Best Things to Do in São Paulo

São Paulo's highlights are spread out, so group them by area and use the metro between them. Plan around Mondays, when many museums close, and Sundays, when Avenida Paulista is closed to traffic.

1. MASP. Lina Bo Bardi's red-framed museum, lifted above an open plaza on Avenida Paulista, holds the finest collection of European art in Latin America, displayed on glass easels. See our Avenida Paulista guide.
2. Avenida Paulista on a Sunday. The avenue closes to cars and fills with cyclists, musicians, families and street food, with markets under and opposite MASP.
3. The Pinacoteca. The city's oldest art museum, in a 1900 building near Luz, with the best collection of Brazilian art, from colonial times to modernism.
4. Ibirapuera Park. The city's great green space, designed for São Paulo's 400th anniversary in 1954, with Oscar Niemeyer buildings, the Afro Brazil Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. Rent a bike, or come on a weekend to see the city at play.
5. The Mercadão. The Municipal Market, lit by stained-glass windows, with fruit stalls, spices and the famous overstuffed mortadella sandwich. Our food guide explains what to order.
6. The historic centre. The cathedral, the Theatro Municipal, São Bento Monastery and the view from the Farol Santander tower. Our historic centre guide has a walking route.
7. Liberdade. The historic Japanese district, with red lanterns, Asian groceries, ramen shops and a weekend street fair.
8. Beco do Batman. A winding alley in Vila Madalena covered in murals, repainted often. Combine it with a drink in the neighbourhood's bars.
9. The Museum of the Portuguese Language. Interactive galleries about the language, in the grand Luz railway station. It reopened in 2021 after a fire.
10. SESC Pompeia. A former factory converted by Lina Bo Bardi into a cultural and sports centre, with concrete towers linked by walkways. Free to wander, with concerts and exhibitions.
11. A concert at Sala São Paulo. One of the world's great concert halls, built into a former railway station, and home to the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra.
12. A night out in Vila Madalena or Pinheiros. Start at a boteco with cold chope and snacks, then move between bars on foot, since the two neighbourhoods run into each other.

What we'd skip: the big shopping malls, which are much like malls anywhere, and a day at the São Paulo coast at the weekend, when the drive down to the sea can take hours in traffic.