Things To Do in Sao Paulo

What was once a little market town in the cool high plateau has jumped its bounds and sprawled for the hills in all directions. São Paulo is now not only the largest city in Brazil, but it's also the largest in South America and the third or fourth largest in the world. What assembles and drives this vast collection of people is commerce. The city and surrounding municipalities account for an incredible 65% of Brazil's GDP. When Paulistas do take a break from work, they devote much the same energy to leisure. The city has some of the best galleries and museums in the country. It has by far the best cuisine and some of the best nightlife. And despite the seeming chaos, remain for a few days and you'll discover, as Paulistas have, that the city could not be otherwise; somehow São Paulo makes sense.

Architectural Highlights

On the far southern edge of the Jardins, the Museu Casa Brasileira, Av. Brig. Faria Lima 2705 (tel. 011/3032-3727; www.mcb.sp.gov.br; admission R$4; Tues-Sun 10am-6pm), was built in 1945 for one of São Paulo's leading families. Inside the yellow Palladian villa, the museum displays an assortment of haute-bourgeois artifacts from the 17th to 19th centuries: jacaranda-wood furniture, porcelain, silver plates, the token oil painting by Portinari. Even better, a new curator has begun hosting changing exhibits and workshops focused primarily on modern Brazilian design.

One of the few remaining relics of old São Paulo, the Pátio do Colégio complex sits a hop and a skip north from Praça da Sé on Rua Boa Vista, on the exact site where the original Jesuit mission was founded in 1554. Though built in 1896, the simple Anchieta Chapel (daily 9am-5pm) is an accurate reproduction of the original. Next door to the chapel, the Museu Padre Anchieta (Tues-Sat 9am-5pm; admission R$5) features a number of maps of São Paulo through the years, plus a large diorama of the original settlement. Better yet, at the back of the complex there's the green and quiet Café do Páteo.

Located at the birthplace of Brazilian independence -- it was here that D. Pedro I in 1822 declared Brazil's independence from Portugal -- the Museu do Paulista do Ipiranga, Praça da Independencia s/n, Ipiranga (tel. 011/2065-8000; www.mp.usp.br; admission R$4; Tues-Sun 9am-5pm), is a classic European palace with a Versailles-like garden out front and a "wilder" botanical garden out back. Inside are some gems of Brazilian art, photo exhibits showing 19th-century São Paulo as it developed, period furniture, and household objects.

São Paulo's Ellis Island, otherwise known as Memorial do Imigrante, Rua Visconde de Parnaiba 1316 (tel. 011/6692-1866; www.memorialdoimigrante.org.br; admission R$4; Tues-Sun 10am-5pm; Metrô: Estação Bresser), saw about three million immigrants pass through during the 19th and 20th centuries on their way to a new life in Brazil. For today's visitors, the admission hall, office, hospital, and dormitories are shown in their original condition. On Sundays and holidays, a historic train takes visitors on a short ride around the museum area.

The 30-story Edifíçio Martinelli, at Av. São João 33, was the city's first skyscraper, inaugurated in 1929. Stylistically it's an interesting mixture -- Italian palazzo with a mansard roof -- and it remains an important landmark.

More daring and more interesting from an architectural perspective is Oscar Niemeyer's Copan Building, erected in 1951 at the corner of Avenida Ipiranga and Avenida Araújo. Its scale, its celebration of raw concrete, and its curvilinear shape were all quite advanced for the time. Photos of its curvy brise-soleil sides show up frequently in São Paulo postcards.

Churches & Temples

A Benedictine monastery has been on this site by the edge of the Anhangabaú Valley since 1600, just a few decades after São Paulo was founded. The current Basilica de São Bento dates to 1910 and is worth a look if you're passing by, though to tell the truth, despite all the marble, wood, and stained glass that went into the construction, the net effect is far from beautiful. Visitors may be most impressed by the German organ with 6,000 pipes. Come for High Mass on Sunday at 10am, and the service is accompanied by Gregorian chants. Open Saturday to Thursday 6am to noon and 2 to 6pm, and Friday from 2 to 6pm. Gregorian chanting is Monday and Friday at 7am, Saturday at 6am, and Sunday at 10am.

São Paulo's Metropolitan Cathedral is a curious structure, a blend of Byzantine and High German Gothic. Construction began in 1911, but wasn't completed until 1954. Its best feature may be the Praça da Sé out front, which is lined with stately imperial palms and occupied during the daylight hours by street preachers, some of them quite good. It's open Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm, Saturday 8am to 5pm, and Sunday 8am to 1pm and 3 to 6pm.

Art & Cultural Exhibit Halls

São Paulo is blessed with a number of beautiful old buildings that have been converted to cultural centers. They play host to a cavalcade of interesting and ever-changing art exhibits. Even better, they're (almost) all free.

