Must-see attractions in São Paulo

  • Edifício Copan

    São Paulo

    Copan was designed by late modernist master Oscar Niemeyer. The building, with its serpentine facade and narrow brises soleil (permanent sunshades), is…

  • Mercado Municipal

    São Paulo

    This covered market is a belle epoque confection of stained glass and a series of vast domes. Inside, a fabulous urban market specializes in all things…

  • Museu de Arte de São Paulo

    São Paulo

    Sampa’s pride, this museum possesses Latin America’s most comprehensive collection of Western art. Hovering above a concrete plaza that turns into an…

  • Mosteiro São Bento

    São Paulo

    Among the city’s oldest and most important churches, São Bento dates to 1598, though its neo-Gothic facade dates only to the early 20th century. Step…

  • Farol Santander

    São Paulo

    For one of Sampa’s best panoramas, head to the top of this 161m-high skyscraper, Brazil’s version of the Empire State Building – completed in 1939 and…

  • Pina_Luz

    São Paulo

    This elegant neoclassical museum, formerly known as Pinacoteca do Estado but modernly rebranded 'Pina_Luz' (with the underline!) in 2017, houses an…

  • Museu Xingu

    São Paulo

    Relatively unknown and blissfully uncrowded, the unassuming Casa Amarela is part NGO handicraft shop, part two-table romantic cafe and part tiny Museu…

  • Estação da Luz

    São Paulo

    Across the street from the Parque da Luz sits one of São Paulo's most stunning structures, a classic late-Victorian train station constructed with…

  • Beco do Batman

    São Paulo

    One of São Paulo's premiere street-art locations, 'Batman's Alley' has slowly risen from secret location for band promotional shots and Brazilian films to…

  • Theatro Municipal

    São Paulo

    São Paulo’s most splendid construction, this theater was begun in 1903 in the style of Paris’ Palais Garnier. Its heavily ornamented facade seems to…

  • Museu Afro-Brasil

    São Paulo

    This hugely important, absolutely fascinating Parque Ibirapuera museum features a permanent 3rd-floor collection chronicling five centuries of African…

  • Edifício Itália

    São Paulo

    With 46 stories, this skyscraper just south of the Praça da República is the tallest in the city center. You have three options to see the view: weekdays…

  • Rua Oscar Freire

    São Paulo

    Take a stroll down Brazil's 'Rodeo Drive', a leafy, tree-lined thoroughfare brimming with cafes, concept stores and flagship boutiques, top-end…

  • Museu do Futebol

    São Paulo

    Tucked under the bleachers of colorfully art deco Pacaembu Stadium, this fantastic museum is devoted to Brazil’s greatest passion – football (soccer). Its…

  • Japan House

    São Paulo

    You can't miss the stunning facade of this Av Paulista newcomer. Its sliding vertical plank entrance sits in stark contrast to the surrounding concrete…

  • Parque Ibirapuera

    São Paulo

    São Paulo's most expansive green space and a much-loved urban oasis for Paulistanos, Parque Ibirapuera is a leafy 2 sq-km park in Vila Mariana. In…

  • Museu da Língua Portuguesa

    São Paulo

    Half of Estação da Luz has been given over to this museum, with fascinating permanent exhibits documenting the rise of the Brazilian language as distinct…

  • Mercado Municipal de Pinheiros

    São Paulo

    A smaller, cleaner and more manageable version of São Paulo's far larger and more chaotic Mercado Municipal, Mercado Municipal de Pinheiros has served…

  • Museu de Arte Sacra

    São Paulo

    The best of its kind in Brazil, this museum includes works by renowned 18th-century sculptor Antônio Aleijadinho, along with some 1000 other…

  • Instituto Moreira Salles

    São Paulo

    A 2017 artistic addition to Av Paulista, this striking, R$150 million, vertical museum and cultural center is a real treat for photography fans – three…

  • Marquise do Ibirapuera

    São Paulo

    One of Parque Ibirapuera's most noticeably unique structures is Oscar Niemeyer's Marquise do Ibirapuera. It's a wavy, 620m-long and 15m- to 80m-wide…

  • Estação Júlio Prestes

    São Paulo

    This grand turn-of-the-century beaux arts–style working railway station (actually completed in the 1930s) houses the Pina_Estacão, an annex of the Pina…

  • Edifício Matarazzo

    São Paulo

    The seat of São Paulo's city government sits inside this 1930s neoclassical 'palace' designed by Italian architect Marcello Piacentini (who is well-known…

  • Páteo do Collégio

    São Paulo

    Occupying the exact spot where São Paulo was founded in 1554 by Jesuit brothers José de Anchieta and Manoel da Nóbregra, this mission is actually a 1950s…

  • SESC Paulista

    São Paulo

    This 2018 cultural addition to Av Paulista offers the best free view you're going to get of the country's most important avenue: the 17th floor terrace…

  • Casa da Imagem

    São Paulo

    Beautifully curated from some 84,000 historical photographs, this museum inside a restored colonial downtown mansion is a must for those interested in the…

  • Fundação Maria Luisa e Oscar Americano

    São Paulo

    Home of the couple who developed the leafy, upscale suburb of Morumbi, this fine retreat hosts impressive gardens and a lovely collection of painting,…

  • Caixa Cultural

    São Paulo

    This cultural center occupies a grand neoclassical-style building with an imperious facade of black marble that served as Caixa Econômica Federal's…

  • Museu de Arte Moderna

    São Paulo

    Brazil’s oldest modern-art museum possesses a fine permanent collection of Brazilian modernists such as Anita Malfatti and Di Cavalcanti, as well as works…

  • Parque Siqueira Campos

    São Paulo

    Just off Paulista across from the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) lies Parque Siqueira Campos, a beautifully designed and maintained park that re…

  • Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil

    São Paulo

    Housed in an extraordinarily and lovingly restored beaux-arts building, this cultural center holds innovative exhibitions of contemporary art over five…

  • Edifício Martinelli

    São Paulo

    São Paulo’s first skyscraper, in a gorgeous 1929 beaux-arts building, features a mansion built on top of its 26th-floor viewing terrace. However, the…

  • Pina_Estacão

    São Paulo

    Located inside Estação Júlio Prestes, this annex of nearby Pina_Luz hosts Sampa's three best contemporary art halls for temporary exhibitions.

  • Igreja de Santo Antônio

    São Paulo

    On the small Praça do Patriarca at the southwestern entrance to Triângulo, the modest, well-preserved Igreja de Santo Antônio retains many of its original…

  • Galeria Nara Roesler

    São Paulo

    Nara Roesler packs 40 years of experience curating Brazil's most sought-after contemporary artists (Vik Muniz, Tomie Ohtake) at this whitewashed gallery…

  • Igreja Nossa Senhora do Carmo

    São Paulo

    On Praça da Sé stands the modest Igreja do Carmo, which dates to the 1630s and still preserves its original high altar.

  • Catedral da Sé

    São Paulo

    Crowning the Praça da Sé is the domed Catedral da Sé, a huge neo-Byzantine concoction that, for better or worse, replaced the original 18th-century…

  • Museu Histórico da Imigração Japonesa

    São Paulo

    This modest but fascinating museum, on the 7th floor of a Liberdade office building, documents the arrival and integration of the Japanese community…

  • Memorial do Imigrante

    São Paulo

    For a deeper understanding of São Paulo's immigration history, head to the Memorial do Imigrante in the eastern suburb of Moóca. Built in 1887, it was…

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