How to Spend 3 Days in São Paulo
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Bem-vindos a São Paulo! Welcome to São Paulo!
If you're coming to visit my hometown, I've put together a nice 3-day itinerary that I think covers the highlights and gives you a good introduction to the city. It doesn't cover everything, but hey, Sampa has 12 million people and is the largest city in the Western Hemisphere… You can't really expect to do it all! I've lived here my entire life and sometimes even I feel like I'm still just scratching the surface.
Because I don't know when during the week you might be here, I haven't included things that only occur on certain days of the week (like the weekend Japanese Fair in the Liberdade neighborhood). I've written this itinerary assuming that you'll be here midweek.
Because I've written about them rather extensively in other guides, I also haven't dedicated much space to describing the different things that I recommend that you see/do. So, I'd very much recommend that you also look at my Sao Paulo city guide and things to do in São Paulo articles.
Also, know that if you've got less than 3 days, this plan should still work for you. You can condense it into 2 days by cutting a few things out and doing a few others in a bit of a rush.
Pronto? Então bora! Ready? Then let's go!
Table of Contents
Itinerary overview
Here's a quick summary of what I have planned for this 3-day itinerary.
Day 1
On your first day in the city, you'll see Sampa's primary tourist sights on and near to Avenida Paulista. Along the way, you'll catch some great views, do some window shopping, get a little culture at a few museums, and relax in Ibirapuera Park.
Here's the route:
Start your sightseeing by walking down Avenida Paulista, stopping at Casa das Rosas, SESC Paulista, Japan House, and Trianon Park. End your walk with a visit to the MASP museum.
Lunch along Paulista
Head to Rua Oscar Freire to see the city's high-end shopping street
Take a walk or a bike ride in Ibirapuera Park
Enjoy the view and a drink on the rooftop of the MAC museum
Day 2
Your second day is dedicated to sightseeing in São Paulo's historic center and then leisurely exploring the trendy neighborhoods of Pinheiros and Vila Madalena.
You'll be doing a lot of walking today, so wear comfortable shoes.
I'd do it like this:
In the morning, see the sights in the city center, making sure to stop by Praça da Sé, Patio do Colegio, Mosteiro São Bento, Banespa Building/Farol Santander, and the Teatro Municipal.
Lunch in the city center
Explore the leafy Pinheiros neighborhood from the Fradique Coutinho metro stop all the way to the Tomie Ohtake institute
In the late afternoon and evening, check out Vila Madalena, Beco do Batman, and lots of street art. If you time it right, head to Praça Pôr do Sol for a great sunset.
Day 3
The previous two days are pretty packed, so today I've put together a more chill day with only a few specific things to do. The idea is that you can take things easy, cover anything you missed over the last two days, and revisit places you liked.
This is the idea:
Start your day at the wonderful Museu do Ipiranga and the surrounding Parque da Independencia
Check out the Liberdade neighborhood
Lunch at a Japanese restaurant in Liberdade or Paraiso
Some free time (options listed below)
End the day with a very cool evening walk on a pedestrianized elevated highway
Day 1 - Avenida Paulista, Oscar Freire street, and Ibirapuera Park
Avenida Paulista seen from the SESC Paulista viewpoint
Avenida Paulista and its main sights
Start your visit to São Paulo by going for a walk down our most iconic place, the famous Avenida Paulista (Paulista Avenue)!
Going for a walk down Paulista in the morning (around 9 or 10 am) on a weekday is always interesting because it's packed with people heading to work. The street is bustling and great for people watching. Because most museums and cultural sites don't open until 10, I'd recommend grabbing a coffee or orange juice and watching the world go by for a while.
The entire street is pedestrianized on Sundays, beginning at 9:00 am.
As you walk down, be sure to stop at a few of the Avenue's main attractions. Heading east to west, here are the places not to miss:
Casa das Rosas - A lovely early 20th century mansion with a pleasant garden. It's a quick visit (and free).
SESC Paulista - A cultural center that has a great rooftop overlooking Avenida Paulista and the city center. It's free, but you need to book your visit in advance using the SESC App.
Japan House - This free modern art museum across the street from SESC Paulista is dedicated to Japanese art/artists and opens at 10:00 am. The exhibits are usually always light and fun and its cafe and restaurant are good too. Figure that you'll spend 30 minutes to an hour here.
