30 Best Sights in São Paulo, Brazil

A striking low-rise building elevated on two massive concrete pillars holds one of the city's premier fine-arts collections. The highlights include works by Van Gogh, Renoir, Delacroix, Cézanne, Monet, Rembrandt, Picasso, and Degas. The baroque sculptor Aleijadinho, the expressionist painter Lasar Segall, and the expressionist/surrealist painter Cândido Portinari are three of the many Brazilian artists represented. The huge open area beneath the museum is often used for cultural events and protests, and is the site of a charming Sunday antiques fair.

The final building in Oscar Niemeyer's design for the park, the Auditório opened in 2005. It has since become one of São Paulo's trademark sights, with what looks like a giant red lightning bolt striking a massive white daredevil ramp. Seating up to 800, the concert hall regularly welcomes leading Brazilian and international musical acts. Its back wall can be retracted to reveal the stage to thousands more on the lawn outside.

Peek into the Paulista's past at one of the avenue's few remaining early-20th-century buildings, the House of the Roses. A 1935 French-style mansion with gardens inspired by those at Versailles, it seems out of place next to the surrounding skyscrapers. The famous paulistano architect Ramos de Azevedo designed the home for one of his daughters, and the same family occupied it until 1986, when it was made an official municipal landmark. The site, now a cultural center, hosts classes and literary events. Coffee drinks and pastries are served at the café on the terrace.

Traveling families will find education and entertainment for their children at this interactive science museum in the former city hall building. For architecture fans, the early-20th-century structure, with its interior courtyard, alone justifies a visit. Stepping into human-size soap bubbles or touching actual meteorites, meanwhile, are the big attractions for kids. The museum's exhibits are organized along four thematic lines: the universe, life, ingenuity, and society.

The imposing, 14-tower neo-Gothic Catedral da Sé occupies the official center of São Paulo—the 0 Km point, as it's called here. Tours of the church wind through the crypt, which contains the remains of Tibiriçá, a native Brazilian who helped the Portuguese back in 1554.

The greenhouse-size skylight of this cultural center's 1901 neoclassical home makes the modern and contemporary art exhibits here seem almost to sprout organically; past ones include "The Magic World of Escher." Plays and small film festivals, the latter celebrating filmmakers from Quentin Tarantino to Louis Malle, further broaden the venue's appeal. The center's facilities include a theater, an auditorium, a movie theater, a video room, and three floors of exhibition rooms.

One of the city's best-preserved Portuguese colonial buildings, this baroque structure—two churches, one run by Catholic clergy and the other by lay brothers—was built between 1647 and 1790. The image inside of Saint Francis was rescued from a fire in 1870.

The architect of this serpentine apartment and office block, Oscar Niemeyer, went on to design much of Brasília, the nation's capital. The building has the clean, white, undulating curves characteristic of Niemeyer's work. The Copan was constructed in 1950, and its 1,160 apartments house about 5,000 people.

One way to catch the astounding view from atop the Itália Building is to drop in for lunch or dinner at the Terraço Itália restaurant, starting on the 41st floor. The main dining room features central columns, candlelit tables, and a terrace. The restaurant is expensive, making a drink at the piano bar, with its upholstered seating and wood lining, a more affordable strategy. Thriftier still is a visit to the outside terrace, which is free weekdays 3–4 pm.

Strolling through this flea market is a favorite Sunday activity for paulistanos. Crafts, antiques, and furniture are among the wares. Walk up the São José staircase to see Rua dos Ingleses, a typical and well-preserved fin-de-siècle Bixiga street.

A beautiful, quiet, private wooded estate is the setting for the Maria Luisa and Oscar Americano Foundation. Paintings, furniture, sacred art, silver, porcelain, engravings, tapestries, sculptures, and personal possessions of the Brazilian royal family are among the 1,500 objects from the Portuguese colonial and imperial periods on display here, and there are some modern pieces as well. Having afternoon high tea here is an event, albeit an expensive one, and Sunday concerts take place in the auditorium.

In 1888 a Brazilian scientist, with the aid of the state government, turned a farmhouse into a center for the production of snake serum. Today the Instituto Butantan has more than 70,000 snakes, spiders, scorpions, and lizards in its five museums. It still extracts venom and processes it into serum that's made available to victims of poisonous bites throughout Latin America.

The futuristic green, pink, and purple exterior of this contemporary art museum designed by Ruy Ohtake makes it one of the city's most recognizable buildings. The institute, named for Ohtake's mother, a renowned painter who emigrated from Japan to Brazil, mounts interesting photography and design-related exhibitions. It also houses the independently operated Brazilian restaurant Santinho, which has a popular Sunday brunch.

Maintained by Itaú, one of Brazil's largest private banks, this cultural institute has art shows as well as lectures, workshops, and films. It also maintains an archive with a photographic history of São Paulo, a library that specializes in works on Brazilian art and culture, and a permanent exhibition tracing the formation of Brazil.

A great spot for a midday picnic, the Botanical Gardens contain about 3,000 plants belonging to more than 340 native species. Orchids, aquatic plants, and Atlantic rain-forest species thrive in the gardens' greenhouses. The hundred-plus bird species that have been observed at Jardim Botânico make it a favorite stopover for São Paulo birders.

