Visiting Sao Paulo and surroundings

It's hot all the time in Ribeirão Preto, I can tell because my family is from there
Well, Ribeirão Preto is more like a "non-metropolitan" city you know, it's good to live but not so good when it comes to night fun and stuff like that...
I recommend you to visit Campos do Jordão city (it's a beautiful and reminds me of Switzerland, no joke) and the city of São Paulo is always a good option (You'll find restaurants from all countries, the São Paulo's night is one of the best in South America, you can visit clubs, malls (Bourbon Shopping Mall is the biggest Mall in Latin America), you can have a lunch in one of the many "Churrascarias" we have (There's nothing like the brazilian barbecue), etc...

 

Well this won't be your first time around here, but let me warn you if you plan on visiting the capital:

Be prepared to meet the 'ocean of cars!' Seriously, traffic is crazy around here.



Advice: use your feet and the subway as much as possible, and avoid using your car between 7:00~9:00 and 17:00~20:00, those are the worst hours to be on your car, by personal experience from a guy born and raised here.

 

Visit the Football Museum in the Pacaembu Stadium.

 

Ubatuba, Ilha Bela, Barra do Una, Maresias... I recommend you to avoid Praia Grande, Santos and Guarujá. Ilha bela is beautiful, about São Sebastião, dunno. I don't remember the last time I was there, guess everything is different nowadays.
Some pics os Maresias, Ilha Bela and Ubatuba:

 

Good call.
To make things clear to our visitor:

Beer -> cerveja
Draft beer - > chopp

 

Colorado is a brewery from Ribeirão Preto. They have won some international prizes.
Eisenbahn is a brewery from Blumenau, in the state of Santa Catarina.


http://www.cervejariacolorado.com.br
http://www.eisenbahn.com.br

 

Most beer in Brazil must taste like water to you. It's our culture to like really light pilsens.

The small breweries, like the ones mentioned, produce higher quality beers and have diversity. Only through them we can find brazilian stouts, ales, wheat beers and etc.

 

Brazil and Singapore/Malaysia are possible locations for our study trip. I've a few questions and I will be incredibly grateful is some of you are willing to answer them. There is some interesting information already in this thread, so I thought I could better use this one.

1. What's the level of academics in Brazil? The University of Sao Paulo is ranked as the best university in Brazil. Are there other good universities in the same region? The field of study we are interested in is health sciences / biomedical engineering.
2. What is the level of the health care industry in the region around Sao Paulo.
2. What are great things to do Sao Paulo in April/May for a bunch of students? The group will consist of 30 people.
3. How safe is Sao Paulo at night? Can you go out in the city and have a drink?

 

Sorry, but I don't live in São Paulo and his questions are very specific.
About going out at night, it's pretty safe if you stay away from the bad neighborhoods and move around by taxi.
The city has great bars, nightclubs and pubs.

 

Paganitzu,

I did not go to university in Brazil, so my knowledge of Brazilian universities is very limited. USP – Universidade de São Paulo – and Getúlio Vargas are two of the finest universities in all of Brazil. I have no knowledge about the strength of these two institutions’ health sciences/biomedical engineering departments.

I would speculate that health care for those who are able to afford it is good. I’m not familiar with Brazilian health care, but I do know that the level of care available to the lower-middle-class and the underclass is not enviable. Public hospitals/clinics tend to be understaffed and underequipped. Those who have enough money to pay for private health insurance plans get care, as far as I know, that is comparable to what is available to the US middle class (which doesn’t say much because ObamaCare is making things more expensive, more difficult to get, and of lower quality). Relatives of mine who are well-off all go to private doctors/dentists/hospitals and they are willing and able to open their wallets for what they get, but their cases are not indicative of what the average Brazilian has access to.

São Paulo is a very large city with a vibrant nightlife, thousands of bars and restaurants, some museums, etc. It is a sprawling city (think of Los Angeles) where you will need a car to get around.

Here’s a random list:
- Parque do Ibirapuera. Just a park.
- Terraço Itália: a restaurant in a high-rise building which offers a 360-degree view of the city.
- Museu do Ipiranga: shows statues and art from Brazil’s imperial period.
- Pico do Jaraguá: a hill that offers good views of the city.
- Pacaembu and Morumbi stadiums: soccer matches may not be offered while you’re there, but look for tours. Pelé’s career includes many games at Pacaembu (and Pacaembu houses the Museu do Futebol), and Morumbi is the home of São Paulo Futebol Clube.
- Mercado Municipal. Think of any major city’s main market. You’ll find pasta, smoked meats, exotic fruits, raw poultry/fish/beef/pork, and other goodies. You MUSt try a pastel de bacalhau (codfish dumpling) there.
www.mercadomunicipal.com.br
- Museu de Arte. If you like art, check it out.
- Avenida Paulista is the main throughfare of the city. It’s quite safe to walk there during the day and generally at night. Tons of bars, shops, restaurants.