Centro Cultural Coreano - With the purpose of bringing Korean culture and art to a Brazilian audience, this is a nice little free museum. It's small, so you probably won't visit for more than 15 minutes.
Parque Trianon - One of my favorite parks in the city and directly across from the MASP museum.
MASP - São Paulo's most famous museum. If you're interested in the type of art in its collection, today is the sensible day to visit since you're right here. Entrance costs 75 BRL.
By the time you finish up at MASP it'll be early afternoon and lunch time so… head to lunch!
Avenida Paulista on a Sunday morning
Casa das Rosas
Parque Trianon
Lunch
For a meal, you have lots of options. For something a bit fancy, but still very local, I always like Jiquitaia (it's on the far east end of Avenida Paulista). Equally semi-fancy and on the other end of the Avenue is Balaio IMS, a restaurant on the ground floor of the IMS cultural institute (which displays photography exhibits).
If meat is on the menu, grab an uber or bus and head to Barbacoa for the best Brazilian churrasco in the city.
Window shopping on Rua Oscar Freire
Close to Avenida Paulista in the leafy Jardins neighborhood is the city's most famous shopping street, Rua Oscar Freire. Visiting in the early afternoon is nice because the traffic is generally fairly calm, meaning walking around the area is pleasant.
You have a nice mix of boutiques from both local and international designers, so it's a great place to do a little shopping, especially if you want to add some Brazilian style to your wardrobe.
This is a wealthy area so the people watching is also good and there are lots of cafes and restaurants to take a break.
The beginning of Rua Oscar Freire. Photo: User: (WT-shared) Edsonaoki at wts wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ibirapuera Park
From Oscar Freire, grab an uber, bus, or bike (!!) and shoot over to Ibirapuera Park to enjoy a leisurely walk or bike ride through this huge urban green space. While here, make sure to stop by some of the cool architecture that is inside the park.
If you aren't tired of museums (or if MASP didn't interest you), within the park you could visit the Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM) or the Museo Afro Brasil. Regardless of whether you visit the museums, be sure to head over to them so that you can see the neat architecture, especially the Oca and Auditorium buildings, both designed by famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.
A path in Ibirapuera Park
The Oca building
The Ibirapuera Auditorium
View from the MAC Museum rooftop (and a drink!)
After an hour or two in the park, walk over to the Museum of Contemporary Art and head up to its free rooftop for a great view over the park and city. I don't like contemporary art very much so don't care for the collection, but I suppose you could have a look around too (it's free). While on the rooftop, stop for a great cocktail or coffee at the museum's excellent restaurant, Vista Restaurante.
If you time things right, you might be here for sunset.
A view over Ibirapuera park and the city from the MAC rooftop
An evening on the town
After returning to your hotel to relax and freshen up, hit the town for dinner and a night out.
For dinner ideas, have a look at this article on my favorite restaurants in São Paulo.
For nightlife, the scene here is incredible and very diverse, so there's not much point in my telling you where to go specifically - it depends on what you're into. So, take a look at the "nightlife” section in my São Paulo city guide and see where interests you.
Day 2 - Historic Center, Pinheiros, and Vila Madalena
The Banespa and Martinelli buildings seen from Vale do Anhangabau in São Paulo's city center
São Paulo's historic center
On the morning of your second day in town, head into the historic center to see a very different side of the city. Visiting the center as I've planned it will take you somewhere between 3 and 4 hours, with all your sightseeing done on foot.
São Paulo's historic center isn't all that historic to be fair; most of the buildings here are from the 1900s and there's almost no remaining colonial architecture. But it's still the place that the city was founded and it houses most of our most important touristic sights and lots of very cool architecture.
This is also a much more socioeconomically mixed area than where you spent yesterday, so it provides an interesting contrast. Homelessness in the center is quite visible, so be prepared for that. With some basic precautions and a bit of awareness, safety in the day time is just fine (at least in the areas that I have you visiting).
If you don't feel comfortable visiting on your own or would just like the expertise and insight of a guide, I'd love to show you around! Take a look at my private city center walking tour and reach out if you're interested. We can also do it by bike!
Below I've listed the main sights I think you should try to visit. They're listed in the order that I would visit them as well.
