About Sao Paulo (Brazil)
Facts | Bars/Nightclubs | Eating Out | Places of interest | Mail us
Various content added by the following aircrew:- Debora, Fabiano (Dubai Based)
Sao Paulo: Is the world's third largest city and the largest in South America. The cultural capital of Brazil, home to orchestra, opera and art not to mention crowded colourful streets packed with the posh and the poor. For dining try The Jardins District. The people of Sao Paulo known as Paulistanos, eat late with many restaurants often don't begin serving until 9pm or 10pm, and it is common for them to stay open until 3am. For traveling around Sao Paulo check the Transportation section.
It is very expensive to take taxi in Sao Paulo and Metro is far from the crew hotel (Dubai Based). Ask the concierge from the Hotel to call a taxi for you and talk about prices beforehand, this will avoid taxi drivers taking you around the city just to charge you more.
There are four main centres for nightlife in Sao Paulo. Vila Olímpia is where the younger crowd 18- 30-year-olds go for nightlife, with a number of large dance clubs located and some of the city's best bars in Sao Paulo. Bixiga find good bars playing live music. Jardins housing excellent neighborhood bars with a big gay scene. Vila Madalena Located on the west of Sao Paulo, Vila Madalena offers visitors a vibrant nightlife, lively markets, unique craft stores and ample opportunities to hear authentic Brazilian music. Are more of your older crowd 25- to 45-year-olds who enjoy bars and restaurants more than dance clubs.
To get a full picture of what's going on, consult the weekly Veja magazine, the daily Folha de São Paulo newspaper (especially its Friday supplement). Look out also for Skolbeats, Latin America's biggest dance festival, which has been taking place in São Paulo each April/May since 2000.
Sao Paulo has a large gay population however most of the bars and clubs tend to be mixed rather than specifically gay. In May or June, the city hosts a huge Gay Pride along Avenida Paulista. São Paulo's Hip Gay Guide
Top DJs from around the globe regularly head the bill at the city's coolest hangouts, the scene is fairly underground and you'll have to keep your eyes and ears open to hit the right spots. Cover charges vary; expect to pay normally between R$15 and R$40, that sometimes includes a drink or two thrown in, although if a big name is DJing at a top club you could be looking at anything up to R$100. A very famous hotel called Unique has a excellent bar Skye on the roof top offering fabulous views of the city, very posh so dress to impress great time is around Dusk.
D-Edge
Best selection of varied conception of musical styles including progressive house, minimal and alternative music. Wild crowd, cheap booze voted number 4 underground club in world according to DJ Mag magazine. Tickets about 15 US dollars.
@ Estacao Metro (Subway station), Alameda Olga, 17001156-001 Sao Paulo, Tel. +551136678334, office@d-edge.com.br
http://www.d-edge.com.br/index.html
CLUB A
Wednesdays and fridays are the best days. Party under the stars from 23:00 until midday next day. Tickets about 17 US dollars.
@ bandeirantes avenue nearby Congonhas airport.
A Loca
Best day to go is on Sunday. Mixed music styles, with alternative people...
@ Frei Caneca Street
www.aloca.com.br
Vegas @ Augusta Street. Best day is on Wednesday.
Hole @ Augusta Street. On Thursdays undergroung party with a great selection of trance only.
Tickets about 10 US dollars.
Lov.E @ Pequetita street. The club of the moment, featuring funk and breakbeats on Wed; drum'n'bass on Thurs; techno on Fri and Sat; and R&B on Sun.
Love Story: Layo & Buschwacka named a song after this club, Tickets about 30 US Dollars. Open everyday starting from 2h am (Best option for after parties) party goes up to 10 am and after-after parties at "Muralha" (Just go with the flow when the music stops) best day is on Tuesday.
Other pinnacle place to party is Balneario Camboriu in Santa Catarina State (600 km south from Sao Paulo) easily accessible by plane (1h flight) reaching the airports of Florianopolis (FLN) the capital of the state but 75 km from the city or Navegantes (NVT) 16 km from downtown. The city is getting known by its reputation of being the next Ibiza and today's best place to party in South America.
Some other bars/clubs to try:
- Apollinari
- Azucar
- Emporio de Serra
- Fasano
- Fidel
- Grazie a Dio
Casual clothing is fine, but jeans and running shoes you likely won't make it past the door at many clubs. 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.
When going out 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.
São Paulo's restaurants are concentrated where the money is, in the city centre and especially in the middle- and upper-class suburbs like the Jardins, Itaim Bibi, Pinheiros and Vila Madalena. You can get away with paying R$5 or even less for a standard dish of rice, beans and meat at a small, side-street restaurant, and even at the most elegant places in the wealthiest neighbourhoods you'll be very hard-pressed to pay more than R$100 per person unless you opt for expensive imported wines. There is, of course, a huge array of options between these price extremes, so you won't have any trouble finding places to suit your tastes and budget. Many moderately priced restaurants run around R$30–40 a head.
Traditional Brazilian such as feijoadas or moquecas, are surprisingly hard to come by in São Paulo – perhaps because of the immigrant origins of so many of the city's inhabitants. However, traditional Brazilian cooking does exist, with bahian and mineiro cuisine being the most commonly found.
Pinacoteca do Estado
You want to see Brazilian Art from the Nineteenth Century to the Twenty-first Century, then this is the museum to visit. One of the must see places in Sao Paulo showing the best Brazilian artists from the 19th and 20th centuries, from the landscapes of Antonio Parreiras and João da Costa to still-life painters such as Georgina de Albuquerque and João Batista Pagini.
Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo
@ the most famous avenue in Latin America, Avenida Paulista. Housing very good collection of european art, you will find Velazquez, Goya, Van Gogh, Modigliani, Degas, etc.
Museum of Sacred Art (Museu de Arte Sacra)
It is the paintings that attract most the attention of visitors to the museum: for it is here that the art enthusiast will be able to find one of the most complete single collections of painted wooden boards of the Flemish School of Art. more
Jardins District
A charming neighborhood with plenty of nice shops and restaurants! You can find just about all of the high-end stores you are looking for along with many fashionable Brazilian brands. Rua Oscar Freire is packed with amazing stores. The best part of it is between R. da Consolacao and Av. Augusta.
Liberdade
Home to largest Japanese community outside Japan in the world that has been growing since the 1950s. Being São Paulo's own equivalent of Japantown in the USA, it is a haven for everything Japanese. Has some of the best hairdressers and beauty salons.
Parque do Ibirapuera is the biggest green park of the city, where you can meet beautiful people running, riding bikes, skating or just walking.
For those horses lovers, Hipodromo or Jockey Club de Sao Paulo link is the best place to watch horse races.
Share your experience with us, post your comments & photo's about these places
Julio (Dubai Based) November 2007
For those crew who haven’t yet been to Sao Paulo and who would like to enjoy and see the many available sites in this exciting city? Then my mother, Fran, is organizing a one-day tour to have a sightseeing of the city, seashore and some other interesting things in this big and interesting city!
The itinerary starts passing by the Ibirapuera Park and Independence Park (Museu Paulista), before taking the road heading to the coast. It is a very nice high way, with a great view of the seashore, when we start to descend the mountains – Sao Paulo is 800m above the sea level!
On the beach you will have the opportunity to enjoy the Brazilian nature and also have a lunch with typical local food and fresh fruit juices.
If there is also in particular that you would like to see or visit in Sao Paulo, like a samba or capoeira practicing, my mom will be pleased to take you there!
Take a look at her website and contact her by email or there in the hotel lobby upon your arrival
http://ekcrewinsaopaulo.blogspot.com
