I don’t have a whole lot to say about São Paulo. It’s a really big city, (the largest in South America in fact), where people live and work: there’s nothing really ‘wow’ about it, like Rio. A lot of people said it was dodgy but I luckily didn’t feel unsafe or anything whilst I was there. I stayed for one night the first time to explore a little, had a ‘layover’ in the bus station the second and passed through again on my way to Salvador. It’s a great transport hub for wider Brazil – that’s something I guess?

If you’re big into galleries and museums, then you’ll likely love São Paulo. I personally LOVED the Football Museum. I’m not even a football girlie, but at only £3.20/R$20 to get in, I figured, ‘why not’ and I really enjoyed it. I also did a walking tour of Vila Madalena which was really interesting to see and learn about the street art culture which is all over the city, culminating in Beco do Batman. The following morning, 2 of the girls in my dorm and I went for a wonder of a street market, (I think it was Mercado do Liberdade but I’m not 100%), and ate our way through it. There’s also a great all you can eat vegan buffet called Vita Natural. You pay R$38 for unlimited food which has a good spread with dessert and drinks included too.

If I were to return for a substantial amount of time, I want to visit the Pinacoteca do Estado which is apparently an amazing art gallery. I also want to go to Aparelha which is an African culture museum/gallery, (they also have really good cluuurb events here too).

One thing I couldn’t get over in São Paulo is how DUMB their metro system is. You can’t just tap in with a card like every other major city in 2025. To buy a ticket you need cash (?) or a debit card – the latter is difficult when foreign cards are always read as ‘credit’ cards. Also, the first two times I’ve come through SP now, there’s been an electricity problem? The night I stayed, I was out here like a 1830s wench, cooking by torch light because there was a power cut. The second time, (just a layover in the bus station), there was a power cut so all the food places were closed. Those that were open were dark and could only accept cash. I don’t know if I just got unlucky or if there’s some load shedding thing going on. To me, it all seemed very odd for the largest city in South America and wealthiest in Brazil.

Anyways, it was really just a stop over point in my opinion. My next destination was to Ilha de São Sebastião and specifically a place called Ilhabela.