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Sao Paulo, Brazil Trip Advice

pnosker

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Oct 14, 2007
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I'm going to Sao Paulo with my girlfriend in October for a few days. Has anyone been there? Annoyingly, our flight gets in to the VCP airport around 100 km away from Sao Paulo.

Brazil can be quite dangerous so we're not going to take any expensive jewelry, electronics, etc. and we'll stick with taxis.

If anyone has suggestions on what to do, any tips on safety or getting around, etc. whether for Sao Paulo or Brazil in general I'd love to hear it! Thanks!
 
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Brazil is AMAZING.

If you stick to the touristy areas, you will be fine.

The main going out area in Sao Paulo is Bela Vista. It has a scene like I've never seen...the one main street is full of bars where people in their 20s literally just hang out outside and drink beer or caipirinhas. Thousands of them.

Historically Rio is the main tourist destination for most (many other South Americans visit the beaches in Southern Brazil like Florianopolis). I spent most of my time there, but I can give you a lot of other general tips.

DO do a favela tour. You go during the day with an English speaking guide. It will be one of the most memorable parts of the trip, guaranteed.

DO just grab beers and street food. Beer is like R2-3 which is like a buck and change, Brazilian beer is good and they are obsessed with serving it as cold as possible. Good street food is a kibbe, which is similar to the Middle Eastern kind but with cheese. Caipirinha is maybe like R4-5. Walk on the street with it, it's legal.

Do try the following food:

- Feijoada, the national dish of Brazil, a stew with various meats and beans.

- Sushi- Brazil has the most Japanese people outside of Japan. Best sushi I ever had was in Rio, and it's probably even better in Sao Paulo as most of the Japanese community is there.

- Rodizio (duh)

- A good Brazilian sandwich like a misto quente

Sao Paulo is gritty, but really, I was not scared in Brazil even once. I went on the favela tour, walked around at night, carried money...if you don't attract the wrong attention in NYC, and don't walk around Brazil with a Rolex while drunkenly screaming in English, you are unlikely to encounter problems. Myself and all my friends who have been to Brazil all feel this way.

It helps if you speak Portuguese, or at least learn a few words, but Brazilians are super nice, they will pretend to know a few words in English or try to switch to Spanish for those that speak it. Sao Paulo is a world city, most Italians and Lebanese outside of their respective countries along with the Japanese, and that will be reflected.

I don't know much about Vitoria, but there may be some beaches in Espiritu Santo worth visiting so I would look into a night or two there as not going to a beach in Brazil is like going there and not getting a steak.

And try not to let your girlfriend catch your eye because it will be on the women there, easily 75% of the women would be 9-10 in the US.
 
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not sao paulo but you get the idea..

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I just got back from Rio. While it looks safe and touristy, its not. I was wearing a gold chain under my t shirt and was mugged by a gang of young kids who pulled on my chain until it broke. Although I ran after them, I couldn't catch up. My neck had a huge welt for several days. The moral is, don't wear ANY jewelry, no matter how big you might be. (Several people I spoke with after the fact reported having their wallets stolen.)

Having traveled all over the world without incident, I can now objectively say that Brazil was the most dangerous locale I have been to...
 
I recommend taking along a small box of the white surgical masks in case the air quality is really bad. Sao Paulo is at the heart of Latin America's largest industrial center and there are fewer controls on emissions than here. You can see the pollution that often hovers over the city as you land at the airport.

That aside, I highly recommend flying down to the spectacular Iguassu Falls, which are along the border between Argentina and Brazil, just 10 kilometers upstream from Paraguay. If you ever saw the movie "The Mission" with Robert DeNiro and Jeremy Irons, you will know of these falls as much of that film was shot in the vicinity. It is one of the natural wonders of South America and actually makes Niagara Falls, as great as that is, look like someone left the bathtub water running. You won't regret going. Direct flights easy to arrange from Sao Paulo to Iguassu (on the Brazilian side).

As some of the other comments above indicate, Brazil is the most diverse society on earth. They have all the groups that we have but they also have every possible mixture of all those groups, which we don't really have. It is a vibrant country that, like us, is full of itself.

Enjoy.
 
Get a really good tan before you go and dress like the locals and try to blend in. They target gringos to rob.
 
I love all the comments from finicky travelers. Yeah I guess if your are dumb enough to wear a gold chain you can get the business. Ive been to 46 countries and there were plenty of places with more to worry about.

