Another thread that’s missing is one for São Paulo so I thought I’d start one for that city also since it’s Brazil’s largest city and the site for 6 games (plus I’m going there). Also, many people (like myself) will be arriving at São Paulo as their first stop in Brazil. Note that I have never been to Brazil, so everything I’m writing here is from what I’ve gleaned from the Internet. I’m hoping that locals and those familiar with the city will help us all out with some tips and better info. A little background first. São Paulo (or “SP” as it’s often written by the Brazilians) is Brazil’s largest city, and major international gateway. SP has two airports, Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) for international flights and Congonhas (CGH) for domestic. Domestic flights also fly to/from GRU, which is located northeast of the main downtown, about an hour drive, but traffic can make it longer. CGH is in the southern part of the city and much closer to the downtown. If you’re doing connecting flights between GRU and CGH, consider the transit time and traffic. The stadium is Arena de São Paulo (future home of Corinthians), which is in the eastern part of this massive city, and it’s accessible by the SP METRO which looks to be the best way to get to and from games. There are 4 Group Play games (including the opening Brazil-Croatia match), plus a Round-of-16 game and a Semi-Final. Many of the locals are recommending the upscale Jardins area as the best and safest area to stay. It’s an upscale neighborhood, with many hotels, restaurants and bars. Av. Paulista is sort of its northern border, although a few streets beyond Paulista are also OK before you eventually run into the rougher Centro area. Personally, I changed my itinerary to come 2 days early to spend June 13-14 in SP before heading off to Natal. I’ll also spend a few days in SP before flying home sometime during or just after the Round-of-16, but I’m keeping the back end of my itinerary flexible depending on how the US does, how my budget is holding up, and how much I want to stay. I hope this thread can be a place for São Paulo visitors and experts to exchange information and maybe meet up for a beer or a game.
I´m from SP and have been helping people in the general travel thread. Feel free to ask anything about this huge and impressive city. If you look for world class nightlife, top restaurants, bars and stuff like that, then SP is definitely your place.
Thanks BlackDiamond. Right now I'm still working on all my plans and bookings but as June gets closer and we all have our tickets (or not) there will be a lot more questions on the cities I'm sure. I'm arriving and departing at Sao Paulo from the US, so I'm there for 2 nights on the front end and for a few days on the back end. I'm staying at one of the Mercure hotels off Av Paulista in the Jardins area. I arrive Friday morning June 13 and depart for Natal on Sunday June 15 so only I have two nights (Friday and Saturday) in Sao Paulo for my first ever experience of Brazil. I plan to watch all 3 games on the 13th and all 4 games on the 14th from someplace in Sao Paulo, probably near my hotel in the Jardins/Paulista area. It sounds like there are a lot of clubs/pubs/bars in that area that will be good places to watch the game. If you have any suggestions, let us know. I'm traveling alone so I'm not looking for fine dining, and I really want to try out some authentic Brazilian food, so if you have suggestions for places to eat, that would be cool too. Once the games are done, "world class nightlife" sounds great too! Thanks for the offer to help, I'm sure as the tournament gets closer, there will be a lot of questions and activity.
@PabloSanDiego In fact, Jardins (portuguese for "Gardens") is a really good option for you to stay. Definitely, it´s not close to the Stadium, something that you don't need to worry about though, since the Stadium is far from everything else in the city. You can get there easily by metro anyway (I´d not go there by taxi cab, as it´s far away and the traffic is a real problem here, mainly in the stadium area). The Paulista Avenue area has a really good number of pub and restaurants. It goes from very sophisticated and pricey ones like D.O.M., which was elected the 6th best restaurant in the world, Fasano (italian food), Figueira Rubayat (there´s a huge fig tree [Figueira] in the middle of the hall) to more affordable places like Camelo (one of the best pizzas you can find here), Fogo de Chão (an iconic brazilian steakhouse, the real deal if you want to devour our "churrasco"). As for typical brazilian food, you can't go wrong if you pick places like À Mineira, Brasil a Gosto or Capim Santo. Finally, there are good options for pubs, specially taking into account that you wish to watch the games: Prainha Paulista and Aconchego Carioca are among the best. There are several other options, though. Not far from where you´re planning to stay at, there´s a street called Augusta (rua Augusta), the heart of the underground scene of the city. It´s a really cool place to go at night, a kind of red light zone, with typical brazilian cheap pubs (our "botecos"), alternative discos, people having a good time on the street. Well, São Paulo is huge, man. It´s the city that never sleeps, the place where you can find whatever you want at literally any time. Think of it as our New York City without yellow cabs (cabs here are in white color). It´s definitely not beautiful as Rio, the Northeast cities, it´s mostly gray, it´s noisy, it´s full of cars and people in a hurry, but man, it´s god damn cool.
