Private Tour: Major Tourist Attractions of São Paulo from Santos City
4.6
19 Ratings
Sao Paulo
Embark on a private tour from Santos to São Paulo and explore the major tourist attractions of this vibrant city. Discover its rich culture, history, architecture, and more!
Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Museu do Ipiranga - On Ipiranga slope, next to Ipiranga stream, Dom Pedro I declared Brazil independence from Portugal, in 1822. The museum was built close to where the historic Independence event took place in 1822.

Other than the architecture of the museum, the area has Independence Park that features huge french-style gardens inspired in Versailles in France.

The museum is not open until Abril 2022, but it’s worth visiting the garden and historic site.

  • Liberdade street market - The Liberdade neighborhood is the Japanese area. It’s where every weekend takes place the Art, Craft and Culture Fair.

Neighborhood lighting poles catch tourists attention and characterize the region for its beautiful Japanese style lamps.

  • Catedral da Se de Sao Paulo - Visit the Sé Cathedral which was inspired by medieval European churches. The imposing construction marks the center of São Paulo (the ground zero of the city is at Sé Square), a very busy area.

  • Pateo do Collegio - Historic São Paulo founding site and museum of the city. With the intention to teach and catechize the natives, the Jesuits built the first school and began what 4 centuries later would become the largest city in the Southern hemisphere.

  • Mosteiro De Sao Bento - The San Benedictine Monastery is one of those sacred tips that also applies to people who are not religious.

The building hosted Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Brazil.

Believers are attracted by the masses with Gregorian chants, and shop with breads, cakes, cookies and jams made by the monks themselves and whose recipes are secular.

  • Edificio Martinelli - The first skyscraper in Latin America. The construction generated much controversy, because until then there was no building of such great height.

Currently, the building is one of the main architectural symbols of Brazil.

  • Matarazzo Building City Hall Of Sao Paulo - Inaugurated in 1939 to host one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Brazilian history, the Matarazzo Industries”. Designed by the favorite architect of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the Italian Marcello Piacentini.

Nowadays, this is the headquarters of the city administration.

  • Viaduto Do Cha - One of the postcards of São Paulo, the tea viaduct was the first in the city of São Paulo. It bears this name because of the extensive tea plantation nearby.

  • Museum Theatro Municipal of Sao Paulo - Considered a postcard of São Paulo, the Municipal Theater is one of the most important historical places in town due to several important cultural events that took place in its facilities like the Week of Modern Art of 1922.

  • Municipal Market of Sao Paulo - São Paulo Municipal Market is one of the main attractions of the city and a mandatory stop for everyone visit São Paulo. Do not miss out on the myriad of fruits, nuts, wines, cheeses, beers, food etc.. A summary of Brasil can be found in it.

  • Shopping 25 de Marco - With so much variety of products, it is possible to get lost on the famous “25 de Março St.”. It receives about 400 thousand people daily who go in search of the good prices of the 5,000 registered stores from tchotchkes and sewing supplies.

  • Paulista Avenue - Walk through the fascinating Paulista avenue. A place that is sure to impress you not only with its appearance, but also with its much rich history that may seem common in the eyes of some, but in the company of an expert tour guide can be mind-blowing.

  • Jardins District - Jardins neighborhood is certainly one of the most elegant and significant neighborhoods in the city of São Paulo. Many options for leisure, entertainment, culture, fancy shopping area and boutiques, restaurants, hotel chains, etc…

  • Rua Oscar Freire Shopping Street - “High-end Boutiques”
    Oscar Freire St. and its surroundings are known for their luxury stores, but it is very wrong to think that everything there is expensive. In fact, stores concentrate more status than exorbitant prices. Because they are, in general, the largest stores in the chains, they end up receiving stranded products with discounts.

  • Paróquia Nossa Senhora do Brasil - Sistine-chapel like church that has plenty of paintings on the ceiling that is breathless.

The church was inspired in Brazilian and Portuguese baroque temples. The style is neo-colonial, very popular in São Paulo architecture from the 1920s and 1930s.

  • Parque Ibirapuera - Visit the Ibirapuera Park that was elected by the “The Guardian magazine” the best Park in the world.

The Park is must-see for those who want to be enchanted by the beauty of its lake and water fountain.

The park also has 3 outstanding art museums MAC, MAM and Afro-Brazil museum with their great art that played a big role on the deserved winning election of the park.

