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Beaches and Shopping in Brazil

Filed under: Ask Us - February 10th, 2006

Your Question

Hi, I am looking for a place to stay close to Sao Paulo (within 4 hours). Where would you recommend for beaches (to relax and swim) and a bit of ecotourism (hiking, snorkelling, waterfalls etc)? Is Ubatuba the best or should I look at other options? Any hotel or pousada recommendations? (around $30US/night or less for 6 night stay).

Also I would like to shop in Sao Paulo but only have a day (probably a Sunday) and am travelling by myself. Can you recommend a hotel and tour company that could take me? Or where i could stay close to March 25th street?

Our Reply

In reply to your question about the best place to stay near Sao Paulo, I recommend Ubatuba, Camburi, Guaruja, and Santos. These beaches are all within 4 hours of Sao Paulo. Ubatuba is the longest distance of approximately 3.5 hours, Camburi is approx 3 hours away, Guaruja is approximately 2 hours and Santos is approximately 1.5 hours. Each of these beaches offers different things for you. Camburi is a very beautiful beach, and is a bit more expensive than the others, but still very affordable. Ubatuba is the longest distance, but is definately a great place to go. Guaruja is very close to Sao Paulo city, making it very populated with people from the city. Santos is the least popular out of the 4, but it offers similar attractions.
If you are looking to spend approx 30 US dollars per night, there are quite a few options for you. Depending on the exchange rate, right now that would be about $66 reals. It is possible to look into hotels, or even hostels if you are interested. Once at the beach, there are many excursions you can part take in. You will be able to take a sail boat to other islands, or take hikes in the mountains. Make sure you do the hikes with a guide because you wouldnt want to run into any problems alone in the woods.

As for Sao Paulo, there are many places to stay that are near march 25th street. However, there is also a very efficient metro system in Sao Paulo that will take you right to the street. I would recommend staying not so close to March 25th street, but staying close to a metro station. It is very easy to find hotels etc through the internet, and I have found that many sites have english, and those working in the hotel usually speak a bit of english. I am not aware of any tours that go directly to March 25th street, and I would not recommend going alone. I dont know when you are planning on coming, but if you are really interested in going there, write to me again, because there are 2 other tourists who have asked me to take them there, and maybe if you are here then, you can join the group. It would be much safer for you.

If you have any more questions please dont hesitate to ask.

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