On the Avenida Paulista, the pretty mansion Casa das Rosas, Av. Paulista 37 (tel. 011/3285-6986; www.casadasrosas.sp.gov.br; Tues-Sun 10am-6pm), plays host to art exhibits and author readings, while the rose garden -- complete with small cafe -- makes for the perfect escape from the Avenida Paulista. The Casa was built in 1928 by Ramos de Azevedo, the same architect who designed the Teatro Municipal and the Pinacoteca.

In the old downtown or Centro, the former headquarters of the Banco do Brasil, Rua Alvares Penteado 112 (tel. 011/3113-3651), is now a three-floor cultural center, featuring art exhibits, plays, and screenings of experimental films.

Paulistas brag -- correctly -- that if you can't buy it in São Paulo, you can't buy it in Brazil. São Paulo has it all, from international boutiques to local crafts markets.

In terms of shopping areas, Jardins is known for its high-end fashion boutiques. The main shopping street is the Rua Oscar Freire and the parallel Alameda Lorena, and their cross streets the Rua Augusta and parallel Rua Haddock Lobo. This area is chic enough to have its own website -- www.ruaoscarfreire.com.br -- and comes packed with national and international brands, expensive clothing and jewelry, gourmet foods, and luxurious gift shops.

In Centro (downtown São Paulo), Rua 25 de Março is the place where Paulistas rich and poor browse the market stalls and small shops for inexpensive items such as belts, buttons, small toys, gadgets, towels, textiles, and socks. Inexpensive lingerie is a specialty. Keep an eye on your purse, though, as the streets are chaotic with vendors and stalls vying for space, and throngs of people making their way through.

Then there are the malls, which in São Paulo have been elevated to a whole other shopping experience: elegant, upscale, and refined. Sophisticated brands, boutiques, and fine dining can be found in a number of malls; the best-known ones are Shopping Morumbi (www.morumbishopping.com.br), Shopping Iguatemi (www.iguatemisaopaulo.com.br), and Shopping Pátio Higienópolis (www.patiohigienopolis.com.br), located in upscale neighborhoods close to the city center, and the Shopping Pátio Paulista (www.shoppingpaulista.com.br) on the Avenida Paulista. And then there's Daslu, the one-stop ultimate luxury shopping spot.

Hours -- Most stores are open from 9am to 6pm Monday through Friday and 9am to 1pm on Saturday. Malls are open from 10am to 10pm, Monday through Saturday.

Money -- Most stores will accept credit cards, though you can often get a discount if you pay cash. Traveler's checks are not normally accepted.

Brazilian Fashion

The Jardins neighborhood is the place to find excellent Brazilian labels, including Guaraná Brasil, Al. Lorena 1599 (tel. 011/3061-0182); Maria Bonita, Rua Oscar Freire 705 (tel. 011/3063-3609); and Forum, Rua Oscar Freire 916 (tel. 011/3085-6269). For the latest beach styles check out Rosa Chá, Rua Oscar Freire 977 (tel. 011/3081-2793).

Galleries

For information on the city's galleries, pick up a copy of the Mapa das Artes São Paulo at the tourist office or check www.mapadasartes.com.br.

Music

The city's mega-bookstores, ironically enough, are the best place to find a wide variety of Brazilian music. Livraria Cultura (www.livrariacultura.com.br) has an extensive collection of CDs in its two São Paulo megastores: one in the Conjunto Nacional (tel. 011/3170-4033), the other in the Villa Daslu mall (tel. 011/3170-4058). The FNAC flagship store (Av. Paulista 901; tel. 011/2123-2000; www.fnac.com.br) offers a whole floor of Brazilian and international CDs. Finally, in the Pátio Paulista mall on the Avenida Paulista is the Saraiva Megastore (Av. 13 de Maio 1947; tel. 011/3171-3050; www.livrariasaraiva.com.br).

If Sinatra had known about São Paulo, he would never have given the "city that never sleeps" title to New York. Most Paulistas won't even set foot in a club until midnight. Take a cab into Vila Olímpia around the witching hour, and you'll find yourself in a traffic jam formed by everyone just heading out for the evening.

Less casual than Cariocas, Paulistas love to dress up when going out. Women are partial to black or other dark colors. Men are less formal. Good casual is fine, but jeans and running shoes likely won't make it past the door at many clubs.

To catch the big names in Brazilian music, São Paulo is the place. The city gets more of the stars, playing more often, than any other city in Brazil. São Paulo also offers a variety of theater, dance, opera, and classical music.

