The Brazil Travel Site

Sao Paulo: A Quick Look at the Big City

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How do you put the third largest city in the world in a nutshell? In the case of São Paulo, with two words: food and business. São Paulo is, first of all, a major business mecca. Just about everything that comes into or goes out of Brazil, goes through São Paulo–and a huge portion of Brazil’s own product base is manufactured, in whole or in part, in São Paulo. Communications, automobiles, coffee, textiles…São Paulo stands in strong contrast to the third-world images that most foreigners have of Brazil. Most foreigners (even Brazilians from other parts) are stunned by the efficiency and velocity of the São Paulo scene.

If you find yourself in this grand city, there’s an 85% chance that you’re here on some kind of business. Just keep in mind that the pleasure of doing business in São Paulo comes from all those incredible business lunches and dinners you’ll be enjoying. The city’s central area alone has over 1400 restaurants featuring over 40 different types of foods. But if you’re in São Paulo to take in some sites, you won’t be disappointed. The city offers some charming neighborhoods (including several ethnic centers); museums focusing on Latin American art and culture; performance halls with internationally-known music groups, dance and theater groups; street fairs; shopping centers; and many parks and open spaces.

São Paulo, while enormous in geographic scale, is easily accessible by metro. The system, recognized as one of the best in the world, is cheap, fast, clean, and safe and can take you as far as you’ll want to go (or should go) in any direction. The basic divisions of the city are known simply as Centro, Zona Norte, Zona Sul, Zona Oeste and Zona Leste and the metro forms a big cross, taking you in each of these four directions.

Centro: Most probably where you’ll spend the majority of your time, the center of São Paulo is a collection of neighborhoods, each with its own character. The old Centro Historico has most of the city’s old buildings and churches, including the Teatro Municipal and Catedral da Sé. The area is in a constant state of upgrade, having suffered a heavy decline over the past fifty years or so, but you can walk around during the day without worry (nighttime is another story) and visit most of the area’s offerings on foot. The Liberdade neighborhood is known as the Japanese district and is a haven for sushi lovers and anyone interested in Japanese culture. Bela Vista is the Italian district and, of course, a nucleus of great Italian food (although good Italian restaurants are spread throughout the city). At night, the area at Av. 13 de Maio in Bela Vista becomes one of the city’s night spots. Finally, the Jardins area along Avenida Paulista is the city’s upscale, high-rise district with a rich concentration of shops, restaurants and cafés. Here, you’ll find the best selection of hotels. This area is also known simply as Paulista.

Zona Norte
The north part of the city is primarily a business district and often loaded with visitors from afar, due to its various convention centers and conference halls. It has several excellent hotels, designed for business travelers (comfort, technology and access) and which are well worth considering as alternatives to the hotels in the Center or Paulista (Jardins) areas, and you get great discounts on weekends. The strip of restaurants and clubs on Av. Luis Dumont Villares brings a crowd from all over the city.

Zona Sul
Home to the Congonhas airport (principal location for domestic flights), the South Zone offers some of the largest and most impressive hotels in the region, golf courses, and great restaurants and night spots. Other highlights include the zoo and botanical gardens, the Boating Club, Formula One track in the Interlagos area and two concert halls: Credicard Hall and Tom Brazil, which feature a variety of shows all week long. This area begins at the Parque Ibirapuera and is home to three great neighborhoods for food and nightlife: Moema, Itaím Bibi and Brooklin.

Zona Oeste
The farther west you go in São Paulo, the more you run into the city’s bohemian, side. This is probably due to the concentration of universities in the area. You’ll also find a couple of interesting, alternative neighborhoods with great bars and restaurants, specifically Pinheiros and in the Vila Madalena neighborhoods (the latter being one of the best spots in the city for nightlife, with a slightly hippie style to it). Far out on the west side is the Butantã Institute for snake cures (open for viewing).

Zona Leste
The East Side is the city’s international portal, thanks to the Guarulhos International airport. As a result of its presence, many new hotels have sprung up here offering competitive alternatives to the North and South Zone hotels. The Brás neighborhood, which is just one stop east of the Centro, is a major garment district with some of the best shopping in the city (although you have to look for the good shops).

