Things to do · São Paulo · Brazil
18 best things to do in São Paulo
18 sights and experiences ranked for a first visit, with honest notes on time, cost and crowds.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answer
The essential sights in São Paulo are Avenida Paulista, MASP – São Paulo Museum of Art and Ibirapuera Park. Of the 18 picks below, 8 are free, 8 work on a rainy day and 5 suit children. Allow about 4 days to see the highlights without rushing.
Key facts
- Top sight
- Avenida Paulista
- Free sights
- 8
- Good on a rainy day
- MASP – São Paulo Museum of Art
- Time to see the highlights
- 4 days
At a glance
| Sight | Area | Time needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avenida Paulista | Avenida Paulista and Bela Vista | Half a day | Free |
| MASP – São Paulo Museum of Art | Avenida Paulista and Bela Vista | 2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Ibirapuera Park | Vila Mariana and Moema | Half a day | Free |
| Mercado Municipal (Mercadão) | Centro | 1–1.5 hours | Low cost |
| Catedral da Sé | Centro | 45 minutes | Free |
| Pinacoteca de São Paulo | Luz | 2 hours | Low cost |
| Museu da Língua Portuguesa | Luz | 1.5 hours | Low cost |
| Beco do Batman | Vila Madalena | 1 hour | Free |
| Liberdade | Liberdade | 2–3 hours | Free |
| Farol Santander | Centro | 1.5 hours | Mid-priced |
| Theatro Municipal | Centro | 1 hour | Low cost |
| Edifício Copan | Centro | 30 minutes | Free |
| Museu do Ipiranga | Ipiranga | 2–3 hours | Low cost |
| SESC Pompeia | Pompeia | 1 hour | Free |
| Japan House São Paulo | Avenida Paulista and Bela Vista | 1 hour | Free |
| Instituto Butantan | Butantã | 2 hours | Low cost |
| Catavento Cultural e Educacional | Centro | 2–3 hours | Low cost |
| Terraço Itália | Centro | 1–2 hours | Expensive |
The 18 best things to do
Street · Avenida Paulista and Bela Vista
1.Avenida Paulista
São Paulo's signature avenue mixes bank towers, cultural centres, bookshops and the Parque Trianon, a fragment of Atlantic forest opposite MASP. On Sundays and public holidays the avenue closes to cars and becomes a promenade of cyclists, skaters, street bands and food stalls.
Come on a Sunday, walk from Consolação to Paraíso, and drop into Japan House and the Instituto Moreira Salles on the way.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- Kids
- Shopping
- Architecture
Museum · Avenida Paulista and Bela Vista
2.MASP – São Paulo Museum of Art
Lina Bo Bardi's red-framed concrete building, raised on four pillars above a public plaza, holds the most important collection of European art in the Southern Hemisphere, with works by Raphael, Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Renoir alongside Brazilian art. The paintings hang on Bo Bardi's glass easels, so the collection appears to float in one open gallery.
Check the museum's site for its free-entry day, and look at the backs of the easels, where each work's label is placed.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Iconic
- Art
- Architecture
- Rainy day
Park · Vila Mariana and Moema
3.Ibirapuera Park
The city's great park, opened in 1954, is a landscape of lakes and lawns linked by Oscar Niemeyer's long covered walkway, the Marquise. Around it stand Niemeyer buildings housing the Museu Afro Brasil, the Museu de Arte Moderna, the Bienal pavilion, the domed Oca and the red-tongued Auditório Ibirapuera.
Rent a bike at one of the park's rental points on a weekday morning, then visit the Museu Afro Brasil when the sun gets hot.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- Kids
- Outdoors
- Architecture
Market · Centro
4.Mercado Municipal (Mercadão)
The 1933 municipal market, with large stained-glass windows showing farm and market scenes, sells tropical fruit, spices, cheeses and cured meats. Its mezzanine restaurants are famous for towering mortadella sandwiches and pastel de bacalhau, best shared.