An excellent source of arts and entertainment information is the Guia da Folha, an entertainment guide published in the Friday Folha de São Paulo newspaper. In addition to theater and concert listings, it includes bars and restaurants (with updated hours and phone numbers) as well as exhibits and special events. On the first page is a useful overview of all the free events that week, titled in Portuguese é gratis. The guide also includes details on upcoming concerts (shows in Portuguese) and events at nightclubs (casas noturnas). Veja magazine (Brazil's equivalent of Newsweek) comes out every week on Sunday and includes a separate entertainment guide called Veja São Paulo; many hotels provide this insert for free. For vultures of high culture, the cultural department of the state government puts out a listing magazine every month, Revista Cultural, with details on classical music, dance, theater, and exhibits.

The Performing Arts

São Paulo is considered -- both by Paulistas and grudgingly by Cariocas -- to be the cultural capital of Brazil. The classical music scene is excellent, and the theater scene positively thriving.

Music & Dance Clubs

Large and varied, São Paulo's nightlife scene is also quite spread out, with little entertainment clusters in neighborhoods all over town; barhopping is really more like car hopping. Best to pick a neighborhood, enjoy dinner, and then grab a drink or catch a show at a club nearby so you don't waste time and cab dollars stuck in one of São Paulo's late-night traffic jams. Vila Olímpia is where the 18- to 30-year-olds go for nightlife, with a number of large dance clubs and some of the city's best bars. Vila Madalena is more in vogue with the 25- to 45-year-olds who enjoy bars and restaurants more than dance clubs.

Many bars and clubs charge a drink minimum instead of or in addition to a cover charge. Patrons receive a slip of paper on arrival. All your expenses are recorded on the card and tallied up when you leave. Lose the card and you get charged a steep maximum fee (the assumption being that you've been on a bender all night).

Return of the Rua Augusta -- A streetwalker's stroll for much of the '90s, the stretch of Rua Augusta close to Centro has made a comeback as the locale for the city's hottest dance and music venues. Club Outs, Rua Augusta 486 (tel. 011/3237-4940; www.clubeouts.com; cover R$10), began the trend when it opened a couple years back at number 486 (corner of Rua Marques de Paranagua). Open Thursday to Sunday, Outs offers live alternative rock, starting at midnight and continuing until 5am. For the GLS crowd there's Studio SP, Rua Augusta 591 (tel. 011/3129-7040; www.studiosp.org; Wed-Sat doors at 11pm, shows at midnight; cover R$20-R$30), all about live music and shows, with just about everything on offer, and Studio Roxy, Rua Augusta 430 (tel. 011/7676-0622; www.studioroxy.com.br; cover R$25), for dancing with two dance floors, two DJs, 2 nights only, Friday and Saturday, starting at 11pm and going until everyone finds a friend for the evening or just gets tired and goes home. Down below at Inferno, Rua Augusta 501 (tel. 011/3120-4140; www.infernoclub.com.br; Wed-Sun midnight-6am; cover R$10-R$50), it's live music -- rock, funk, rap -- in a venue with diabolically good acoustics. And then there's Vegas, Rua Augusta 765 (tel. 0911/3231-3705; www.vegasclub.com.br; Wed-Sat 11:30pm-7am; cover R$15-R$40), where some of the city's best DJs are invited to spin their stuff, often for over-the-top theme nights.

In São Paulo, Know Your Club Lingo! -- The word boate or boite used in Rio for a nightclub or dance club refers in São Paulo almost exclusively to a strip or sex club.

Bars

On the Radar: Vila Olimpia

In addition to Vila Madalena, São Paulo's other happening nighttime neighborhood is currently Vila Olimpia. Packed with clubs and bars, it's always busy, even on weeknights. Many of the more popular bars are concentrated on the Rua Prof. Atilio Innocenti. At Atilio Innocenti 780 is the Buena Vista Club (tel. 012/3045-5245; www.buenavistaclub.com.br). Despite the name, the music is only a little Cuban and a lot Brazilian, live from Wednesday to Saturday. Bar Favela, Prof. Atilio Innocenti 419 (tel. 011/3848-6988; www.barfavela.com.br), is anything but downscale. This hip bar attracts a happening crowd who come to see and be seen. Athilio Music, Rua Prof. Atilio Innocenti 618 (tel. 011/3044-0206; www.athiliobar.com.br), is a split-personality kind of place, with an Irish/sports bar in the front and a dance club in back. The cover is R$10 to R$25. Also on the Atilio Innocenti is Pennélope, Rua Prof. Atilio Innocenti 380 (tel. 011/3842-3802). Larger than some of the other bars, Pennélope has a small stage for live music and a couple of DJs who keep the crowd happy.

Late-Night Bite -- If you find yourself with an appetite at 4am, try the Paris 6 Bistro, Rua Haddock Lobo 1240 (tel. 011/3085-1595; www.paris6.com.br), a French brasserie in the Jardins neighborhood open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.