The Beauty Within
The city is temperate most of the year with winter months (June-August) getting fairly cold, averaging around 19*C. The city can get pretty muggy during the summer (November-January) due to the smog and humidity. São Paulo has a reputation for being one of the world’s ugliest cities. What with its polluted rivers, offensively poor air quality and excess of highrise buildings, it can seem like the ugly cousin of Los Angeles or Hong Kong. But the city’s beauty does not reside in it’s natural endowments, nor in any special architectural charm. Rather, the beauty of São Paulo, for those who are open to seeing it, lies in its unique and special rhythms. Rhythms that can be heard in the people’s conversations, in the daily business activities, in the nights out for dinner and drinks, and in the mornings riding the metro. São Paulo is not really a city to see, it’s a city to be in. This is no more apparent than in the city’s inhabitants themselves. Paulistas are extremely satisfied being in São Paulo. They are friendly, polite, generally sophisticated and unparalleled at attending to the needs of others.

Arraial d’Ajuda: Entertainment & Night Life

When the beach bars close for the evening at around sundown, the village road begins to light up. People hit the village shopping for a restaurant or bar or just walking around to take-in the charm of the place. Things really get moving at around 10pm and it’s a good idea to already have chosen your spot by then, as the best seats in the best restaurants go fast.

You might notice an unusual amount of world-beat and drum-and-bass music in Arraial d’Ajuda. It seems that all the bars and beach kiosks are playing some kind of electronic groove music. It has become something of a tradition in town. It serves as another reminder that you’re in a more hip part of Southern Bahia.

Cool Cafés and Bars
There are bars all along the village roads and praças. A couple of cool places to hang out for coffee or drinks include the Hokaffé coffee bar on the village road, just before the descent to the beach. This place has great outdoor seating and various coffee drinks or cocktails. You have to make sure you sit at the tables that are marked by their candle on the table. Other tables belong to the restaurants next door. Also, be sure to walk into the Beco das Cores area, which is basically a small, dead-end road that crosses the main village road (Estrada do Mucugé). Cars are not allowed on this road and entrance is marked by an archway. Inside are several great bars and restaurants, including a sushi bar and some live music.

Every afternoon starting at around 2pm the Cactus Club has live rock and blues music in on their patio that overlooks the ocean. The atmosphere here is young, casual and very cool. It’s a great place to end the afternoon or begin the evening. They make a great Capeta cocktail. A personal favorite is the Girasol, bar located down a small galeria of shops on the corner of Rua Amendoeiras and the Estrada do Mucugé. There is a large, new restaurant in front and shops lining the other side of a pathway. At the end of the pathway is the Girasol bar. Don’t confuse this with the Gerasol restaurant, which is farther down the Estrada do Mucugé and not at the end of a pathway.

Also, on the road behind the church in the old town square (Rua Bela Vista), there is a small jazz bar called the Blue Bar. It opens only during peak season, but it offers a different kind of atmosphere. Nights only. Down the road, at the end of Rua Bela Vista is a Cachaça bar called Nos de Bahia. Get there in the late afternoon when they are just opening for the evening to get a shot of their incredible view along with their Cachaça.

Music and Dance
During peak season, the two large beach bars offer late night music and dancing in the Porto Seguro style. These are located on Praia Parracho and at the beginning of Pitinga. The offerings are generally Bahian Axé music and dance (see Porto Seguro) or electronic music. If you’re really interested in Brazilian music and dance, then a trip up to Porto Seguro would be in order for the evening. Remember that the ferryboat back and forth operates 24-hours a day, so fique a vontage!

However, Arraial has some pretty rockin’ options of its own–a bit more sophisticated than those of its neighbor and probably appealing more to foreign tastes. There’s nothing that goes on in town that is not known to anyone interested. People will pass you fliers and billets as you stroll the streets–especially if you look like the profile of their place. The principal location for late-night groovin’ is the Plato Espaco Bahia located on the descent to Praia Mucugé. They often have techno or other music that starts at about midnight and goes until sunup. There is often regional music going in the outdoor stage at the Shopping d’Ajuda in front of the Gandaya burger joint. You can catch some authentic samba music and Capoeira demonstrations in front of the Sky Lanches diner at the end of the Estrada do Mucugé near the Praça Hippie. Everything else will be revealed as you walk around town.

Brazil’s Best on the Guitar

Two of Brazil’s most talented and treasured guitar players often pair up to play together. Armandinho plays the little mandolin-like instrument, called a Cavaquinho (kah-vah-keen-yo), a traditional folk instrument in Brazil, while Yamandu Costa plays the guitar. Together, they volley back and forth with jaw-dropping speed and accuracy in their interpretations of classic Brazilian tunes. These are two musicians that are a joy to watch and to hear. Seek them out if you ever find yourself in Brazil and ready to see a concert.