The memorial's massive concrete hand sculpture, its fingers reaching toward the São Paulo sky, is one of the city's signature images. Part of a 20-acre park filled with Oscar Niemeyer–designed structures, the Memorial da América Latina was inaugurated in 1989 in homage to regional unity and its greatest champions, among them Simón Bolívar and José Martí. Aside from the monument, the grounds' highlights include works by Cândido Portinari and an auditorium dedicated to musical and theatrical performances.

The German architect Richard Berndl designed this Norman–Byzantine church that was completed in 1922. Ecclesiastical imagery abounds, and soaring archways extend skyward. The church's enormous organ has some 6,000 pipes, and its Russian image of the Kasperovo Virgin is covered with 6,000 pearls from the Black Sea. On the last Sunday of each month, paulistanos compete for space at the church's popular brunch, which also includes a tour and varying performances, from dance to choir; call early to reserve your seat. The don't-miss religious event at Mosterio de São Bento is Sunday Mass at 10 am, when the sound of monks' Gregorian chants echoes through the chamber.

The Museum of Contemporary Art expanded its Ibirapuera presence in 2012 by renovating and moving into the eight-floor former Department of Transportation building. Now shorn of its bureaucratic coldness, the space ranks among Parque Ibirapuera's architectural highlights (even though it is just over the road, rather than inside the park). The museum houses the MAC's entire 10,000-piece collection, including works by Picasso, Modigliani, and Chagall.

More than 4,500 paintings, installations, sculptures, and other works from modern and contemporary artists such as Alfredo Volpi and Lygia Clark are part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection. Temporary exhibits often feature works by new local artists. The giant wall of glass, designed by Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi, serves as a window beckoning you to glimpse inside; an exterior mural painted in 2010 by Os Gêmeos, São Paulo twin brothers famous for their graffiti art, shows a little of MAM's inner appeal to the outside world.

If you can't get to Bahia or Minas Gerais during your stay in Brazil, you can get a taste of the fabulous baroque and rococo art found there at the Museum of Sacred Art. On display are 4,000 wooden and terra-cotta masks, jewelry, and liturgical objects from all over the country (but primarily Minas Gerais and Bahia), dating from the 17th century to the present. The on-site convent was founded in 1774.

The three-floor Museum of Japanese Immigration has exhibits about Nippo-Brazilian culture and farm life, and about Japanese contributions to Brazilian horticulture. There are also World War II memorials. Relics and life-size re-creations of scenes from the Japanese diaspora line the walls, and paintings hang from the ceiling like wind chimes.

Created in 1892 as a showcase for local vegetation, the park was renovated in 1968 by Roberto Burle Marx, the Brazilian landscaper famed for Rio's mosaic-tile beachfront sidewalks. You can escape the noise of the street and admire the flora and the 300-year-old trees while seated on one of the benches sculpted to look like chairs.

The 200-acre São Paulo Zoo has more than 3,200 animals, and many of its 410 species—such as the mico-leão-dourado (golden lion tamarin monkey)—are endangered. If you visit the zoo, don't miss the monkey houses, built on small islands in the park's lake, and the Casa do Sangue Frio (Cold-Blooded House), with reptilian and amphibious creatures.

São Paulo was founded by the Jesuits José de Anchieta and Manoel da Nóbrega in the College Courtyard in 1554. The church was constructed in 1896 in the same style as the chapel built by the Jesuits. In the small museum you can see a fascinating relief map of Centro in colonial times and an exhibition of early sacred art and relics.

In even-numbered years this pavilion hosts the Bienal (Biennial), an exhibition that presents the works of artists from more than 60 countries. The first such event was held in 1951 in Parque Trianon and drew artists from 21 countries. After Ibirapuera Park's inauguration in 1954, the Bienal was moved to this Oscar Niemeyer–designed building that's noteworthy for its large open spaces and floors connected by circular slopes.

An exact replica of the Katsura Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Japan, the Japanese Pavilion is one of the structures built for the Parque Ibirapuera's inauguration. Designed by professor Sutemi Horiguti of the University of Tokyo, it was built in Japan and reassembled here beside the man-made lake in the Japanese-style garden. The main building displays samurai clothing, pottery, and sculpture from several dynasties; rooms upstairs are used for traditional tea ceremonies.

The highlights of the State Art Gallery's permanent collection include paintings by the renowned Brazilian artists Tarsila do Amaral and Cândido Portinari. The museum occupies a 1905 structure that was renovated in the late 1990s. The exterior recalls a 1950s brick firehouse, while the view through the central courtyard's interior windows evokes the cliffs of Cuenca, Spain. Admission is valid for same-day admission to the Estação Pinacoteca, the Pinacoteca's second branch, which is a short walk away at Largo General Osório 66.

The area is sketchy so stay alert as you go, and don't walk at night.

To experience the eclectic cultural mix that keeps São Paulo pulsing, visit Praça da Liberdade on a weekend, when the square hosts a sprawling Asian food and crafts fair. You might see Afro-Brazilians dressed in colorful kimonos hawking grilled shrimp on a stick, or perhaps a religious celebration such as April's Hanamatsuri, commemorating the birth of the Buddha. Many Japanese shops and restaurants worth a stop can be found near the square.

This large plaza marks the city's geographical center—the 0 Km point, as it's called here—and holds the city's main cathedral, the beautiful Catedral da Sé. It can't be missed when you're visiting the rest of the historic downtown, but know that the square has become a place to stay for many of the city's homeless people and a meeting point for migrants and immigrants new to the area.

Avoid visiting after dark and be on the lookout for pickpockets.