Given you’re young, you will enjoy the more hipster/upscale neighborhood of Vila Olímpia. It is also the center of many financial offices. Nearby neighborhoods like Chácara Itaim, Itaim Bibi, Brooklin Novo, and Cidade Jardim have restaurants and bars worth checking out.

As for safety: use common sense. If you’re clubbing in a dance club in Vila Olímpia, or if you walk out of a restaurant located in Jardins (a wealthy neighborhood), the odds are you’ll be safe. But São Paulo is a VERY large city with many neighborhoods of varying socioeconomic status. I advise you not to walk alone at night, say, in Santa Ifigênia.

It is unfortunate that a historic area of the city known as “Zona Central” or “Centro,” which once housed the city’s financial district, is also one of the more dangerous ones. It doesn’t mean there are daily murders or gang robberies, but it does mean that there is a higher incidence of petty crime and street dwellers. During the day, you should be fine, but at night, be careful. I’d actually recommend you guys get a hotel/accommodations in areas like Vila Olímpia as it’s a safer area.

While there is safety in numbers, do realize that there is, in South America, generally a higher risk of petty crime that you may not be used to if you come from North America, Europe, or certain east Asian cities. South American “criminals” often associate foreigners with money (dollars). Don’t be flashy. You may wish to leave expensive jewelry/watches at home. Not that there are no Brazilians who can afford and wear four-figure watches, etc. There are many people driving BMWs and Mercedes in São Paulo. But people like that are locals who know where to go and where to stay away from. You’re coming in as a foreigner who doesn’t know what locals know.

I’ve looked up some English-language resources and here’s what I found.

http://wikitravel.org/en/São_Paulo
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel_Guide-g303631-Sao_Paulo_State_of_Sao_Paulo.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g303631-Sao_Paulo_State_of_Sao_Paulo-Vacations.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g303631-Activities-Sao_Paulo_State_of_Sao_Paulo.html

This is a very introductory list. São Paulo is just too huge for a short visit. Its sheer enormity is daunting. Even when I lived there, I only hung out in certain areas. And every time I visit, I tend to go where I’ve already been. My own relatives and friends are always learning of new places to check out, and there are neighborhoods/areas they’ve rare if ever ventured into (not even due to safety – it is just too far for them) and other areas they haven’t been to in years, in some cases 10 years or more.

There should be plenty of English-language information online, ranging from restaurant/bar websites to museum websites, etc. Tourism is huge in Brazil and Brazilians welcome foreign visitors and do what is possible to make their visits easier. Have fun!

 

1. hmm for that field of study I suppose your best FREE options are USP and Unicamp (http://www.fcm.unicamp.br/fcm/), both of them are excellent. If you are willing to pay the fees, you might want to check UNIFESP (http://www.unifesp.br/) and Santa Casa (http://www.santacasasp.org.br/porta...e-ciencias-medicas-da-santa-casa-de-sao-paulo).

2. Well public hospitals are always VERY crowded, I wouldn't suggest you to use them other than in extreme emergencies. We have soem EXCELLENT paid ones though: I can personally affirm that Beneficência Portuguesa is a top grade hospital (http://www.beneficencia.org.br/Default.aspx), same for Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein (http://www.einstein.br/Paginas/home.aspx , perhaps the best one but it is VERY costly), Sírio Libanês (http://www.hospitalsiriolibanes.org.br/Paginas/default.aspx, same as Albert Einstein: absolutely top grade, but very costly) and Hospital Santa Catarina (http://www.hsc.org.br/site/portal_hsc/pt/contato/como_chegar/como_chegar.aspx, that's where I was born ^_^)

2 (?!). Can't help you on this one, I'm the "home->college->home" kind of guy, you may even call me anti-social

3. I guess that the key here is to watch your surroundings and use your common sense. There are some very dangerous places, but there are also some that are perfectly fine. Use your common sense, don't go around flashing your possessions, if you are going alone or with just a few people you might want to use taxis until you get more used to the place, if you are moving in crowds it's okay (and much cheaper) to use the subways.

 

Thank you all so much!

In a life sciences ranking, the University of Sao Paulo is ranked 50th. That's quite good, but the universities in Brazil can't compete with Singapore.

According to the wiki page University of Sao Paulo does have some engineering degrees?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_São_Paulo

What are according to you good engineering universities in the state of Sao Paulo? Do you know some medical devices/pharmaceutical companies in the state of Sao Paulo (or in Brazil)?

To make clear, we are not going to study in Brazil. We are going to visit universities and learn about the research they perform. The duration of our trip is three weeks. We are going to represent our own university, Eindhoven University of Technology. We are also going to visit the industry (medical devices/pharma) and maybe an academic hospital.

Sao Paulo was picked as one of the locations in Brazil. We are planning to visit at least two cities/regions.

 

Thanks! We decided to go for Singapore/Malaysia

But if we had to chose a location for a vacation Brazil would have 'won'.