Fruit sellers offer tastings and then price exotic fruit by the kilo at high rates; ask the price before accepting a sample.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Food
- Iconic
- Architecture
- Shopping
Religious site · Centro
5.Catedral da Sé
The neo-Gothic cathedral, completed in 1954 with a Renaissance-style dome, is one of the largest in South America and faces the Praça da Sé, the city's symbolic centre, where a marker shows the 'kilometre zero' of São Paulo state roads. The crypt holds the tombs of bishops and of the indigenous chief Tibiriçá.
Visit the cathedral as part of a morning walk through the Centro, with the Pátio do Colégio, where the city was founded in 1554, five minutes away.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Architecture
- Iconic
Gallery · Luz
6.Pinacoteca de São Paulo
The state art museum occupies a 1900 brick building remodelled by Paulo Mendes da Rocha with glass roofs and walkways over its inner courtyards. The permanent collection traces Brazilian art from the colonial period to modernism, and a second building across Jardim da Luz shows contemporary exhibitions.
Combine it with the Museu da Língua Portuguesa opposite, and use the Luz Metrô exit facing the garden.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Art
- Architecture
- Rainy day
- History
Museum · Luz
7.Museu da Língua Portuguesa
Inside the British-built Estação da Luz railway station, this interactive museum explores the Portuguese language through sound, video and games. It reopened in 2021 after a fire in 2015, and the station's clock tower and iron platforms are worth seeing in their own right.
Many exhibits work best if you have some Portuguese or Spanish, but the station building and the projection room appeal to everyone.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Rainy day
- Kids
- Architecture
Street · Vila Madalena
8.Beco do Batman
A sloping alley in Vila Madalena where every wall, step and garage door is covered in murals and graffiti that change regularly. It is the best-known spot in a district full of street art, with cafés and galleries in the streets around it.
Go in the morning before it fills with photo groups, then walk the surrounding streets for more murals.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Art
- Photo spot
- Outdoors
Neighbourhood · Liberdade
1.Liberdade
The Japanese-Brazilian quarter is a short walk from the cathedral, with red lanterns, torii-style gateways, Japanese supermarkets and stationery shops along Rua Galvão Bueno. At weekends, the fair in Praça da Liberdade sells gyoza, yakisoba, takoyaki and crafts, and a small museum on Rua São Joaquim tells the story of Japanese immigration.
Visit at a weekend lunchtime for the fair, then queue for ramen or pastries in the side streets.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Food
- Free
- Shopping
- Photo spot
Viewpoint · Centro
2.Farol Santander
The art deco Altino Arantes Building, modelled on the Empire State Building and long the city's tallest tower, now houses a cultural centre with exhibitions, a café and an observation deck on its upper floors. From the top the forest of skyscrapers stretches to the horizon in every direction.
Go on a clear afternoon and look north-west for the Copan's curving façade and the Edifício Itália.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Views
- Architecture
- Rainy day
- History
Architecture · Centro
3.Theatro Municipal
The city's opera house, opened in 1911 and inspired by the Palais Garnier in Paris, hosted the 1922 Modern Art Week that launched Brazilian modernism. Its marble staircase and gilded auditorium can be seen on guided visits or, better, at an opera, ballet or symphony performance.
Tickets for many concerts are inexpensive; check the season programme rather than only taking the tour.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- Architecture
- History
- After dark
- Couples
Architecture · Centro
4.Edifício Copan
Oscar Niemeyer's wave-shaped residential block of more than 1,000 apartments is one of the largest buildings in Brazil and a symbol of the city's modernist ambition. The ground-floor gallery of shops, cafés and bars is open to everyone and has a lively evening scene.
See its curves best from Avenida Ipiranga or from above at the Edifício Itália, then have a drink in the ground-floor arcade.
- Time needed
- 30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Architecture
- Free
- Photo spot
Museum · Ipiranga
5.Museu do Ipiranga
The palatial Museu Paulista stands where Brazil's independence was declared in 1822, at the top of formal gardens modelled on Versailles. It reopened in 2022 after a long restoration and expansion, with galleries on Brazilian history and Pedro Américo's huge painting of the independence proclamation.