Praça da Sé - Once one of the city's most important squares (and still in many ways the "heart” of the city), the main attraction here is the enormous and stunning Sé Cathedral. Built in Neo-Gothic style, the palm trees in front of it and rather brutalist urban architecture around it make for a very odd and unusual sight. Inside, it feels soaring and vast.
Patio do Colegio - From Praça da Sé a few minutes’ walk will bring you to Patio do Colegio, a lovely colonial building that is also the location where the city was founded in the 16th century by Jesuit priests. You can walk inside to see some of the original walls for free, but the museum is paid. It talks about the history and development of the city, so you can skip it if you're not interested.
Mosteiro São Bento - 10 minutes up the road from Patio do Colegio is the beautiful church and monastery of São Bento. The interior is all dark carved wood, rich paintings, and beautiful stained glass windows. It's one of the city's most beautiful buildings. The bakery is excellent too!
Edificio Martinelli - Walk down the pedestrianized street that leads to this wonderful pink building. São Paulo's first skyscraper, this was once also the tallest building in Latin America. Its rooftop has recently become a favorite spot for DJ parties and cultural events. Unfortunately, you can't visit, but you can grab a coffee at the ground floor cafe.
The Edificio Altino Arantes/Farol Santander - Look up while you're at the Edificio Martinelli and you'll immediately see this Art Deco masterpiece of a building. Locally known as the Banespa building (or Banespão), it was modeled after the Empire State Building.
Inside, “Farol Santander” is a sort of museum that occupies various floors of the building. Many floors house art work (and one houses the old wood-paneled offices of the bank's president and board - wonderful!), but the highlight is the 26th story viewpoint that offers views to both the north and south of the city.
Entrance is 40 Reais and totally worth it.
Vale do Anhangabaú - Separating the Sé and República neighborhoods is this pedestrian "valley”. If you walk from the Banespa building to the Theatro Municipal, you'll walk right through it. Once a verdant green park, it was recently completely paved over, causing a major controversy among locals.
Regardless of how you feel about the new “aesthetic”, it's a cool public space that's great to sit in for a bit. People are always walking by, free musical shows and events are common, and skateboarders and rollerbladers are always showing off.
Theatro Municipal - This is a gorgeous Belle Epoque theater that offers guided tours and classical music shows.
Praça da Republica, Edificio Italia, and the Copan Building
I'm putting these three places together because they're all right next to each other (and I don't have a whole lot to say about any of them!). From the Municipal Theater, just keep walking west down the pedestrianized street you'll already be on and you'll hit Praça da Republica. Bang a left and you'll walk past Edificio Italia and then the Copan Building.
Edificio Italia is a very strange skyscraper that has an elegant rooftop on its top floor, Terraço Italia. If you haven't had enough viewpoints, you can go up and have a drink or a meal at the bar - but know that you will not be allowed in if you're wearing shorts, a tank top, or a t-shirt.
The Copan Building is a "wavy” apartment building that was built as a sort of rather cool socioeconomic experiment. It used to offer guided tours, but those have been closed for years. The ground floor has some cool shops and restaurants, including the excellent Bar da Dona Onça, a great place to stop for a caipirinha.
The view from the Banespa building/Farol Santander
Sé Cathedral
The interior of Mosteiro São Bento
Lunch
You'll probably have begun feeling the pangs of hunger by now, but fret not, I haven't forgotten you!
For lunch, you have lots of options. If you want to go fancy, you could try Esther Rooftop which has a great balcony and views overlooking Praça da Republica or, right nearby, A Casa do Porco, a very famous restaurant that serves typical pork dishes in inventive ways (you must have an advance reservation here).
For something more casual, Z Deli does good burgers and pastrami sandwiches while the legendary Estadão has been serving generous portions of simple Brazilian classics and a famous "sanduiche de pernil" (roast pork sandwich - get it with pineapple and without cheese!) for decades.
Explore the Pinheiros neighborhood
This morning was a pretty heavy day of "touristing” so take things easy this afternoon and enjoy a more casual wander around the leafy and trendy Pinheiros neighborhood.
There are fewer high rises here and the cityscape feels smaller and more personal. There's lots of good street art throughout the neighborhood, so if you're interested in that, be on the lookout!
From Republica, you can get to Pinheiros via the metro (get off at the Fradique Coutinho stop) or a quick 15-20 minute taxi/uber ride.
