Must-see attractions in São Paulo

  • Top Choice
    Edifício Copan

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

  • Top Choice
    Mercado Municipal

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Museu de Arte de 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…

  • Top Choice
    Mosteiro São Bento

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Farol Santander

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Pina_Luz

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

  • Top Choice
    Museu Xingu

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

  • Top Choice
    Estação da Luz

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Beco do Batman

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Theatro Municipal

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Museu Afro-Brasil

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

  • Top Choice
    Edifício Itália

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Rua Oscar Freire

    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

    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

    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'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

    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

    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

    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

    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…