Tourism
Luiz Carlos Leite
The habit of working and the vocation for making businesses is a characteristic of São Paulo. Thanks to its hardworking people, paulistas managed to transform São Paulo into the most important state in economic terms in Latin America. São Paulo is not only that, however. Aside from its thousands cultural attractions, it also offers good tourism options. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, its coastline has 622 kilometers of beaches of all kinds and sizes. In the north shore, there are several beaches in several municipalities such as Bertioga, São Sebastião, Caraguatatuba, and Ubatuba, apart from some islands, one of which Ilha Bela, a paradise for those who like windsurfing and sailing. In the South shore, in cities such as Iguape and Cananéia, there are some of the planet's most important preserved natural areas, such as Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins and Ilha do Cardoso, in Logamar - Complexo Estuarino Lagunar de Iguape, Cananéia, Antonina, and Parananguá.
The cliff of Serra do Mar "divides" the state's seashore and the plateau. Part of the Atlantic Forest, it was a major obstacle to be overcome in the previous centuries. Today, this door to the state's Countryside is a focus of attention of Reserva da Biosfera da Mata Atlântica and other organizations that work to preserve this ecosystem that now occupies only 5% of its original area. In the state's countryside, tourists have the chance of doing rural and ecological tourism, of knowing ranches, cities with European climate, waterfalls, caves, rivers, hills, mineral water springs, natural parks, buildings built in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, churches and archeological sites. The capital is also a tourist oasis. Business tourism alone is responsible for more than 45,000 events per year. There are, in the capital, some places every tourist must visit: Bela Vista (an Italian neighborhood), Liberdade (a Japanese neighborhood) and the commercial streets 25 de Março (an Arabian neighborhood) and José Paulino (an Israelite neighborhood). By visiting these places, one can have a better idea of how many different types of immigrants came to São Paulo and helped develop the city.
The city also offers an intense artistic and cultural life. One will only know São Paulo well if he/she visits its cultural centers and museums, where there are a number of collections of both international and national famous painters and artists. For those who like historical monuments, a visit to the city's churches is a must, specially Convento Nossa Senhora da Luz, built in 1579.
Enjoy the city's nightlife and visit its hundreds of calm or busy bars, discos and nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, performances, concerts, dance shows, pubs and much more.