Parks & Gardens

Markets

Located to the north of Praça da Sé, the Mercado Municipal (Rua da Cantareira 306) is an imposing neo-Gothic hall built in 1933. In addition to its enormous display of Brazilian fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and other food goods, the hall is noted for its huge stained-glass windows depicting scenes of coffee growing and cattle ranching. The market is open Monday through Saturday from 5am to 4pm, but is at its most active in the early morning.

Every Sunday from 10am to 5pm the courtyard space beneath the MASP building on Avenida Paulista is the scene of an antiques fair. Dealers are registered, and the quality of the wares is often good.

Saturday and Sunday on the Praça Dom Orione in the Italian Bixiga neighborhood there's a small antiques/flea market. On Sunday on the Praça da Liberdade (next to the Liberdade Metrô stop) São Paulo's Japanese residents celebrate their heritage with an outdoor market featuring an excellent and inexpensive selection of Japanese cuisine. A crafts fair here also features mostly tacky Oriental knickknacks (porcelain dogs, bonsai trees, and so on).

Parks & Gardens

Adjacent to the Pinacoteca, the Parque da Luz is well worth a look. Inaugurated in 1825 as the city's botanical garden, the garden was then outside of the city limits, and locals at the time wondered whether it was wise to set aside such a large piece of land. Nowadays the park's lovely old trees contrast with the modern sculptures from the archives of the Pinacoteca that dot the park's walkways. Note that the large numbers of solitary ladies admiring the statuary are actually working girls; they're so discreetly dressed and nonaggressive they're easy to overlook. The park is heavily policed and safe during the day. It's open Tuesday through Sunday from 9am to 6pm.

Opposite the MASP is the green refuge of the Parque Tenente Siqueira Campos, often known by its old name of Trianon Park. The park is thickly planted with Atlantic rainforest vegetation, laced with walking trails, and dotted here and there with children's play areas. It's a wonderful green refuge from the bustle on Avenida Paulista and is open daily 6am to 6pm.

There is so much to see and do in the vast green space known as Ibirapuera Park.

Outdoor Plazas

The Praça da Sé, in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral, has recently been lovingly restored. Two files of imperial palms enclose a flagstone-covered courtyard with a sundial at the center. People stroll through this area, slowing or stopping to give an ear to the ever-present street preachers.

The centerpiece of new Centro, Praça da República is more park than square. There are numerous little walking paths winding through a thick overhang of trees in which bright green parrots screech, chatter, and chirp. There are benches to sit on, several small lagoons, a fountain, and a bandstand.

Between the Praça da República and the Praça da Sé lies the city's newest and most interesting square, the Parque Anhangabaú. Running an eight-lane freeway over the top of the Anhangabaú River that once flowed through Centro was probably not one of São Paulo's better planning moves, but the city recently made amends by covering a 1km (1/2-mile) stretch of the freeway with this beautifully landscaped urban plaza. In the daytime it's occupied by pedestrians, sun-tanners, lunch-break idlers, and clusters of folks listening to street musicians.

Some Spectacular Views

The pedestrian-only Santa Ifigênia Viaduct runs from one side of Centro to the other, high above the Parque do Anhangabaú. At the midpoint you get a wonderful view of São Paulo's old downtown.

The best view of São Paulo is from atop the Banespa Tower, 24 Rua João Brícola tel. 011/3249-7428. Ascending to its 35th-floor observation deck, you get an incredible view -- high-rise towers, 360 degrees of them, filling every inch of land for as far as the eye can see. It's open Monday through Friday from 10am to 5pm, and better yet, it's free. Bring ID to show the door guards.

Built in 1965, the 42-story Edifíçio Itália (tel. 011/2189-2929), at Av. Ipiranga 344 near Praça da República, features a 41st-floor restaurant, the Terraço Itália, which offers a great vantage point from which to view the city. (The food's not great -- stick to drinks or tea.) Cover is R$10 (US$5/£2.70), and there's a R$15 (US$7.50/£4) drink minimum. It's open Monday through Friday from 6pm to midnight, and Saturday from 6pm to 1am.