Sao Paulo

by Alex Robinson, Gardênia Robinson

Overview

A vast city, Sao Paulo is the intellectual capital of Brazil, and nowhere in the country is better for concerts, clubs, theatre, ballet, classical music, all-round nightlife, restaurants and beautifully designed hotels. From admiring modernist Niemeyer buildings in the centre to relaxing on the glorious beaches of the coast, this Handbook will help you pick the most rewarding places to discover in this diverse state.

• Essentials section with practical advice on getting there and around.

• Highlights map so you know what not to miss.

• Reliable listings that you can trust, including where to eat, sleep and relax.

• Detailed street maps for Sao Paulo, Santos, and the Sao Paulo Metro.

• Slim enough to fit in your pocket.

Brimming with advice on how to navigate this buzzing metropolis, this Footprint guide will let you tantalise your taste buds in the city one day and explore the magnificent, rainforest-backed coastline the next.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781911082286
Publisher:	Bradt Travel Guides Ltd
Publication date:	03/14/2016
Series:	Footprint Handbooks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	130
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Alex Robinson is an award-winning writer and photographer based in London. He was runner up in the Friends of the Earth International Photography Award in 2007, won a Brazilian Press Award for the anniversary edition of Latin America’s travel magazine Viagem e Turismo and a US National Magazine award as part of the Fall 2006 edition of Departures Magazine. He has worked with numerous magazines, publishers and broadcasters, including Departures, Budget Travel, National Geographic, the Financial Times, Wanderlust, the Discovery Channel, Al Jazeera and the BBC. For more information, see alexrobinsonphotography.co.uk.
Gardenia Robinson, from Minas Gerais in Brazil, is a graduate of the University of Sao Paulo's prestigious Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade. She worked as an investment banker in Brazil before moving to the UK to work on the first guidebook to the Amazon, inspired to write by her favourite author, João Guimarães Rosa. After travelling throughout Latin America, South East Asia and Australia (visiting more than 25 countries), she returned to Brazil to open and run her own NGO working with sustainable tourism in local communities. She has researched and photographed books on London, the Amazon, Brazil and Mexico for publishers including Cadogan, DK and Footprint and has had her pictures published widely in Brazil, Europe and the USA.

Read an Excerpt

São Paulo is as famous for its concrete as Rio is for its beaches. But don’t let that

put you off. São Paulo may be polluted and ungainly, it may not have those

wonderful Rio views, that surf, that sea, but it is a beauty – if only behind closed

doors. Nowhere in Latin America can compete for sheer variety and quality of

restaurants, shops, hotels and nightlife.

Brazil’s great metropolis is peopled by Brazilians from all over the world, with the

greatest numbers of ethnic Japanese, Koreans, Arabs and Italians anywhere in

Latin America. And it’s where Brazil meets itself too, with Brazilians from every

state contributing to the giant city’s rich and diverse cultural life. Overwhelming

it may be, but to those who know it well São Paulo is never boring and never a

reflection of anywhere but itself. Marlene Dietrich perhaps summed it up when

she said, “Rio is a beauty – but São Paulo; ah … São Paulo is a city.”

Indeed, São Paulo is more than a city. It is also a state a little larger than

the UK; and while most of its interior is dull agricultural hinterland, its coast

is magnificent; just as beautiful as Rio de Janeiro’s but far less visited by

international tourists. The northern beaches are long and glorious and pounded

by some of South America’s finest surf. Brazil’s largest island, which is every

bit as pristine and romantic as Ilha Grande, lies a short boat ride off shore. The

beaches further south are less beautiful but far wilder; behind them, stretching

into the neighbouring state of Paraná, are the largest expanses of primary forest

on Brazil’s southern Atlantic coast.