I was just in RIO for orientation for my work at the Olympics in 2016(it will be my 6th). I didnt find RIO dangerous at all, then again I was with security guys from all over the planet and prob NOT an easy target. But I saw nothing that worried me. We went to the top of Christ the Redeemer , swam at Ipanema....I only spent a day in Sao Paulo.....its HUGE and confusing ! Everywhere I went it was like a big party !

In general eat the street food drink the local hooch and dance like a local. We danced all the way home at 3am some nights and locals would just join us for a block or two,,,they literally dance at the drop of a hat !

Visas arent easy to get but that was the only drawback for some..I somehow was provided with a 7 year work visa LOL

You will have a ball......enjoy!
 
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Thanks for the tips everyone! If anyone has any more I'd be happy to hear them.

My girlfriend and I are in our 20s, been to Stockholm and Hyderabad/Delhi this past year. I'm pretty well traveled and know not to wear any jewelry in unsafe areas-- will get a money belt and scans of passports to carry around to prevent any serious losses. We'll only be in Sao Paulo for three days and won't have time to see too much outside of the area. There were some insanely priced flights to Iguassu Falls yesterday (under $350 roundtrip from EWR!) but sadly don't have time to do that this trip.

So it sounds like the "must do" activities: steak, local food, sushi and beer. I'll spend some time checking out the coffee trade (an interest of mine) which is supposedly big in Sao Paulo. A tourist visa doesn't look too hard to get, mostly just annoying with two trips to the consulate in NYC required (maybe I'll just use a service to do it for me).
 
GET THE VISA NOW. Sorry I forgot that before. They delay.

More tips I thought of....

- Brazilians like to party into the night....the Iberian culture is very much inherited in that regard, and they eat dinner on the later side and don't get drinking until after midnight, they are not as nightime oriented as Argentines or Spaniards but it's close.

- Brazil and Argentina have this thing where you enter a bar, get a ticket, and then each drink they stamp it or punch a hole...do not lose this card because then you will pay for the card which is a lot. The better brews IMO are Antarctica and Polar, I feel like Brahma is their Fosters, it seems like other Latin Americans drink it and feel Brazilian, but Brazilians don't.

- When you get beer at a restaurant, assuming your girlfriend drinks beer, get the big one ("o mais grande" - sounds like "uuu myyys granchee") and split it...they don't really do bottles.

- See what the Sao Paulo equivalent of Scenarium in Rio is....Scenarium is the most well known Samba club in Rio, and I'm confident they have an equivalent. Rio also had a great free walking tour, and I always like to check and see if cities have a bar crawl, great way to meet people.

- Try mate...South American tea, in Brazil it's served cold and prononunced like ma-chee

- Go to a mall just to see the interesting way they interpret American culture, a lot of things in Brazil are cheaper than here, just know clothes are not one. However, it will be one of the few places where everyone will speak perfect English.

- In terms of flights, Gol is the Brazilian discount airline, they may have some good offers.
 
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I just got back from Rio. While it looks safe and touristy, its not. I was wearing a gold chain under my t shirt and was mugged by a gang of young kids who pulled on my chain until it broke. Although I ran after them, I couldn't catch up. My neck had a huge welt for several days. The moral is, don't wear ANY jewelry, no matter how big you might be. (Several people I spoke with after the fact reported having their wallets stolen.)

Having traveled all over the world without incident, I can now objectively say that Brazil was the most dangerous locale I have been to...

I traveled with a friend to Brazil who mugged on the 1 train shortly after his return to the US. I never wear fancy stuff unless it's an occasion and then I am taking a car or taxi.

Anytime I travel anywhere for pleasure, I do not carry my whole wallet. I don't need my Qdoba card, gift certificates, multiple credit cards at a time. You need to be cogniscent whereever you are.

I am a really fair skinned 5'11 dad bod type, and I just opened conversations from the favela to Ipanema with my semester of Portuguese for Spanish speakers, and got lots of love for it.
 
Hire a driver for your stay. Your hotel can help. I've been 20+ times for work. It will just be better, trust me.
 
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I'm going to Sao Paulo with my girlfriend in October for a few days. Has anyone been there? Annoyingly, our flight gets in to the VCP airport around 100 km away from Sao Paulo.

Brazil can be quite dangerous so we're not going to take any expensive jewelry, electronics, etc. and we'll stick with taxis.

If anyone has suggestions on what to do, any tips on safety or getting around, etc. whether for Sao Paulo or Brazil in general I'd love to hear it! Thanks!


VCP airport is in Campinas which is a beautiful countryside area...it may take a while to get down into SP though. The traffic can get ludicrous.
 
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