São Paulo Historic Centre Guide: Sé, the Theatro Municipal and Luz

São Paulo's historic centre is where the city began in 1554, and where the coffee boom built its first skyscrapers. Much of it is run down, and it has real safety issues, but it holds some of the city's finest buildings. Visit on a weekday morning, when the streets are full of office workers, and take the metro in and out. Our 3-day itinerary pairs this walk with the museums of Luz.

Sé and the old core

Start at Sé metro station, beside the neo-Gothic Metropolitan Cathedral, inaugurated in 1954 for the city's 400th anniversary (its towers were only finished in 1967) and one of the largest neo-Gothic churches in the world. Walk a few minutes to Pátio do Colégio, a reconstruction of the Jesuit college where the city was founded. Continue north to São Bento Monastery, where the monks sing Gregorian chant at some weekday Masses as well as on Sunday mornings (check the schedule), and sell their own bread and cakes. The Farol Santander, the former Banespa tower modelled on the Empire State Building, has an observation deck looking straight down on the old downtown towers.

Theatro Municipal and the modernist centre

Cross the Viaduto do Chá bridge to the Theatro Municipal, opened in 1911 and modelled on the Paris Opera. Guided tours run on some days, and a performance is the best way to see the interior. Nearby, the Edifício Itália has a rooftop bar and restaurant with sweeping views, and Oscar Niemeyer's Copan building curves along the street like a concrete wave. The Galeria do Rock, a shopping arcade full of music and tattoo shops, is a quick detour for anyone into records, band T-shirts or tattoos.

Luz

North of the centre, the Luz railway station, built with British iron and glass, houses the Museum of the Portuguese Language. Across the road, the Pinacoteca, with the city's best collection of Brazilian art, and the Jardim da Luz park are the area's highlights. The Sala São Paulo concert hall is a short walk west. The streets beyond the museums are the city's roughest, so move directly between sights, and take the metro or an Uber back.

Practical tips

Leave valuables at the hotel, keep your phone out of sight, and avoid the centre after dark and at weekends, except for a concert or the theatre, when you should take an Uber door to door.