Pinheiros is nice and the main reason to come here is to just explore leisurely, so don't get too focused on specific locations. Enjoy the area and take it easy. That said, to give you an idea of what to do, I've listed some places that you can use as references while wandering.
If it's a Saturday, head straight to Praça Benedito Calixto to enjoy the lovely Benedito Calixto flea market that sets up there.
After (or first, if it's not a Saturday), take a walk down Rua dos Pinheiros and Rua Artur de Azevedo, the neighborhood's two main shopping and dining streets. You'll pass by tons of restaurants, cafes, boutique shops, little art galleries, and bars. The two streets run parallel to each other and are often connected by pleasant side streets, so weave your way between them.
The Mercado Municipal de Pinheiros is a nice little covered market that's pleasant to pop into as well. The wonderful Mocotó restaurant (which is located too far away from the city center to be worth visiting on a short trip) has a little "cafe” outpost here, so I always recommend trying their "dadinhos de tapioca" which I consider the best in the city.
If you want to see even more art, the Instituto Tomie Ohtake is a 10 minute walk from the market, located at the far western end of the of the neighborhood. The building itself is a very cool piece of architecture, so worth seeing even if you don't go inside. You'll pass an area of bars on the way, so can stop at Rua Guaicuí for some casual bars or along Rua Vupabussu for somewhat higher end ones.
Performers at the Benedito Calixto flea market
A busy Pinheiros street
An area of bars in Baixo Pinheiros
Vila Madalena, Beco do Batman, and some nightlife
If you were getting worried and thinking "my goodness he hasn't even mentioned Vila Madalena, does he even know what he's talking about?!”, here I am ;)
Vila Madalena, which often gets described as a "bohemian” part of the city, is a very leafy and very pretty neighborhood adjacent to Pinheiros. It's not bohemian in any way (it's entirely upper middle class), but it's nice. You'll find design studios, art galleries, boutique shops, and lots of restaurants and cafes. It's more residential than Pinheiros (and much more hilly too - get ready to work!).
It's most famous because of Beco do Batman, a pedestrian alleyway whose walls have been completely covered in street art murals, much of it done by world famous artists (like Eduardo Kobra). There are bars and cafes all around it, and you'll often have musicians and performers out too. It's more fun in the evenings, so you'll be here at the perfect time.
Near to Beco do Batman is an extremely dense concentration of bars. The epicenter of this area is the intersection of Rua Aspicuelta and Rua Fidalga. Bars and nightclubs extend in every direction for 4 or 5 blocks and the entire area is busy in the evenings from Wednesday through Sunday.
There is lots of street art in the neighborhood beyond just the alleyway, so be sure to wander around a bit before you hunker down at a bar or restaurant.
If the timing is right and you're here for sunset, you can grab an uber and head up to Praça Pôr do Sol (sunset square) to watch the sun descend behind the endless urban jungle.
By this point, it'll be well into the evening, so you'll have to decide whether you want to stay and party the night away with the city's hip young people or escape to calmer surroundings!
Beco do Batman
Day 3 - Museu do Ipiranga, Liberdade, some chill time, and an evening walk on the Minhocão
A busy Saturday at the Feira da Liberdade fair/market
Museu do Ipiranga and Parque da Independencia
In the Ipiranga neighborhood, a bit east of Avenida Paulista and Ibirapuera Park, lies the gorgeous Museu do Ipiranga. The museum is within the huge Parque da Independencia park and housed inside a glorious neoclassical palace.
Entrance is 30 BRL and the museum opens at 10:00 am, so I think this is the perfect way to start the day.
The collection is mostly about Brazilian history (it's more informative than artistic) and includes the massive “Grito do Ipiranga” painting from the 1800s. Foreign visitors probably won't really get the historical significance of the painting or most of the other works, but the interior of the building is a delight, so it doesn't matter.
Outside, there are manicured gardens with a splendid fountain and a huge park, which includes a big paved road that joggers, skateboarders, and rollerbladers love. There's also the massive Monument to the Independence of Brazil, which is fun to look at and climb up.
Behind the museum is a section of wooded parkland with very pleasant trails running through it.
On a sunny day, this is a wonderful place to come and spend a couple of hours.
Museu do Ipiranga
A passageway inside the museum
The view from the museum's terrace
Liberdade neighborhood
São Paulo is home to the largest population of people of Japanese descent anywhere outside of Japan. Originally, they settled in the Liberdade neighborhood, creating a bonafide Little Tokyo.
