BrazilTour

São Paulo

To talk about the State of São Paulo we always need to adopt superlatives. This doesn´t happen in vain, after all, it encompases the majority of the population, the biggest industrial park, the biggest economic production and the biggest register of immigrantes. And as it should be, it is the most cosmopolitan Brazilian State, and in South America.

It was built with the energy and sweat of people hailing from all parts of Brazil and the world, maintaining rooted in every piece of this land the knack for work. There are over 600 municipalities and about 40 million residents. There is an abundant infrastructure and qualified labor, which ensures the State gets the title of "The Locomotive of Brazil".

On the leisure department, the State of São Paulo and its capital offer different tourism modalities: ecotourism, business and events tourism, adventure, religious, rural, historic-cultural, nautic and even technologic. The biggest Brazilian metropole is rich in historic, artistic and cultural activities, and also has large green areas among the tall and modern buildings. Passing by the centre of the city of São Paulo it is possible to find the most absurd architectural contrasts. Between secular buildings and modern art museums, everything is well balanced and in harmony. A spectacle!

Leaving the capital and going East, we can find one of the most beautiful stretches of the Brazilian coast on the paulista North Coast, where modern structures live in harmony with natural beauties and historic-cultural sceneries, with artistic, folkloric and religious manifestations. The region encompasses 180 beaches, 317 waterfalls, 110 paths and 138 thousand hectares of Atlantic Forest, proper for surfing, diving, sailing, fishing and other adventure and leisure sports. Highlights on this route are the municipalities of Caraguatatuba, Ilhabela, São Sebastião and Ubatuba. And inland we can mention Brotas and São Luiz do Paraitinga as the cradles of rafting in Brazil.

But when we talk of cities such as Bertioga, Guarujá, Praia Grande, Santos and São Vicente, the highlight goes to the Fortresses Circuit, which joins Atlantic Forest reserves, privileged views and historic and cultural heritage which remind of many periods of the 500 years of Brazilian history, since the start of colonisation until the mid-twentieth century. The fortresses can be visited by terrestrial or nautic means and each keeps a brief portrait of the building, technologic, strategic, historic, cultural and geographic aspects of Brazil.

Heart of the largest continued remanent of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, the Ribeira Valley is a Natural Heritage of Humanity, granted heritage as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. One of the biggest attractions is the biologic and ecosystems diversity, where approximately 400 species of birds, anphibians, reptiles and mammals live. The Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park (PETAR) is the paradise for ecotourists, for its enormous diversity in geologic formations, among grottos and caves, rivers and waterfalls, allowing the practice of various adventure sports. There are currently 454 caves registered by the Brazilian Society of Speleology (SBE) in the State of São Paulo. All at the Ribeira Valley – the 280 ones located at PETAR represent the biggest concentration of caves in Brazil.

Services
Tourism Office of São Paulo State +55 (11) 3331-0033, extension 1925
http://www.ciencia.sp.gov.br/turismo/