  • Monument to the Bandeiras - Anyone visiting the Ibirapuera Park cannot miss this monument in honor of the early settlers, which is one of the most famous postal cards in São Paulo.
  • Batman Alley - Visit the heart of the street art in São Paulo, Batman’s alley is an area where virtually no surface is left untouched. This lengthy stretch of high-walled residences in Vila Madalena, showcases some of the most impressive spray paint murals around. The constantly changing nature of the art form means there’s sure to be something striking and new with each visit.
  • Museum of Contemporary Art - MAC USP Ibirapuera - Don’t miss out on an incredible 360º view covering a large part of the city of São Paulo from MAC, which faces Ibirapuera Park. 
What's Included
  • Professional licensed private tour guide.
  • Transport by fully-equipped vehicle.
  • VAT, all taxes, tolls, handling charges, parking fees during stops and port Greet & Meet service.
  • Private driver for groups bigger 4 people, otherwise the guide drives the vehicle themselves.
  • Hotels and port pickup and drop-off. (Within Santos and its greater area limits)
What's Not Included
  • Entrance fees, although the tour is not aimed to get into museums and sights that charge fees.
  • Food and drinks.
  • Gratuities (optional)
Additional Information

If you are docking at Santos’ seaport terminal on a cruise or are bunking up in a hotel in Santos, consider embarking on a captivating guided expedition to São Paulo to marvel at its signature landmarks. 
Provided you’ve got a solid block of at least 8 hours, take a journey of 1:20 h from Santos to São Paulo. Insightfully explore the largest city in the southern hemisphere as you uncover the cultural, historical, and touristic treasures that it boasts.
São Paulo, situated 760 meters above sea level, is reached via highways departing from Santos that traverse an incredible mountain range. This expansive stretch, approximately 1500 kilometers in length, adorns Brazil’s south and southeast coastline, presenting a breathtaking coastal view.
You have the freedom to either trail our sequentially arranged recommended route or customize your own, emphasising on aspects such as culture, history, social-economic contexts, architecture, street art, local crafts and design, fashion, and photography. Our guide will be readily at your service.