The neighborhood a bit northeast of Avenida Paulista and just south of Praça da Sé, at the edge of the city center.
Over time, and as they integrated into wider society, residents of Japanese heritage mostly left Liberdade, preferring the safety, convenience, and modernity of newer neighborhoods. Although few residents of Japanese heritage still live here, the area remains a center of Japanese culture in the city and there are dozens of excellent Japanese restaurants, izakayas, grocery stores, cafes, etc. The commerce is by no means exclusively Japanese though and there are also loads of Chinese and Korean restaurants as well as Thai, Filippino, and more.
The neighborhood is most lively on Saturdays when it hosts the "Feira da Liberdade” a hugely popular street fair where vendors set up selling traditional Japanese food and locals and visitors descend from all over the city to eat and shop.
Aside from just browsing the many shops, restaurants, and vendors, also be sure to check out the following:
Museu Histórico da Imigração Japonesa no Brasil - an interesting museum that talks about the history of Japanese immigration to Brazil.
Vila Portuguesa - Not even a few minutes walk from the main action, this has somehow remained a bit of a hidden gem. It's a little cul-de-sac of single family homes that are brightly colored and built over 100 years ago. It's an oasis of peacefulness, especially on Saturdays. You'll often find artists in here painting and drawing.
Jardim Oriental - A little Japanese/oriental garden with a pond. It's small and always overcrowded on the weekend, but nice to visit during the week.
A Liberdade street
A quiet side street
A not quiet side street…
Lunch
If it's a Saturday, I'd recommend having a look around Liberdade, but not trying to eat. Everywhere will be packed and lines at popular places like Lamen Aska and Lamen Kazu can take hours.
Even just the crowds in the street can be intense, so in general I actually much prefer to visit Liberdade during the week.
If you want to eat Japanese food but don't want to deal with lines, the adjacent neighborhood of Paraíso has lots of very nice and much less busy Japanese restaurants. Check out Sozai Japanese Deli for something quick and no frills, Uokatsu for something tasty, but casual, and Shin Zushi or Kan Suke (Michelin starred) for seriously high end sushi.
On the opposite side of Liberdade is the neighborhood of Acclimação, home to a large Korean population. If you like Korean food, Bicol, Gangnam, and Moah are all good options.
Some chill time
After 2 and a half very busy days, take it easy this afternoon. I haven't marked anything specific to do, because I figure everyone will have done different things with this itinerary and have different preferences.
So, here are a few ideas with what to do:
Head back to Ibirapuera and enjoy more time in the park and visit any of the museums that you might have missed on day 1.
Check out Vila Madalena in case you missed it or go back in case you really liked it!
Do some shopping at some of our fancy malls. São Paulo is a city truly in love with shopping malls and we have dozens all over the city. Many neighborhoods have two or three in them!
Here are some to check out: Shopping Iguatemi, JK Iguatemi, Shopping Morumbi, Shopping Cidade Sao Paulo, and Shopping Jardim Pamplona. The first three are quite fancy while the last two are a bit more normal. If you visit Shopping Iguatemi or JK Iguatemi, also be sure to go for a walk in the lovely Parque do Povo park, which is nearby.
Visit the Museu do Futebol. This is a museum totally dedicated to football (soccer) and housed inside an old stadium. It mostly talks about Brazilian football, but is pretty interesting for anyone who loves the sport.
An evening walk on the Minhocão
The Minhocão is an elevated highway the bisects a large chunk of the city center, separating the Santa Cecilia neighborhood from the neighborhoods of Republica and Campos Eliseos. Now considered by many to be an urban planning disaster, it closes to traffic all day on Saturday and Sunday and after 8:00 pm during the week.
Weekday evenings, people flock to the road to hang out with friends, stroll around, and exercise. The city sets up seating areas and many buildings along the road are lined with massive murals, so it's a very cool and almost surreal experience, especially at nighttime when the city lights up and you'll often find yourself peering into the windows of residential buildings, which are often barely a few meters away from the highway.
Figure that you'll want an hour for your walk. It's totally safe on the highway, but you should probably uber there and back.
The Minhocão on a Sunday morning
More Brazil travel info
For more advice on planning your trip to Brazil, have a look at some of our other guides and itineraries!
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