Tip for SE Brazil

ok, here it is the answer and at the same time this is a suggestion for who would like to have a short trip in southeast Brazil. First of all, let me explain a little bit of Brazilian division. The country is devided in five big regions: North, Northeast, West-Centre, Southeast and South.

Southeast region is the one circled on the left in the picture and it is composed of four Brazilian states: Minas Gerais, in red, (capital Belo Horizonte), Sao Paulo (capital Sao Paulo), Rio de Janeiro (capital Rio de Janeiro) and Espirito Santo (capital Vitoria). We can say this is the richest and most developed area in Brazil, if not in all South America.

So, what are you looking for in a one-week holiday trip in Southeast Brazil? Would you like to have all the facilities of a big city like good restaurants, movies, theatres, malls, or do you prefer to be surrounded by beautiful green moutains and clean waterfalls and do some ecoturism like trekking, climbing and rafting or are you more a beach person who only needs a cold beer or some delicious Brazilian coconut water in front of a beautiful sea on a sunny day?

Well, the good news is, you can have it all!

Let me tell you how. Sao Paulo is a huge city, the fouth busiest and most populous one in the world! So that's usually the way you get into Brazil and that's the spot we'll start from. The map below suggests: Sao Paulo, Extrema and Praia Grande & Santos. You can do it all by car or by bus, as you prefer.

At least, four days in Sao Paulo are a must for you to experience some of the huge game of interesting things to do the city has to offer like the beautiful Avenida Paulista and its modern buildings, theatres (like Teatro Abril), museums (like MASP, Museu do Ipiranga and the brand new Museu do Futebol), great bars and restaurants, parks and the vivant nightlife (in Vila Madalena for example).

Things you Sao Paulo you gotta do and places you must go:

Avenida Paulista: take the tube (underground) to MASP station. From there you can visit MASP museum and walk all the way down Avenida Paulista towards Liberdade. It's a good and very pleasant walk in the very heart of the finantial centre of Latin America and you'll be always surrounded by buildings with a very interesting archtecture (first pic). Then you get to "Bairro da Liberdade" which is the largest colony of Japanese abroad. Don't be surprised if you stop someone in the street and for information and they cannot speak Portuguese! Rua dos Estudantes and the area at square "Praça da Liberdade" (second pic) are always busy and full of Japanese shops and restaurants (I liked the food there!). From there you can also go walking to the region of "Praça da Sé" where you'll see the beautiful "Catedral da Sé" (third pic).

If you need a relax day in Sampa (how we call Sao Paulo city) go to Ibirapuera Park (4th pic) and, if you gotta one, take a hammock with you - there are lots of hangers all around in the park. It's also a great place for picnics, playing soccer, walk around with your dog, skating, riding a bike, running or simply lay down on the green grass and enjoy a good reading and a beautiful day of sun.

The Ipiranga Museum (5th pic) has a wonderful garden and is all about Brazilian history even though we're still a kid when compared to Europe for example! The Football Museum (6th pic) is also amazing and kind of futuristic. Both are definitely worth visiting!

At last, Mercado Municipal (6th pic) is an incredible place if you are open to try some Brazilian delicious food. From tropical fruits to cachaça, they do sell everything there! A good tip is to try the amazing "Pastel de Bacalhau", I bet one will not be enough! :) And it is very close to the 25 de março street, the busiest commerce street in Sampa. In Christmas time or Children's day (12 oct), Mother's Day (2nd Sunday of May) or Father's Day (2nd Sunday of August) the street will remind you Cairo Market, in Egypt! lol

Then you should go up to the North, taking the road called "Fernao Dias" who links Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte and, just 100km from Sao Paulo city (6km after you cross the border if Sp/MG) you should stop in the city of Extrema, that's our second destination!

Extrema is small city with 20.000 inhabitants and an accountable range of nature of options for relaxing or for a lot of action with the ecoturism ativities the city offers like:

The city has all kinds of hotels like San Marco hotel, in downtown of Extrema, and some others out of town which are a kind of "hotel fazenda" (farm hotel).

At last, we finish our trip at the beach! Less than 80km from Sao Paulo city you find the coastsea cities of Santos and Praia Grande. Santos is one of the oldest cities in Brazil and has an interesting historic centre with a nice trip on a "bondinho" (tram).

There's a lot to explore in that beautiful area but all I needed was some goods days of beach! And if you like beach soccer, good news for you! People in Santos and Praia Grande (just like all over in Brazil!!!) are extremelly open and hospitable so if you are on the beach there will certainly be lots of people playing soccer and if you'd like to join them just step ahead! :)

This paradise on the picture is Praia Grande. Santos is 14km from it and the cities are linked by buses that run all the time both ways from every part of each city.

If you have any question about this post or if you'd like to have any specific info about those places, please leave a comment! I'll be glad to answer!