São Paulo With Kids
What São Paulo with kids really looks like, from a family that plans these trips for a living.
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Is São Paulo worth it with kids?
With the right base, yes. It is a food and culture capital rather than a beach city, but Ibirapuera Park, a huge aquarium, science museums and incredible food make it a rewarding family stop. Stay around Paulista, use the great metro, and keep the pace relaxed.
How many days?
Two to three days for the parks, museums and food, plus a Santos beach day.
What is the one thing we cannot miss?
A day in Ibirapuera Park with its planetarium and boats, and car free Avenida Paulista on a Sunday, plus the giant mortadella sandwich at the Mercadão.
Do we need a car?
No. The metro is the best in Brazil, clean and safe, and rideshare covers the rest of this vast city. Arrange a transfer from the airport and base near a metro line.
When should we go?
Autumn and winter, April to September, are the driest and easiest for the parks and city days. The summer, December to March, is warmer but wetter. It is a year round city, so just pack a layer and a rain jacket.
Brazil’s Giant of Food, Art and Parks
São Paulo is the giant of the Americas, a vast, buzzing megacity that is the beating heart of Brazil’s food, art and culture. It lacks Rio’s beaches and postcard looks, and it is not an obvious kids’ city, but it rewards families with superb parks, world class museums, incredible food, and a modern, easy metro. Base well and it is a rich, rewarding stop.
In a city this enormous, where you base is everything. Stay around leafy Jardins and Avenida Paulista, the safe, central, cultural spine, or the trendy Pinheiros and Vila Madalena. From there the metro and rideshare handle this sprawling city. Keep to the busy, well trodden areas, as you would in any megacity.
Getting Around
The metro is the best in Brazil, clean, fast, safe and modern, and it reaches the main areas, with rideshare covering the rest of this vast city. From the airport, a fair drive out, a prebooked transfer or an airport bus is the easiest way in with kids and bags. Base near Paulista and much is reachable.
Neighborhoods worth basing in
Jardins & Paulista
The safe, central, cultural spine of the city. Avenida Paulista has the great MASP art museum and, on Sundays, closes to traffic for a huge street festival of cyclists, buskers and families, while the leafy Jardins alongside has the best hotels and restaurants. The ideal base for a family.
Vila Madalena & Pinheiros
The trendy, creative western neighborhoods, with the famous Beco do Batman street art alley, buzzing bars and restaurants, and a young, arty feel. Fun to explore by day, a lively and characterful base a short metro ride from Paulista.
Itaim Bibi
The modern business and dining district, gleaming and safe, with good hotels and some of the city’s best restaurants. Polished and convenient, a comfortable alternative base.
A Jardins luxury hotel
São Paulo’s Jardins and Paulista district holds some of the finest luxury hotels in Latin America, all polish, rooftop pools and superb dining. The blow the budget treat, in the heart of the city.
A Paulista hotel
The Paulista and Jardins area has plenty of comfortable, family friendly hotels near the metro, the park and the museums. Practical and central, with green space and great food close by.
A Pinheiros apartment
Pinheiros, Jardins and Paulista have roomy apartments in secure buildings, good value for a family and handy for simple meals in a city famous for its food. Book near a metro line.
The Three I Build Every São Paulo Trip Around
Ibirapuera Park
Ibirapuera Park is São Paulo’s green heart and a family paradise, a huge, beautifully designed park with lakes, bike paths, wide lawns, and a cluster of attractions inside it, including a planetarium, a science station and excellent museums. Rent bikes, hire a pedal boat, let the kids run, and spend a whole easy day outdoors in the middle of the megacity.
Avenida Paulista and MASP
Avenida Paulista is the city’s grand central avenue, and the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, MASP, floats above it on bold red columns, its famous collection displayed on glass easels that kids find surprisingly engaging. Come on a Sunday, when the whole avenue closes to cars and fills with families, cyclists, street performers and food stalls, a joyful, free city party.
