São Paulo in Brazil: Interesting Places on Travel Blog

Exploring Brazil #3: São Paulo

Sao Paulo in Brazil

We continue our journey to the south. From the amazing Rio de Janeiro and Recife, we travel to the capital of Brazil, the huge city of São Paulo. This is a great city with tons of interesting places and tourist attractions and I will describe the ones I liked the most. Enjoy!

São Paulo is a huge city with more than 12 millions of people (more than 21 in the metropolitan area), so there are so many things to do and see that you won't be able to see all of it during a few days. That's why I decided to describe the tourist attractions and interesting places in São Paulo and surroundings that I liked and enjoyed the most.

Football Museum in Sao Paulo, Brazil

The Museu de Futebol (Football Museum)

Are you a Football lover? If the answer is yes, you must put the Football Museum in São Paulo to your list of things to see! You don't even have to be a huge fan to visit the Museu de Futebol, as everybody will enjoy it. The museum is located near the iconic Pacaembu Stadium and has a lot of interactive exhibits that are created to tell you the history of Brazilian football in attract way, as it's the most famous sport in Brazil.

You will be able to discover thousands of photographs of players and find out who was Brazil's greatest football players ever. The Football Museum in São Paulo uses holographic displays and touch-screen displays to make your experience here even better. There is even a futuristic hologram of the most-beloved football player in Brazil, Pele. Get yourself into the history of the "Beautiful Game" and the World Cup and visit the Museu de Futebol.

Sao Paulo Cathedral. Source: Smanciles / Wikipedia.

São Paulo Cathedral

São Paulo Cathedral, with a full name São Paulo See Metropolitan Cathedral, is the 4th largest neo-gothic cathedral in the world. The construction of the church began in 1913 under Duarte Leopoldo e Silva, the first archbishop of São Paulo and finished more than 50 years later, in 1967.

São Paulo Cathedral is the largest Catholic church in the city with a total capacity for 8000 people and the second largest temple after the Templo de Salomão. The church., covering 5300 square meters, is 46 meters wide and 111 meters long and has two flanking towers with the height of 92 meters. The São Paulo Cathedral is very beautiful and it's a good idea to visit it. And not only outside, but also inside, as you will be able to get underground to the Crypt.

The Crypt of the São Paulo Cathedral

The Crypt of the São Paulo Cathedral can be found below the main church altar. It's so large that it can be treated as another church. The crypt is decorated with beautiful sculptures created by Francisco Leopoldo e Silva.

The Crypt of the São Paulo Cathedral is so large that it can be treated as another church.

You can find here the tombs of every archbishop and bishop in São Paulo. There are also two special tombs, where you can find two historical people: Tibiriçá (chieftain of the Guaianás tribe, who sponsored the creation of the São Paulo city) and the father Diogo Feijó (regent of Brazil during the infancy of Emperor Pedro II).

Cathedral Crypt in Sao Paulo

The Crypt of the São Paulo Cathedral makes an amazing impression because it's so huge that you couldn't believe it's under the São Paulo Cathedral. It's a great tourist attraction and a sacral place.

Edificio Martinelli Building in Sao Paulo

Edificio Martinelli City View

If you want to see the whole panorama of São Paulo city, you should definitely visit the Edificio Martinelli Skyscraper City View. It's a huge building with 30 floors that is 130 meters tall (it was the tallest building in South America between 1929 and 1934). Edificio Martinelli City View was built in 1934 by designer and Italian immigrant Giuseppe Martinell. There are free tours every 30 minutes.

WARNING: Unfortunately there is a notice on the Edificio Martinelli City View website (link - in Portuguese, 2018) that the visitation is suspended for an indeterminate time.

Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo

Ibirapuera Park

You cannot hide that São Paulo is a huge city where sometimes you can run out of breath, and tons of steel and concrete can cause dizziness. If that's how you feel, make sure you go to the Ibirapuera Park.

Ibirapuera Park is the most visited park in South America (more than 14 million visits a year), built by an agronomist Otávio Augusto Teixeira Mendes and an architect Oscar Niemeyer in 1954. The park is a green icon of São Paulo and one of the biggest urban parks in whole Latin America.

