6-Day São Paulo Tour: From City, Waterfalls and Caves - (Petar)

DAY 1 –  Arrive in São Paulo"AIRPORT / HOTEL PRIVATE TRANSFER" Meet our tour guide at either GRU airport or CGH airport whenever your flight arrives. You will be met by a member of our specialist meet and greet team who will be holding a sign with your name on it. Once you locate each other, the staff will take you to meet the guide that should be waiting just outside the terminal. 

Our guide will drive you to a centrally-located 4-star hotel, which is situated in a safe and walkable area next to a shopping street full of restaurants, cafés and high-end boutiques and much more. On the way to hotel, our knowledgable guide will give you an insight about São Paulo, the hotel area and what you are going to be seeing in the next days to come.

The hotel is 5-minute drive to the city's most beautiful public park (Ibirapuera) and the most important city avenue (Paulista). After settling in, as today is free of scheduled activities, perhaps take a stroll around or go to explore Paulista avenue or Ibirapuera park. "What to do on a free day in São Paulo".

1) Paulista is not just an avenue, it’s part of the Brazilian history for all it has been in the last 130 years. It is home to outstanding sites and happenings serving as ground for work, study, entertainment, demonstrations, leisure, theaters, shopping, important old palaces, marathon, gay parade, history, culture, gastronomy, New Year’s Eve and Christmas celebrations, all that draw millions of people throughout the entire year.  

Once on Paulista, head towards MASP museum and be presented to the treasures of renowned artists like Picasso, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Modigliani, Toulouse-Lautrec, and many others brilliant artists.  

2) Then go to Ibirapuera Park, which was elected by the “The Guardian magazine” the best Park in the world. The three outstanding art museums MAC, MAM and Afro-Brazil museum with their great art, played a big role on the deserved winning election of the park. Centrally-located 4-star hotel in the city of São Paulo. 

DAY 2 –  Full Day City Tour in São PauloMake the most of your time in São Paulo in a 7-hour guided tour to discover its most iconic attractions. Our vehicle picks you up with an accredited bilingual tour guide to provide you with a lively day filled with popular attractions passing the main areas like historical downtown, Paulista ave area, the most sophisticated areas in the south and southwest of São Paulo, and yet business districts like Brooklin and Itaim Bibi.

Get to understand the amazing historic process of São Paulo that in 465 years of existence (early times a village), marked by relative inexpressiveness for more than three centuries, has become the largest city in the Southern hemisphere and one of the largest cities in the World. 

Stop at sights to explore in the company of the guide who will escort you in the tour expedition, providing an interpreting service along the way.X-format suspended bridge, which is the landmark of the cityMost booming business area with its striking high-risesBusiness district, Italian marketplace Eataly, Shopping JK IguatemiItaim Neighborhood & Faria Lima ave. Along with the many corporate offices - Google, Louis Vuitton, - Itaim is full of high-standard residential buildings. It is ideal for those who want (and can) live close to work.An admirable contrast between two completely different aesthetic standards and the harmonious coexistence between the old and the modern, change the urban scene.Unique architectureMuseums, concerts, exhibitions, sports, water fountain, lake, Niemeyer buildingsArt, exhibitions, restaurant and stunning city viewpointWorld’s largest vertical garden along its wallsArea where Japanese immigrants settled down at the beginning of the 20th centuryOne of the five largest Neo-Gothic world’s Cathedral / Zero milestoneHistoric São Paulo founding site and museum of the cityHistorical temple that accommodated the Pope Benedict XVI in 2007First skyscraper in Brazil / One of the highest buildings of São PauloHistorical sights such as Sampaio Moreira building, City hall, Tea Viaduct, Shopping Light.Municipal Theater, Rock Gallery, Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of Black Men.Ipiranga & São João Avenues. (Famous historical avenues);Historical site / Building that housed former “Caetano de Campos” SchoolHistorical buildings such as Italian Terrace, Copan and Eiffel.Myriad of fruits, nuts, wines, cheeses, beers, food etc.. A summary of Brasil can be found in itMarch 25th St. (Most popular shopping area in Brazil);Most important Brazilian thoroughfare / MASPJardins Neighborhood. (Hotel chains, restaurants, fancy shopping area and boutiques);Oscar Freire St. (World’s 8th most luxurious St. / High-end boutiques);Church Nossa Sra. do Brasil. (One of the most magnificent Churches in São Paulo);Batman Alley. (Street art, graffitis and murals);Vila Madalena Neighborhood. - (Bars, private art galleries & small artistic studios);Europa ave. (Imported car dealerships like Ferrari, Maserati & Bentley etc..);Jardim Europa & Jardim America Neighborhoods. (Politicians, industrialists and entrepreneurs “mansions”);Breakfast at the hotels.Centrally-located 4-star hotel in the city of São Paulo. 

