A cultural guide to São Paulo

Pulsating with energy, this cosmopolitan megalopolis is the financial, food and fashion capital of Brazil. A city of over 22 million, São Paulo started as a humble trading post, then grew rapidly in the 19th century thanks to coffee production, and it hasn’t stopped since—it’s now the fourth largest city in the world, a multicultural urban sprawl where traffic can get so heavy that helicopters are sometimes the best way to get around.

Pockets of calm do exist in São Paulo’s large parks such as Ibirapuera, where you’ll also find world-class cultural institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Afro Brasil Museum. All of this, along with amazing street art, modernist architecture, and buzzing nightlife, make the odd traffic snarl well worth the effort. 

Art & architecture

Modernist buildings and glimmering skyscrapers stand side by side in São Paulo, a city overflowing with architectural innovation. Designed by prolific Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, the wave-shaped Edifício Copan is an iconic residential building that’s also home to art collectives and restaurants (Bar da Dona Onça serves a mean passion-fruit caipirinha). Over on Avenue Paulista, Lina Bo Bardi’s São Paulo Museum of Art is as well known for its suspended structure as it is for blockbuster exhibitions.

Lastly, for a look back at the city during the colonial era, head to the Ipiranga Museum (built on the site where independence from Portugal was declared in 1822); the museum reopened last year after a decade-long closure. 

São Paulo is also home to one of the highest concentrations of street art in the world, and nowhere more so than Beco de Batman, a long graffiti-covered alley in Vila Madalena. Check out the huge murals painted on buildings from Minhocão, an elevated stretch of highway, which closes to traffic at weekends (enter near the Santa Cecília metro station, grabbing a sugar cane juice from a stand on the way).  

Music

Music-wise, anything goes in São Paulo where samba, bossa, pop, rock, jazz and classical are all prevalent. Samba parades take place at Anhembi Sambadrome during Carnival. From October on, you can watch samba schools like Escola do Vai in Bela Vista rehearse. Ballet, opera and classical performances are held in Sala São Paulo, home to the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra.  Casa de Francisca is a beautiful, traditional townhouse turned restaurant, bar and music venue that regularly hosts interesting artists. 

Every Sunday, stroll Paulista Avenue as it temporarily pedestrianizes, before refueling on nearby Rua Augusta. For drinks, botecos are low-key bars found on every street corner. Bar Veloso, which is famed for its caipirinha cocktails and coxinhas (fried chicken snacks), is ridiculously popular, so get there by 1pm or 6pm to avoid the long line.