If you want to visit the whole Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo, it's a good idea to rent a bike, as its really huge. You can find here some great tourist attractions and interesting places: Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, the Professor Aristoteles Orsini Planetarium or Museu Afro Brasil.

Sunset Square in Sao Paulo

Sunset Square

This is one of the best-hidden gems in the city of São Paulo. Well, it's just a little area in the park with some grass, but during the sunset, it changes to an awesome place to sit and watch the sun doing down with a beautiful panorama of the city. Buy some beers, take some friends or your girlfriend and just try to chill out watching an orange and pink sky with skyscrapers on the horizon.

Museu Paulista

Being the most beautiful museum in São Paulo, the Museu Paulista (or Museu do Ipiranga) is a history museum of Brazil. You can find here a great collection of historical documents, furniture, and other relevant Brazilian artwork, mostly from the Brazilian Empire era. There are also some famous arts here, like Independence or Death painting by Pedro Américo, called also Independência ou Morte.

Museu Paulista was built in the place where Emperor Pedro I proclaimed the Brazilian independence. Warning: the Museu Paulista museum is currently closed (2018) because of the restoration and it should be opened again in 2022.

Museu Paulista in Sao Paulo, Brazil

After the Brazilian Declaration of Independence people from São Paulo wanted to build the monument in the place where the declaration was signed. They hired an Italian architect named Tommaso Gaudenzio Bezzi, who build here an eclectic-styled palace based on the Palace of Versailles from France. The Museu Paulista looks amazing with a lot of gardens, fountains and the palace itself.

Avenida Paulista (Paulista Avenue) in Sao Paulo

Paulista Avenue (Avenida Paulista)

Avenida Paulista is the most important and biggest (2,8 kilometers long) avenue in São Paulo. This is the great place if you want to wander a bit and see the real local life, as the Paulista Avenue is closed to the traffic every Sunday. The street is very long and you can find a lot of great tourist attractions and interesting places along. For example, there is the Museum of Art of São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, where you can find a lot of different arts from the history of São Paulo and Brazil. If you will decide to visit the museum, prepare to spend here an hour at least.

Paulista Avenue is full of life. You will find a lot of restaurants, cafes, and clubs here and you will meet a lot of singers, bands and people selling food and beer. I ever noticed a magician! All of this between a great architecture and loud Brazilian people.

Liberdade, Japanese District in Sao Paulo. Source: Caio do Valle Caiodovalle / Wikipedia.

I fully recommend visiting Paulista Avenue in São Paulo for a long walk and just to see how the city lives. To eat something, drink a beer and listen to some local music bands.

Japanese District Liberdade

Want to feel exotic while visiting the city? Liberdade in São Paulo is like China Town in New York, but for people from Japan. It's a Japanese district of São Paulo where the largest Japanese community outside of Japan in the world can be found. The place is full of exotic: the Japan signs, restaurants and people are everywhere. More than 60000 people live in the Liberdade district.

Until the late 19th century, the Liberdade was known as Campo da Forca, which means the Field of the Gallows. It was an area of convicts and slaves execution only. The name Liberdade comes from the liberty (Liberdade), as in that times in Brazil the death was considered as the only path to liberty for slaves.

Food Market CEAGESP in Sao Paulo

Food Market CEAGESP

To taste local fruits, you must visit the CEAGESP Food Market. What CEAGESP means? It's the short of Companhia de Entrepostos e Armazéns Gerais de São Paulo. But if you will ask about the biggest food market in the city, you should also get here. The CEAGESP market is a really huge place. It must supply the whole state of São Paulo (around 44 millions of people), so it's no surprise that it covers 7.5 million square feet and it's the biggest market in all of Latin America. An average amount of products that moves through the market on a daily basis is 10000 - 12000 metric tone and jumps even to 30000 during the Christmas.

In Food Market CEAGESP, you will find the whole variety of every imaginable fruit from Brazil and even beyond. It's good to know that CEAGESP is opened on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. Additionally, it's become the largest flower and plant market in Brazil on Tuesday and Friday mornings, till 10:30. Food Market is located outside the city center, so you will have to get a bus to get here.

Casa de Pedra

Casa de Pedra in São Paulo is an awesome tourist attraction and eccentric home of Estevao Silva da Conceicao, who is known as the Brazilian Gaudi. He was working for more than 20 years to build a fantastic and unique home for his family.