DAY 3 – Favela São Paulo City Tour (Slum) & By Night Tour São PauloTake a guided tour and feel what life in a favela (slum) is really like. Tour through São Paulo's second largest favela and get a unique insight into the vibrant spirit of its people, especially the hidden veritable artists who live there.

Discover Paraisópolis, a favela where with almost 100 thousand people. A cosmos that in recent years has experienced great transformations and where live many common people, but also brilliant artists who do extraordinary things.

Recently, the area has received public and private investments, a few kilometers of water supply and sanitation, condos that have gone on to replace the shacks of wood and mud, sidewalks, parks.

This is a socially-conscious tour that part of your payment is reverted to the local non-profitable community association to support their charity projects within the community. The association hosts the visit and gives utter support providing us with a local monitor to escort us around in the company of our bilingual guide.The tour starts at the Community Association Office. Visitors will learn about the community’s history, the foundation of the “Community Association” and its main projects.Then, visitors will be led to the community radio studio to watch a live show and meet some community speakers.Pay a visit to Berbéla and his mechanical workshop, a great plastic artist and community resident. Berbéla builds his works of art from automotive parts such as metal scraps and chemical wastes, giving life to all sorts of material discarded in his workshop. He made pieces of artwork that few can argue about his talents. Go to the house of the sculptor Estevão, also known as “Gaudí of Paraisópolis”. Once there, visitors will be able to enter a beautiful stone house, full of accessories and common objects such as cups, saucers and dishes, which are part of the structure of the house, giving it charm and a sense of fantasy for the visitors. Go on an adventure through openings and gaps to reach the house's viewpoint, and appreciate the stunning contrasting scenery of favela across the fancy area of Morumbi neighborhood.Visitors will walk throughout the community narrow alleyways reaching the Palmeirinha’s football field, and perhaps catch a class of the students of the project "Rugby For All".Go on to see Luciana’s alley and continue on to “BECEI Library”, which is the 1st library created within a community.Walk through narrow streets of the center Paraisopolis heading to Paraisópolis Ballet Project. Meet the director and dancer Mônica Tarragó, who will present the project and get visitors to watch a little of the class and meet some students.After all that, visitors have a superb typical Brazilian food at the charming “Bistro Mãos de Maria” on the rooftop of the community association headquarters in the Favela. (Lunch included in the tour price)Take a guided tour combining São Paulo’s bustling nightlife areas with some of the major touristic sights in the city that never sleeps. 

The tour guide picks you up at your place and escort you around to discover just how beautiful and vibrant São Paulo is as soon as darkness falls. 

Visit the bohemian neighborhood of Vila Madalena which has the hottest bars in town and have a drink while get a taste of Brazilian live music at a traditional bar. Drive through some of the coolest touristic areas such as Paulista ave catching sights, culture and seeing skyscrapers illuminated against the night sky.

Have a superb meal atop of one of the city's skyscrapers while boast the city from its observation deck enjoying views of the lit-up São Paulo's skyline. Breakfast at the hotels.Meals & drinks for lunch at the favela.Centrally-located 4-star hotel in the city of São Paulo. 

DAY 4 – Full Day Beach Tour in Santos & Guarujá!Get ready to spend a relaxing day discovering some of the most beautiful beaches in the coast of the state of São Paulo. There is no better place for enjoying a sunny day than heading down to the delightful beach towns of Santos & Guarujá.

Out expert tour guide picks you up at your hotel in Sao Paulo, and takes on a 10-hour tour visiting the city of Santos & Guarujá and return you back to hotel afterwards.Visit the city of Santos most significant sights like Mount Serrat, Coffee Museum & Porchat Island combined with a sightseeing through its beaches. Then change the pace totally taking the ferry boat to go to the neighboring beach town of Guarujá to relax on a sandy beach near snack bars and restaurants having appetizers and sipping drinks beachfront.This beach of Guarujá stands out for a strip of clear soft sand and small waves, ideal for sea bathing. It’s certain a destination for those who want to be closer to nature or lounging around on the sand to pass the time away with style. Breakfast at the hotels.Centrally-located 4-star hotel in the city of São Paulo. 