BlackDiamond I will be flying in for the England Uruguay match on the 19th and despite a lot of research not 100% certain of best way to get to and from the ground. Partly because the arrival is at Congonhas and the departure is at Guarulhos. I had imagined bus to Sao Judas and metro 1 and 3 lines to Corinthians. After the game metro line 3 to Tatuape and bus to Guarulhos. Is that the best or do you think there might be buses from and to airports exclusively for the match? I want to have a good plan on this as it is a big crowd in a big city in the dark which is somewhat foreboding.
Once São Judas station is close to the CGH airport (~ 5 km or less by car), I´d take a taxi cab to get there, then the metro to the stadium (Line 1 to Sé Station, then Line 3 to Corinthians-Itaquera Station). Avoid buses here in São Paulo, specially in a hurried context like yours. After the game, if you plan to go directly to GRU and leave, I´d take a taxi cab straight to the airport. It will save you A LOT of time, stress and won´t be as expensive as you might wonder, as the stadium is relatively close to the GRU airport and fast to reach by car. I believe you are spending 50 or 60 Reais on it. It´s definitely worth, believe me.
Thanks for your comments. Fortunately timing is not too much of a problem with the flights we have but on the way back i would have thought the idea of a taxi with 60,000 is unlikely so would Tatuape by metro and then a taxi from them be a bad idea? It would be helpful if you could enlarge on why buses that go to and from the airport are a bad idea.
It´s easier, faster and more comfortable to get to the metro station by car, as it´s close to the CGN airport. But if you really want to live a complete experience and timing is not a major concern, you can take a bus (Metrô São Judas line) and that´s perfectly fine. It will be time consuming though, because that area usually has high traffic all day long. Once the game is finished, actually it´s a good idea to go to Tatuapé by metro and then by taxi to the GRU airport. I don´t think you will have a huge problem getting a taxi around the stadium, the real problem will be the traffic again. Tatuapé is a neighborhood which has faster and smarter car routes to the airport, but be prepared to get some traffic anyway. São Paulo is a real nightmare regarding traffic, specially in work days. Unfortunately, everything here should be planned in advance taking the traffic factor into account and that's the main reason I'd avoid buses if I could.
Ric - I'm glad you asked this question as I will be in a similar boat for the same match. I'm already going to a couple of games in Rio, so have booked accommodations there for my whole stay in Brazil. My intention was to take an internal flight to SP on the morning of the 19th and fly back to Rio after the game. BlackDiamond - thank you for your suggestions. With internal flights, I can arrive at/fly from CGH or GRU. By the sounds of it, I am best arranging flights through GRU. How long should it take to get to the airport after a game? I don't want to risk missing the return flight I end up booking.
Arrive at GRU and fly from there as well if you are leaving SP just after the game. CGH only makes sense if you are staying here longer. Taking into account that you should take the metro to Tatuapé station and then a taxi to the airport, I´d say that, once game is finished and you start your way back, it's possible you can take between 60 and 90 minutes to get to GRU. As I previously said, Tatuape has more straighforward and smarter routes to the airport and you avoid the the traffic in stadium's area.
Hey, I live in Sao Paulo and I’m gonna host some people during WC in my simple apartment for a very simple price. My place is close to Republica metro station and I’ll have free time to help whoever stays here during his/her stay. If someone is interested or knows someone who might be, please, contact me – edgarlepri@yahoo.com.br
Thank you very much! What can you tell me 'Vale do Anhagabau" is near the republica subway station. That is where the Fifa Fan Fest will be located so I was planning to get a hotel nearby. What do you think?
