The best cities to visit in Brazil – São Paulo

Well, you have just met a really nice Brazilian girl/boy, and now you are really excited to know a little bit more about this country.

All the people have agreed with the idea of spending your next holidays there, but… There is a problem: Brazil is such a massive country, it’s hard to know where to begin and what to visit, there is.. you are short on money and sort of short on time also.

This is a small guide for you, my brand new friend.

And for all the people I’ve met on Europe… Because I believe one day you guys will visit my on my sweet Montes Claros.

Let’s begin.

You probably know Brazil is divided into regions:

If you don’t, now you see it, we have North(Norte), Northeast(Nordeste), Center-west(Centro-oeste), Southeast(Sudeste) and South(Sul).

And the smaller parts are the states. We have 26 states and Federal District(Distrito Federal), where is Brasília, the Capital.

Let’s suppose you will arrive in São Paulo, the largest city of South America.

We can begin right here, and see the hot things to do in São Paulo State(Estado de São Paulo) and after that the other states that make part of Sudeste:

Estado de São Paulo

Capital: São Paulo

This is our trade and industry capital. It’s a huge city, and sometimes hard to go from one place to another. Paulistanos work hard and play hard. One thing you will notice in Brazil is that, in general, our parties last longer than in Europe, for example.

Sampa’s got thousands of bars and discos, some known regions are:

- Vila Madalena (www.guiadavila.com) Here you can find bars and restaurants with different music styles. Some famous bars are Filial, Salve Jorge, Piratininga (www.piratiningabar.com.br).

- If you d’rather a classical “boteco”, you should choose a bar in downtown: Brahma (www.barbrahmasp.com).
 - On Vila Olímpia, there is the famous party Trash 80's (www.trash80s.com.br/vo). You will find cool people on Rua Augusta(Augusta street).

- For some live alternative music, the best place to go is Studio SP.

- D-Edge (www.d-edge.com.br), in Barra Funda, is on the top 100 best clubs on DJ Magazine, it’s got a really impressive design, playlist and if you are lucky, you Will see some brazilian celebrities on the pick-ups.

To get more information about São Paulo nightlife, check Bares SP (www.baressp.com.br) and Guia da Semana (guiadasemana.uol.com.br).

Things to Do and See:

MASP

·  Museu de Arte de São Paulo - MASP has thousands of exhibits.

· Parque Ibirapuera is the city's beautifully landscaped central park and home to museums, a planetarium, the Legislative Assembly, bicycle and motorcycle circuits, and a striking monument to the Bandeirantes, the trailblazers who opened São Paulo to the rest of the world. See this map of the park for location and descriptions of the main attractions.

· Every even numbered year, the Bienal, a two-month long exhibit of modern artwork from around the world, attracts thousands of visitors to the free exhibits in its own pavilion in the Parque Ibirapuera.

· Praça da República is a shady place to rest between shopping excursions on the nearby streets.

· Praça do Patriarca in the oldest part of the city has some restored old buildings, a marked contrast to the skyscrapers around it.

· Stadiums: Morumbi and Pacaembu are two of the largest hosting the scores of futebol, soccer, teams. Horseraces: São Paulo Jockey Club.

If you want to know more about this Capital, check : http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/central-and-south-america/brazil/sao-paulo/overview.html

Curious cities in Estado de São Paulo

Campos do Jordão - The city's economy is based mainly in tourism; due to its location at high elevation (on the Mantiqueira mountains) and European-looking architecture. Buildings are mostly German, Swiss or Italian inspired. Its attractions throughout the year include German and Swiss food restaurants, bars and a cable car. There are many pousadas (inns) and chalets.

There are numerous outdoor activities for winter residents and tourists. These include hiking, mountain climbing, treetop cable swings (arvorismo), horseback riding, ATV riding, and motorbike riding. The mountain ranges provide unique panoramic views and much of the area is still undeveloped. Also, in order to cater to the large number of visitors, several bars, lounges, discos and clubs will open up during the winter months.

Holambra – The colony Holambra and The Cooperativa Agropecuária de Holambra (Cattle Farming Cooperation of Holambra) were founded in 1948 by Catholic Dutch immigrants at the farm Ribeirão Preto. After a referendum in 1991 where 98% of the population voted in favor of political autonomy for the area, Holambra gained city status in January 1993.

The cows that were shipped in from the Netherlands by the initial colonists did not survive the heat and tropical diseases so the colonists diversified to pig and chicken farming. As the colony around the farm grew in the following decades, the focus shifted from agriculture to horticulture.

Famous for its large production of flowers and plants and for the yearly event Expoflora, Holambra receives thousands of tourists each year. In April 1998 this fact was recognized as Holambra gained the status of Estância Turística, touristic location.

São Sebastião - The city is famous for its beaches, which makes it a popular tourism destination, specially for people from the state of São Paulo. Near the boundary with Bertioga there is a small Guarani village, there is, an American Indian community.
The archipelago municipality of Ilhabela is located on the east coast of the city of São Sebastião; the largest island of the archipelago is also called São Sebastião. Between the city and the island, there is the São Sebastião channel with 30 kilometres in length, and variable width (2 km being the shortest crossing).

We have just arrived and sooo many things to do!!!

Well, this is just São Paulo State. My next post will be about South of Brazil.




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