Location
Museu do Ipiranga
Praca da Independencia Ipiranga, Sao Paulo
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(19 Ratings)
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Daldekadibba
Apr 13, 2023
The best tour coordinator and tour guide you will ever have - While this review is for this specific Gregtur Turismo tour, if you look at many of the tours Gregtur offers for São Paulo, it is hard to see how you can improve upon their very well deserved rating of 5.0. They are absolutely outstanding! We were on a cruise and I was trying to set up a tour for 14 people, or 7 couples, five of whom contacted me through Cruise Critic and Facebook for that specific sailing. Fernanda, whom I was communicating with, to negotiate the prices, set up the tour, etc. is the best tour coordinator you can ever dream of working with. I had hundreds of questions and emails to her and she patiently responded to each one of them, very promptly, and respectfully. It was clear from my interactions with her that her primary focus was on us having a great experience with the tour, without any worries, versus a cold monetary focus as I generally come across in such situations. She is the absolutely best. Wish I could meet with her in person and thank her for an outstanding experience. Fernanda assigned us Danilo as our tour guide. Danilo is just about the best tour guide you could ever have. While we had one other tour guide in Kuşadası, Turkey of the same caliber as Danilo, I doubt you can do any better than Danilo. His English was very good and he communicated very well and clearly. He had a great sense of humor. But the main differentiator was that he was incredibly knowledgeable and very passionate about communicating to us the very best of São Paulo and Brazil. In the about 10 hours we were with him from Santos to São Paulo and back, there were very few moments of silence during that time, even through the drive from and to Santos is pretty long, because Danilo kept providing us a wealth of information. His information prompted many questions and he answered every one of them. The sites he showed us and the venues he showed them from were well curated, and I doubt you would find those on any standard tour. He really provided a great insight into São Paulo, and the history of the region in the context of Brazil. He took us to a wonderful, very reasonable, Brazilian buffet for lunch. He was very considerate of his passengers and their needs. I can's say enough about Danilo. If you get Danilo as a guide you will get the penultimate experience of São Paulo. We all felt that the value of the tour to what we paid for it was an outstanding bargain. It was so good!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jenniferlg8267ep
Mar 26, 2023
Great tour at Sao Paulo - Our full day organized group tour was picked up at the cruise ship terminal. Danilo was our guide and he was nice and knowledgeable. With such a limited time frame, Danilo was able to give us a good insight of the city--its history, architecture and great place for lunch as well. He enlightened us about some of Brazilian cultural practice. We were back to the cruise ship in a timely manner. Thank you Danilo and the driver (sorry, didn't get his name) for a great tour at Sao Paulo.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
James_w
Feb 18, 2023
Nalio was amazing! You have to do this!! - São Paulo is a massive city with a LOT of traFfic. Nalio, our driver, set up the PERFECT day for us. We arrived by Cruise Ship and he was right there waiting for us. We had an amazing day and I could not have been more pleased. Interesting enough we heard from folks who were on a bus trip from the ship they literally nothing, while we had a bunch of interesting stops. A++++++++
Review provided by Viator
Arthur_k
Jan 13, 2023
Superb Jewish tour. - Adi was warm, knowledgeable and easy going. He gave us a superb tour of the main Jewish sites and history of the Hews in São Paulo. The pick up and drop off was seamless. Highly recommend this tour for anyone interested in learning more about Judaism in Brazil. We also stopped and enjoyed a delicious kosher meal at a local restaurant.
Review provided by Viator
Janice_n
Dec 17, 2022
The guide makes the tour. Ilan was the best! Definitely book this tour. - Ilan was our guide. He made us feel like we were long lost family from the minute he met us. This was an amazing private tour. We saw so much and before we knew it our tour ended and we were back at the ship. Ilan is a wealth of knowledge and a genuinely fun person to spend the day with. Private tours are always great because you are in charge of the itinerary and I can tell you we saw things we didn’t even know São Paulo had to offer. The tour company was great answering my questions pre-tour.. I highly recommend this tour if your ship docks in São Paulo / Santos. And they also offer tours for those staying in São Paulo. Regardless of where you start, if you request Ilan you will have the best day ever.
Review provided by Viator
Apolovinchik
Dec 16, 2022
Private tour of São Paulo - Our tour with tour guide Doris and driver Itamar was exceptionally good. Doris was very energetic, knowledgeable and much fun to be with. We learned a great deal about the city of São Paulo, its history and major cites. Despite the traffic, the team did the best that they could to show us the city’s attractions and we made it back to the ship timely. Thank you to Doris and Itamar for the experience at Santos and São Paulo.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
191janicen
Dec 15, 2022
Feel like you are visiting a long lost family member. Request Ilan when booking your next Gregtur. You’ll be very happy - This is my second Gregtur in Brazil. The company is great! Both times excellent guides. Today we had Ilan. Right off the bat you feel like you have just been picked up by a long lost relative. Ilan is like a walking encyclopedia. He knows so much about the area. He is not only knowledgeable but simply a fun person to spend the day with. The day flew by and before we knew it we were back at the ship ready to say goodbye. Definitely request Ilan on your next adventure in São Paulo, you have a thoroughly enjoyable time! Private touring gives you the unique opportunity to simply change plans as you go. And we had a far better time than our original plans for the day.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sharon_n
Mar 27, 2020
Highlights of Sao Paolo - On 2/19/20 we took this tour & had Danilo as our guide. We docked in the port of Santos where he picked us up. He spoke excellent English & was extremely informative on our 1+ hr. drive from the port to the city & back again and answered all of our questions. We stopped at the MAC - Museum of Contemp.Art - beautiful artwork & great views of the city. We drove through several different districts & saw the highlights & stopped at the mural district/Batman Alley. Had a delicious pizza lunch & stopped at an historical church before heading back. Although a little pricey for only 2 people, we enjoyed Danilo & he took great care in assuring our safe return even though he had to drive through a torrential rainstorm on our return trip.
Review provided by Viator
W7070bwpeterg
Mar 23, 2020
Bruno is a tour guide every tourist must appreciate - Really complex and convenient day tour of São Paulo, we found this tour accidentally by browsing internet night before tour, strangely enough we stayed at the hotel where the meeting point of tour was so it just added to our easiness to book this tour, Bruno was fluent in English which is still kinda unique for Brasil, he is well spoken with main interest in art IMO, he definitely fresh up our day trip by number of tips and curiosities, can't recommend highly enough for everyone who is short staying in São Paulo and wants experience highlights of this vast city, also driver provide and hassle free and comfort transport so many thanks to both of them, you did a great job,
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cheri_f
Mar 21, 2023
Little opportunity to get out of the car. - Overall the tour was a "drive by" sightseeing of Sāo Paulo, with little opportunity to see visit much outside of the car. Our guide was very nice and did his best to fill the time as we drove, but for the price paid and what we actually saw, the tour did not fulfil our expectations. The guide arrived 20+ min. late for pick-up at the Port of Santos and we could not reach him or the tour operator via text message. Then we encountered traffic leaving the city of Santos and on the drive to Sāo Paolo learned his car had started making noises that day (so he was driving a bit slower). Given we were only in port for 9 hours, these factors meant we would have less time to spend in Sāo Paolo. The tour highlight was our first stop at the MAC (view from terrace and architecture by Oscar Niemeyer). In hindsight, we would have preferred to visit the museum and see the modern artwork, because it was not possible to visit some of the points of interest in the city center of Sāo Paolo listed on the tour description. We selected this tour ($606 for 3 guests), over a lesser expensive full day tour ($428 for 3) on Viator because of the more detailed itinerary, but we didn't feel the extra money was worth it. For example, the itinerary indicated a 10 or 15 min. stop/visit to the Cathedral, but when we asked about visiting, our guide told us that it was not a safe area, with many homeless around who can be aggressive to tourists. We had hoped to be able to get out and take photos, but with this advice, we did not, as we didn't feel comfortable holding our cameras. Based on this, I think the Viator website itinerary should be updated because the Cathedral was just another "drive by". We were able to get out at the market, but it wasn't too interesting to us, having lived in Europe and seen lots of markets, and we were not interested in the type of "market fast food" for lunch. I would have skipped this too for a different point of interest. Most importantly with the late start and Google traffic forecast to return to the Port of Santos, we had to skip visiting Batman Alley (which we understand was an interesting stop) in order to begin the drive back to the Port of Santos. Luckily, we did leave Sāo Paolo early, as the guide's car was making more noise on the return so he had to reduce the speed. We did make it back in time to board the ship, but the day tour was more stressful than necessary.
Review provided by Viator
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June 2024
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