a Sunday, check ahead for the street fair. Keep a hand on your bag in the crowd.
Sao Paulo has a long pizza tradition, brought by Italian families and now part of the city's habit. Thin, wide pizzas come with a lot of cheese and a small number of toppings, and the evening is slow and shared.
Local tip Share two pizzas, and ask your table what the locals order.
If it rains. This is a good wet-weather day. MASP and Japan House are indoors, and Liberdade has covered lanes and many shops and counters. Skip the long walk on the avenue if the rain is heavy.
Day 3. Vila Madalena and the park
3 stops · 11.3 km
A day of green space, street art and coffee. A morning in the city's great park, a lane of murals in Vila Madalena, then galleries and bars as the evening starts.
Travel from LiberdadeAbout 13 min by car or transit4.1 km
Where Day 2 ended.
1
MorningWorth the time
Ibirapuera Park
The great city park, with wide lawns, a lake, shaded paths and a group of modern buildings by Oscar Niemeyer, some of them museums. Check ahead for which museums are open. Rent a bike or just walk.
Go whenMorning, when the paths are quiet and cool.
Local tip Choose one museum at most and spend the rest of the time on the paths and the lawns. Check ahead for which buildings are open before you go.
A lane in Vila Madalena covered with murals that change over the years, with new work painted over old. Walk it slowly and look at the details. It is a public street, so keep your phone close and your bag in front of you.
Go whenAfternoon, in the daylight.
Local tip The murals change over the years, so look at what is there rather than what you saw in a picture. Keep your phone close, your bag in front of you and your visit to daylight hours.
Brazil is one of the great coffee countries, and Sao Paulo grew rich on it. Small cafes pour a few beans side by side so you can compare the roasts. A short stop for coffee lovers.
Local tip Taste a few, ask where each one comes from and pace the caffeine.
A hillside neighborhood of small galleries, craft shops and bars on narrow, sloping streets. It fills with people in the evening. Take a ride app home after dark.
Go whenEarly evening, as the galleries close and the bars open.
Local tip Walk the lanes on foot first, then settle in one place. Ask your hotel which streets to avoid late at night, and order a ride app home rather than walking.
In Vila Madalena the evening is long and the snacks keep coming: fried cassava, cheese, small sausages, and bolinhos of cod. Share a plate and a cold drink.
Local tip Eat before you drink, and arrange your ride home early.
If it rains. The park is lovely in dry weather but muddy and empty in a storm. In the rain, spend more time in the museums of the park, wait out the weather in a cafe and move the mural lane to a dry hour.
Day 4. Art, trains and a long lunch
3 stops · 6.7 km
A slow last day around the old Luz district. A museum of Brazilian art in a handsome old building, a Victorian railway station, a museum of the language, and a long lunch at the end. Daytime only here, and a ride back.
Travel from Vila MadalenaAbout 17 min by car or transit6.3 km
Where Day 3 ended.
1
MorningWorth the time
Pinacoteca do Estado de Sao Paulo
A museum of Brazilian art in a nineteenth century brick building with skylights and a calm sculpture garden. A good place to see the country's painters. Check ahead for days and hours.
Go whenMorning, when the rooms are calm.
Local tip Start in the sculpture garden, then pick a few rooms rather than the whole museum. Check ahead for days and hours. The Luz area is for daytime, so plan the ride back before dark.
A small coffee and a sweet pastry before the station makes a calm start. Look for a busy counter, where workers stop for a quick one.
Local tip Keep it short and keep your phone out of sight in the daytime crowd.
About 4 min walk0.3 km
2
MiddayWorth a short look
Estacao da Luz
A grand railway station built in the British style, with a tall clock tower and an iron and glass hall. Walk in and look up at the roof, and watch the trains come in.
Go whenMidday, while the hall is bright.
Local tip Walk in under the iron roof and look at the platforms. The streets around the station are busy, so keep your phone out of sight and stay in the daytime.
A museum inside the railway station, about the Portuguese language and the way people speak and write it. Check ahead for its status and opening, because the building has been closed and reopened.
Go whenAfternoon, after lunch.
Local tip Check ahead for its status before you plan around it. If it is closed, the station itself is worth another look before you head to lunch.
Lunch
A long lunch with feijoada
Feijoada, black beans slowly cooked with pork and served with rice, greens, orange slices and toasted cassava flour, is a Saturday tradition in Brazil. Check ahead for the day, because many places serve it only at the weekend.
Local tip Share one pot, and plan nothing heavy afterward.
If it rains. A good day for rain. The museum, the station hall and the long lunch are all under a roof. The ride back after the storm can be slow, so leave extra time.
Departure day
After the last day. Plan the ride to the airport with care, because the traffic in this city can beat any schedule.Details
Give it time
Roads in Sao Paulo can be slow at any hour of a weekday, and rain makes them slower. For Guarulhos, leave far more time than the distance suggests, and choose the earlier ride when you are unsure.
Order the ride
Arrange a ride app or a licensed taxi the evening before an early flight, and ask your hotel when the roads are usually heaviest. Do not leave this for the morning of the flight.
Food to take home
Coffee beans, brigadeiro sweets in a sturdy box and cassava flour pack well. Ask for coffee in sealed bags, and check the airline and customs rules for food.
One more table
If your flight is late, there is time for a last pao de queijo and a coffee in a neighborhood you liked. Keep the plan light and the bags with your hotel.
Questions people ask
How many days does this plan cover?
It covers 4 days in São Paulo, planned for late September. Each day is built around a small number of stops, with room to rest.
Who is this plan for?
It was planned for most travelers. The pace and the places reflect that, so check it fits how you travel.
Is anything on this plan booked?
No. Places marked "book ahead" need a reservation. Hours, prices and availability change, so confirm before you go.
Can I plan my own days like this?
Yes. Archie drafts a day by day plan for your dates and takes your pace, the weather and who is travelling into account. You can start one from the Archie app.
Can I change this plan?
Yes. It is a starting point you can change to fit your own trip: swap a place, add a day or move the pace.
How much walking is there?
Each day has about 0.4 to 7.3 kilometers between its stops, and 12.1 kilometers in all across 4 days. A short hop is a walk and a longer one a ride. Distances are straight-line estimates, so allow extra for the streets.
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