DAY 5 – São Paulo to Eldorado Trip - The Devil’s Cave (Eldorado) For nature and culture lovers, come explore the caves, rivers, streams, waterfalls in the area of the state of Sao Paulo called "Ribeira de Iguape Valley". After your guide picks you up from your hotel in São Paulo, they drive you to this astonishing park called "The Devil's Cave State Park" which is 3:30 h away from São Paulo, where you will get a breath of fresh air in the largest continuous remnant of the Atlantic Forest, recognized by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve and World Natural Heritage Site.

In this tour you are going to visit the Devil’s Cave, hike in the forest and observe wildlife. All attractions are located in the municipality of Eldorado, São Paulo State.Caverna do Diabo (The Devil’s Cave) is a real natural heritage and definitely one of the most beautiful caves in Brazil, with a diversity of incredible formations like stalagmites, stalactites, columns, towers, candles, helictites, curtains, travertines, and the grandiose chamber known as Cathedral. The access is easy featuring strategic lighting, walkways, stairs and handrails, among a maze of galleries at different heights. The cave is more than 6km long, where 700 meters are prepared for visitation.  At the entrance, it has a beautiful stream to embellish the scenery even more. Visitors can go up several levels by the stairs while the river waters go down slipping through the galleries disappearing in the darkness. It’s simply breathtaking!

After "The Devil’s Cave" successful tour & local lunch, we drive about 50 minutes to your accommodation at a local Inn in the town of Iporanga for a deserved night of rest.Breakfast at the inn accommodation.Lunch box for "The Devil’s Cave".Accommodations for tourists at a local Inn in the city of Iporanga.

DAY 6 – Quilombo Praia Grande (Iporanga)On this day, you go on a beautiful 50-minute boat ride up Ribeira de Iguape River, appreciating the preserved Atlantic Rainforest, until you reach Quilombo Praia Grande Community.

There, you will meet with the locals in their houses, learn about their history and culture, enjoy the gorgeous landscape, and of course, savor the organic homegrown food prepared in a wood-burning stove. And, if it is a hot sunny day, a refreshing bath in the river is highly recommended.

Besides having an authentic pleasant experience, you will be causing a positive impact in the destination. By appreciating their culture and contributing to the local economy, you will be encouraging people, specially the young, to remain in their land and continue preserving their culture, traditions and the environment.Breakfast at the inn accommodation.Lunch & snacks at the community for the tour exploration.Accommodations for tourists at a local Inn in the city of Iporanga.

DAY 7 – PETAR - Núcleo Santana (Iporanga)After a large breakfast at the Inn, with our backpacks and trail snacks we head to a section of PETAR cave complex called Santana. Considered one of the most beautiful caves in PETAR. It’s believed to be the largest cave conglomerates in the world with 5,040 meters deep.

Santana Cave has a good accessibility infrastructure, with wooden bridges and stairs. Its interior is really impressive and full of beautiful formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, curtains, columns etc. 

The biome is the Atlantic Rainforest where you find an exceptional biodiversity, rivers, waterfalls, and cave systems with a unique underground scenario.

Exploration inside the Santana cave takes 2 hours, and from there we take a break at the edge of a natural pool splashing around and enjoying snacks picnic style. Then we head to enjoy one of the coolest points in Santana section, the Betari Valley Lookout. 

Thereafter, we continue on the exploration visiting other caves in the complex.Breakfast at the inn accommodation.Lunch box.Accommodations for tourists at a local Inn in the city of Iporanga.

DAY 8 – Betary Reserve tour & transfer to airport / São Paulo - End of TourBetary Reserve is a 60-hectare preserved area and a branch of the Biodiversity Research Institute (IPBio). The site is devoted to research and teaching on the Atlantic Forest. Some of their facilities comprise a greenhouse, an aquarium, laboratory with vivarium, classroom, darkened room for checking on the bioluminescent mushrooms, restaurant and deck by the river. Get to know the bioluminescent larvae, mushrooms, frogs, types of plants, mainly bromeliads, small amphibians and several "nests" made them, and several other species. Today marks the last day of your 8-day Brazil tour. So it’s time to hit the road back to Sao Paulo or airport. This is the perfect time to start planning a new adventure.

It's recommended to book late flight as the arrival at the airport or São Paulo will be NO earlier than 19:00 (7:00PM).

• End Point: GRU Airport, CGH airport or any address in São Paulo

• Duration of the transfer: around 5 hours including a stop for lunchBreakfast at the inn accommodation.