The Municipal Market and Street Art
For the flavor of the city, visit the Mercadão, the grand Municipal Market, a temple of food where kids can gawp at pyramids of tropical fruit, sample exotic tastes, and try the giant mortadella sandwich the market is famous for. Then hunt street art in the Beco do Batman alley in Vila Madalena, a constantly changing open air gallery kids love.
Family Time, Built In: São Paulo With Kids
São Paulo does more for kids than its business reputation suggests. Ibirapuera Park for biking and boating, a planetarium and science museum, the enormous Aquário de São Paulo, one of the biggest in Latin America, a good zoo, the Catavento hands on science museum, and endless incredible food. Green space and discovery in a giant city.
The harbor ferry to the beach
Sunday fish market
Paddle boats on the the park
Planten un Blomen
Ibirapuera Park plaza
PARK & DOWNTIME PICK
Ibirapuera Park itself, the sprawling green oasis with lakes, bike paths, lawns and museums, or the Sunday car free Avenida Paulista. Easy, open space to let kids run and ride in the heart of the megacity.
Five Things To Eat In São Paulo
Mortadella sandwich
Pastel
Coxinha
Feijoada
BrigadeiroNicole’s Perspective
A food and culture capital with green space for kids
I have spent years planning Brazil for families, and I tell people the truth about São Paulo, it is not a beach and postcard city, it is a food, art and culture capital. As a former teacher I love its world class museums and its energy, and with kids the parks, the aquarium and the science museums carry the day. Base well and it surprises you.
I steer families to São Paulo for a couple of culture and food filled days, based safely around Paulista, usually paired with Rio and a beach or nature leg. It is a rich, modern stop, best balanced with green space and a day at the coast.
The Day Trip: Santos
An hour down from the plateau to the coast lies Santos, a historic port city with a huge beach fronted by the longest beachfront garden in the world. Families come for the wide, calm sand, a good aquarium, and the coffee museum in the grand old exchange building that tells the story of the wealth that built the region. An easy, breezy day by the sea.
Things I Would Tell A Friend Before They Booked
How Many Days
Two to three days suits São Paulo with kids. One for Ibirapuera Park and its museums, one for Avenida Paulista, MASP and the Mercadão, and a day at the coast in Santos. Then pair it with Rio or a nature leg.
Day one for Ibirapuera Park, biking, boating and the planetarium. Day two for Avenida Paulista, MASP, the Mercadão market and the Beco do Batman street art. Add a day trip to the beach at Santos, ideally not on a busy weekend.
Add a Santos beach day, then the enormous Aquário de São Paulo or the Catavento science museum.
São Paulo pairs naturally with Rio for a two city Brazil trip, a short flight apart, and it is a gateway to the coast and the country’s wonders. Give it a couple of days and build the rest around it.
São Paulo With Kids, Answered
Is São Paulo worth it with kids?
With the right base, yes. It is a food and culture capital rather than a beach city, but Ibirapuera Park, a huge aquarium, science museums and incredible food make it a rewarding family stop. Stay around Paulista, use the great metro, and keep the pace relaxed.
How many days?
Two to three days for the parks, museums and food, plus a Santos beach day.
What is the one thing we cannot miss?
A day in Ibirapuera Park with its planetarium and boats, and car free Avenida Paulista on a Sunday, plus the giant mortadella sandwich at the Mercadão.
Do we need a car?
No. The metro is the best in Brazil, clean and safe, and rideshare covers the rest of this vast city. Arrange a transfer from the airport and base near a metro line.
When should we go?
Autumn and winter, April to September, are the driest and easiest for the parks and city days. The summer, December to March, is warmer but wetter. It is a year round city, so just pack a layer and a rain jacket.
Ready To Put São Paulo On The Calendar
Send me your dates and your kids’ ages and I will map the parks, museums and food, sort a safe base near Paulista, add a Santos beach day, and pair it with Rio and a nature leg.
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