Casa de Pedra in Sao Paulo

The Casa de Pedra called also in Brazil the House of Stone, is an 800 square feet mansion covered in tile mosaic surfaces and is located in the favela of Paraisopolis, the south-west part of São Paulo. This is a very interesting place and a hidden gem of the city. There is also a rooftop view here of the surroundings, so make sure to bring a camera with you. The full address of the Casa de Pedra in São Paulo is 627-739 Rua Pasquale Gallupi, São Paulo, 05660 Brazil.

Snake Island (Ilha da Queimada Grande)

Warning: this place is only for extreme travelers! If you want to visit this place, make sure you know what you are doing.

Just 90 miles from the city of São Paulo at sea you can find the Ilha da Queimada Grande, also called the Snake Island. That island is purely natural and untouched by humans... For a very good reason. What reason, you ask?

Just imagine the place, where on every one square meter you will find from one to five snakes. That's right, welcome to the Snake Island in Brazil. Those snakes eat the migratory birds that use the Ilha da Queimada Grande as a resting point, but in many cases, they might try to eat you as well :-)

2018 update: Right now reaching the island (well, legally...) requires the cooperation of the Brazilian Navy.

Paranapiacaba Train Station in Brazil (near Sao Paulo). Source: Eduardobgatti / Wikipedia.

Paranapiacaba Train Station

This is the remains of a British railway that is rusting inside the Brazilian mountainside jungle. Paranapiacaba was in the 19th century the British town and operational headquarters for the English railway system and looks straight out of London, especially the clock tower.

This interesting place is located outside the São Paulo (about 50 kilometers drive), but if you have a car and a camera I highly recommend you to visit the Paranapiacaba Train Station, as it looks awesome.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed my São Paulo travel guide on this Brazil travel blog. I tried to describe the best tourist attractions and interesting places in the city of São Paulo and surroundings. Of course, there are much more of them, so if you know any other great place, just let me know in the comment section below and I will try to describe it here.

Wojciech Kuźma

Hey there! My name is Wojtek and I am very happy that you came to my travel blog. I've been traveling the world for a few good years now and I still want more.

On my website I describe the adventures that have happened to me, you will also find here a collection of valuable tips for tourists and travelers. If you liked this article, be sure to leave a comment and read some more!


4.95 | 21 votes
Comments: 5
  •   6th June 2018, 10:53

    Sao Paulo is a beautiful and huge city filled with great tourist attractions and awesome interesting places. Brazil itself is a great country as I was traveling there a few years ago. Maybe its time to visit Sao Paulo one more time, who knows...

  •   20th June 2018, 16:53

    Sao Paulo? Yes! This is the perfect travel destination for every traveller if you are planning to visit Brazil. I live here for a few years now and its always a lot of things to do and see here.

  •   14th September 2018, 15:42

    Sao Paulo, the city of my dreams ... I will live in it once :-) Or though I will go to visit all these interesting places and tourist attractions ... This text was translated automatically. Original text is below: Sao Paulo, miasto moich marzeń... Kiedyś w nim zamieszkam :-) Albo chociaż pojadę zwiedzić te wszystkie ciekawe miejsca i atrakcje turystyczne...

  •   6th December 2021, 13:11

    Great Post!!! I truly believe that there is much more to explore new places. The world has incredible beauty which makes us visit new places for sure.

  •   15th December 2021, 20:37

    This text was translated automatically. Original text is below: Właśnie przeglądam Twojego bloga i wiele ciekawych miejsc dzięki niemu odkrywam. Z twoje polecenia wybrałam się na największy Targ żywnościowy i to była pomyłka. Dojaz z miejsca gdzie mieszkam całkiem niezły (rowerem cały czas ścieżka, z drugiej strony Targu metro także idealnie) ale na miejscu duże rozczarowanie. Wybrałam się w środę bo Targ miał być czynny i był ale to Targ który sprzedaje tylko na skrzynki lub worki więc nie ma opcji na jedno magno i papaje. Do tego miejsce nie sprzyjające turystą. Trzeba na siebie tam uważać, po drodze dużo namiotów bezdomnych. To polecenia to raczej niewypał

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