Walk down through the gardens to the Independence Monument, which holds the crypt of Emperor Pedro I.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Book ahead
- Free timed tickets are released online and can run out at weekends; reserve ahead.
- History
- Architecture
- Rainy day
- Outdoors
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Architecture · Pompeia
6.SESC Pompeia
Lina Bo Bardi converted a former drum factory into a leisure and cultural centre, adding two concrete towers linked by aerial walkways with irregular 'cave' windows. Locals use its pools, library, theatre and workshops, and visitors can wander in freely to see one of Brazil's most admired buildings.
Visit at a weekend afternoon when families fill the reading area and the riverside-style deck known as the 'beach'.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Architecture
- Free
- Rainy day
- Off the beaten path
Gallery · Avenida Paulista and Bela Vista
7.Japan House São Paulo
Behind a façade of interlocking hinoki-wood strips designed by Kengo Kuma, Japan House shows free exhibitions on Japanese design, craft and technology, with a shop and a restaurant. It is a short walk from MASP on Avenida Paulista.
Pair it with the Instituto Moreira Salles a few doors along, which also has free photography exhibitions.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Art
- Rainy day
- Architecture
Zoo · Butantã
8.Instituto Butantan
One of the world's major producers of vaccines and anti-venoms, the Butantan Institute has a public park with museums of microbiology and biology and a snake collection, where visitors see venomous species from across Brazil. It is popular with school groups and families.
Go on a weekday morning, and combine it with the University of São Paulo campus next door.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Nature
- History
Museum · Centro
9.Catavento Cultural e Educacional
A hands-on science museum in the eclectic Palácio das Indústrias, near the Parque Dom Pedro II, with sections on the universe, life, ingenuity and society. Children can touch meteorites, try physics experiments and explore models of the human body.
Take a taxi or ride-hailing car to the door; the surrounding area is busy with traffic and less pleasant on foot.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Rainy day
- Architecture
Viewpoint · Centro
10.Terraço Itália
The restaurant and bar at the top of the 46-floor Edifício Itália, opposite the Copan, has one of the classic views over the Centro, especially at sunset. Drinks at the piano bar cost less than dinner in the restaurant.
Arrive just before sunset for a drink and watch the skyline lights come on.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Expensive
- Views
- Couples
- After dark
Pick by interest
| Interest | Best picks |
|---|---|
| Art and museums | MASP – São Paulo Museum of Art, Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Museu da Língua Portuguesa and Beco do Batman |
| History | Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Museu da Língua Portuguesa, Catedral da Sé and Farol Santander |
| Views | Farol Santander and Terraço Itália |
| Outdoors and nature | Ibirapuera Park, Beco do Batman, Museu do Ipiranga and Instituto Butantan |
| Food and markets | Mercado Municipal (Mercadão) and Liberdade |
| After dark | Theatro Municipal and Terraço Itália |
| With children | Avenida Paulista, Ibirapuera Park, Museu da Língua Portuguesa and Instituto Butantan |
| On a rainy day | MASP – São Paulo Museum of Art, Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Museu da Língua Portuguesa and Farol Santander |
What to book ahead
- Museu do Ipiranga: Free timed tickets are released online and can run out at weekends; reserve ahead.
Plan the rest of your trip
Questions travellers ask
+What is the number one thing to do in São Paulo?
Avenida Paulista. São Paulo's signature avenue mixes bank towers, cultural centres, bookshops and the Parque Trianon, a fragment of Atlantic forest opposite MASP.
+What can you do for free in São Paulo?
Avenida Paulista, Ibirapuera Park, Catedral da Sé, Beco do Batman and Liberdade. More free things to do.
+What is there to do in São Paulo when it rains?
Head indoors to MASP – São Paulo Museum of Art, Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Museu da Língua Portuguesa and Farol Santander.
+What is there to do in São Paulo at night?
Theatro Municipal and Terraço Itália are best after dark.