[SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL] — On a long trip to the island of Fernando do Noronha off the coast of Brazil , I had a quick overnight in São Paulo. It was a very quick trip stopover coming and going, both on Sunday nights when many things are closed so I didn’t get to see a lot in a short amount of time, but there are my favorite things I found. Here’s my take on spending a quick 36 Hours in São Paulo. What to do in São Paulo. Where to stay in São Paulo. Where to eat in São Paulo.

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I remember my first trip to Brazil in the mid-90s, working for a Swedish printing press manufacturer as a freelance marketing consultant. At the time, after ending a years long brutal dictatorship, the economy was booming. For the first time there was a burgeoning middle class. That was when newspapers were king and some of our best customers were in Brazil. I was there to interview the most successful newspaper publisher.

Sao Paulo was notoriously unsafe then. We were staying at the Hilton or Ibis I think, my first trip to Brazil. I wanted to go for a walk and asked the front desk where I could walk to. They said “Eet ees safe to walk to the end of our sidewalk, we have security guards outside, so it is safe. I would not walk anywhere else.” That scared the shit out of me.

Our salesman took us around to view their printing customers. He made a ton of money every year, but drove a beater Ford. “It’s good to put all of your things in the trunk while we are driving. Robbers on motorcycles will drive by on the highway and break the windows if they see something in the car.” 😬

Traffic is notorious in São Paulo and it took us an hour or longer to get one place to another, stop and go on the highways the whole way. So for those two reasons, that is why all the wealthy people fly helicopters.

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Sao Paulo is much safer now, at least in some parts. Stay away from downtown, but I felt safe wherever I walked, whether parks or city streets. I found out why so many people love how vibrant this giant city is.

Someone who lives there once describe Sao Paolo like this: it’s not a beautiful city on the outside, but once you are inside buildings and behind garden walls you see the real beauty.

Hang Out in the Glamorous Jardins Neighborhood

Jardins is actually three different wealthy hoods combined. Lots of expensive residential areas, surrounded by fancy shops, glamorous shiny malls, tons of nice restaurants and great people watching.

Most everything was closed on the Sundays I was there, but still wonderful to walk around. Here’s TripAdvisor’s guide to Jardins. I loved it in Jardins.

Grab an Açaí, the Way It Should Be

If you’ve been suckered into buying an açaí bowl in the United States or other places, it is nothing compared to the açaí you get in Brazil. Nothing. The first taste you take, it’s off-putting. Then the second one goes in and you want to wolf it all down. It has a bite, even coffeeesque notes. And packs a buzz that powers you through the day. There are places all over, including corner fruit stands, but the best is at Açaí Original. I could eat this every day.

Spend Hours in Parque Ibirapuera, Sao Paolo’s Central Park

Sao Paulo is big. But when you want a break from the concrete, take a taxi to the Parque Ibirapuera, Sao Paulo’s Central Park. Walk among the walkers, with great stops at lakes and mini forests and make sure you duck into the Oscar Niemeyer designed music pavilion.

There are miles of running paths, ponds, lakes and forested areas all around the Parque Ibirapuera.

Two Great Places to Eat in Sao Paolo

Relax in the Soothing Gero in Jardins

Excellent Italian food, impeccable service. Great people watching.  Also run by the Fasano Group…man oh man, do they know how to do it right. It’s a perfect spot on a Sunday night when their main Italian restaurant at the Fasano Hotel is closed.

Eat Under a Giant 200 Year Old Tree at Figueira Rubaiyat

Nicely tucked into the leafy Jardins neighborhood is the famous restaurant Figueira Rubaiyat, an outdoor restaurant set under about the biggest tree I’ve ever seen — a 200 year old banyan tree planted in the 1890s

There must be seats for a couple hundred people underneath its limbs, with an ingenious glass canopy built under it all. I first noticed it while taking a short walk from the Fasano, right around the corner and instantly knew I had to come back.

I was there over a Monday lunch, and as I sat there a host of SP’s business elite came to have long lunch meetings over grilled steak and some of the most attentive service I’ve seen at any restaurant….I take a dip of the appetizers and instantly a fresh plate arrived to replenish.  I actually had to tell them to stop replenishing.  

Great choices of grilled steak that you can choose from which country and method of raising (Uruguay, Argentinian, grassfed, Brazilian, etc.). Like a wine list, but for beef. You can get a sampling, each grilled piece comes with a flag of origin in it.

Read about it here on my other post on it.

Two Great Hotels in Sao Paolo

The Famous Fasano — A Hotel Like a Little Black Dress

There’s nothing over-the-top at the Fasano. Just classic, full-on attention to every simple detail — like a classic little black dress. It’s all the intense focus on details that rank it on nearly everyone’s Best Of hotels, not just in Brasil, but all of South America. It’s not opulent, it’s just right.

The sleek rooms are roomy and fitted-out like the inside of a BMW. Taught. Necessary. Functional. Good to the touch.  

And the people. Friendly. Helpful. Welcoming. Genuine. I only stayed one night on a layover going to the island of Fernando de Naronha, and when I came back a week later, it felt like coming home. They remembered me, welcomed me back and asked if I wanted the same things again.

The location in Sao Paulo is about as good as can be: on a quiet street, in the perfect neighborhood, right where you want to be. I had fears from past trips to Sao Paulo and all the misleading news reports you hear about crime in SP, but the shopping area of Rua Oscar Freire is just a couple blocks away, it’s perfectly safe to walk around and some of the best restaurants in SP are right around the corner. Their Italian restaurant is famous throughout Brazil, but is closed on Sundays and Mondays, so my timing was unfortunate as both ends of my stays, I didn’t get to experience it.  But I would recommend planning around that as everything I’ve read says it’s amazing.

Hotel Unique

Catching all the buzz in design circles, my excellent SP guide John took me by to see the boat/watermelon-shaped Hotel Unique.  It really is a stunning place, designed by Ruy Ohtake, the lobby bar being my favorite, with a towering, cantilevered bottle display that rises several stories. There’s a rooftop bar and restaurant where you can look out over Sao Paulo’s 20 million residents. Stop by for drink.

I didn’t get to stay here, but had lunch in the restaurant on the top floor.

One of the coolest things was this glass-topped atrium that soars through the whole building, topped with a water filled pool that shimmers, warping the people walking in the lobby, stories below.

Here’s a great video on Design Hotels

More Information on Sao Paolo

Here is The Culture Trip’s roundup of the best neighborhoods in São Paulo. Here’s Frommer’s guide to the best neighborhoods in São Paulo. Here’s Travel & Leisure’s guide to São Paulo. And the NYTime’s 36 Hours guide to São Paulo. And TimeOut’s Guide.

Here’s a recent article from NYTimes T Magazine on the top 10 modernist marvels to visit in São Paulo.