Actually, São Bento subway station (Line 1 - Blue) is the closest one. There´s even an Anhangabaú station (Line 2 - Red), but the São Bento one is a bit closer. Vale do Anhangabaú is one of the most visited sites in São Paulo. It´s a kind of valley ("vale" means valley in portuguese) with gardens, surrounded by baroque style buildings and is located at the very heart of the city, in an area called "centro velho" ("old downtown"), which contains several historical buildings about São Paulo settlement. It´s really worth an exploration of the whole area (Sé Plaza, São Bento Church, Municipal Theater, the narrow streets etc.). There´s a viaduct called Viaduto do Chá (literally "Tea´s Viaduct) where you can have a really beautiful view of the valley, specially in the sunset. Just a piece of advice: that whole area called "centro velho" is REALLY dangerous at night, with lots of crack smokers, pickpockets, beggars and stuff. Of course, as it´s usual in Brazil every time a big event takes place here, there will be a massive presence of policemen and a convenient and temporary clean-up of the area (these unwanted people are conveniently chased away), specially at the Fifa Fan Fest arena. Anyway, don't be näive and don't get far away from this area if you are there at night. Don´t be afraid though. During the day it´s a really nice and typical São Paulo area to visit.
tippy originally I had a 21.30 flight booked but with checking in and the likely mayhem after the game I was even concerned with that and went for the 22.30 which TAM then changed to 22.50! What time is your return flight? As it is a city I don't know, will be getting dark and one can get very disoriented even round the ground. I remember coming out of the Mexico Angola match in Hanover and really struggling to even find the metro!
Ric, I have not yet booked a flight to/from Sao Paulo. I'd applied for tickets to this match in this most recent sales phase and was hoping to find out if I was successful before booking the flights. Given the length of time BlackDiamond indicates it takes to get to GRU, and as you say the mayhem that can be expected, and wanting to allow time for possible unforeseen delays, I too am unsure how much time I'd leave, but I'd rather have to sit and wait in the airport versus risking missing my flight. I have been checking return flights to Rio and I've noticed a couple of things - first, there are not many after 8:30-9:00 pm, especially leaving GRU, and, secondly, they are very expensive. Right now, it looks like it would be about $650-$700 for a return flight. I hope more are added, though I don't know what the likelihood of that would be.
Definitely not. You only have subpar hotels there and the neighbors are not the best you can get. @tippytoronto What do you think about getting back to Rio by bus? There are regular lines all night long between both cities. Although the trip is a bit lengthy (between 6 and 7 hours long), it´s cheap (about 60 dollars), the bus is very, very comfortable (it has those chairs that turn into beds and stuff) and you can a save a ton of money.
BlackDiamond - thanks for your time to help us getting to know Sao Paulo. I have a question for you. I am looking at hotels for my Sao Paulo stay in these areas: Rua Dr. Ramos de Azevedo, Guarulhos and RuaAlice Manholer Piteri, Osasco. Would you kindly comment on the neighborhood and relatively how safe the areas are, specially at night? Thank you so much.
BlackDiamond, do you know how long it would take to go from Estação Prefeito Celso Daniel-Santo André to Bras using the commuter rail?
Blackdiamond - we fly in to SP on 19th 2pm for the Eng - Uru game. Is 2 hours enough to get from CGH to the ground? Also after we get the bus back to Rio at 11pm - where should we be going to soak up the atmosphere?
Hi I don't think it's a good idea, because both places are too far away from everything you effectively want to do in SP: discos, pubs, nightlife, parks. Both cities (yes, Guarulhos and Osasco are cities within the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area). They`re not well served by subway, bus local lines are always complicated for turists, taxi will be expensive, so, w/o a rented car to go here and there, it's not a good idea. Have you tried the Accor hotels? There are several of them here in SP. Take a look: http://www.accorhotels.com/pt-br/brands/hotels-formule1.shtml
I'm not totally sure, because I've never used this line, but I asked my wife, who did it, and she believes you take between 30 and 40 minutes to do it.
Hi, I believe that by "ground" you meant "the underground", right? If so, then yes, you can get there by taxi (my personal choice if I was you) in about 20 minutes or by bus in about 40 minutes or so. If I got you wrong, let me know.
Thanks BD. My wife and I are totally not interested in the pub/disco type places. We are more interested in authentic brazil culture - so our idea of the perfect trip would be eating street food, riding the bus, talking to the locals, buying local souvenirs. We really don't want to do the things that are available in the US, we don't go to the clubs even in the US. The only thing we worry about is relative safety. Do you think the place in guarulhos is dangerous? I also have some bookings in the Jardins area, just in case.