Day trips from São Paulo: five ways to spend a day

São Paulo is too big to see on foot, and the places people drive out to — the coast, the mountains, a town of artists, a town of flowers — are one to three hours away. Here is what each of our five São Paulo tours involves, and which to pick if you only have one day.

If it is your first day in São Paulo: the city tour. If you have one day to spend outside it: Santos and Guarujá for the sea, Campos do Jordão for the mountains.

The five, side by side

Trip	Length	Leaves	Price
São Paulo: Private City Tour with Paulista, Ibirapuera and the Old Centre	5h	07:00	Price on request
Embu das Artes Private Tour from São Paulo	5h	07:00	Price on request
Santos and Guarujá Private Day Trip from São Paulo	9h	07:00	Price on request
Campos do Jordão Private Day Trip from São Paulo	11h	07:00	Price on request
Holambra Private Day Trip from São Paulo: Flowers and the Windmill	10h	07:00	Price on request

Prices on request: send us your date and group size and we reply with the price.

How to choose

You want the city

The São Paulo city tour. Five hours, starting at 07:00 or 13:00: Avenida Paulista and MASP, Ibirapuera Park and Niemeyer's pavilions, the Pátio do Colégio, where the Jesuits founded São Paulo in 1554, São Bento Monastery, the Mercado Municipal and Liberdade. On Sundays and public holidays Paulista is closed to cars, so we walk part of it.

You want a short trip out of town

Embu das Artes. Five hours: a small colonial town of galleries and studios, the old Jesuit church on the square, and the workshops of wood carvers and potters. The craft fair is on Saturdays and Sundays. The shops open later than 07:00, so the 13:00 start is the better one.

You want the sea

Santos and Guarujá. Nine hours from 07:00: the funicular up Monte Serrat, the old Coffee Exchange, now the Coffee Museum, lunch on the seafront, then the car ferry across to the beaches of Pitangueiras and Enseada.

You want the mountains

Campos do Jordão. Eleven hours, the longest day here, with two and a half to three hours each way: the governor's winter palace, the chocolate shops and cafés of Capivari, the Amantikir gardens and the view from Pico do Itapeva. It is much colder than São Paulo, so bring a warm layer.

You want an easy day

Holambra. Ten hours: the flower town founded by Dutch settlers in 1948, with its windmill, the Love Deck over the lake, the umbrella street and a flower farm. Very little walking. Expoflora, the town's flower show, is held around August and September.

Four things worth knowing before you book

Tickets are paid on the day

The price covers the private vehicle, the driver, fuel, tolls and parking. Museum entrances, the Monte Serrat funicular, the gardens and flower farms, Expoflora tickets and lunch are paid on the day. Some of them do not open every day, so we check for your date when you book.

Watch the weekends

Roads to the coast are very busy on summer weekends and holidays, and Campos do Jordão is at its busiest in July. A weekday is easier, except in Embu, where the craft fair is at the weekend.

Private costs less than you think for a group

A coach seat is cheap for one person and stops being cheap at four. Our prices are by group size, not per seat: up to four of you share one car at one price, and the price only steps up when you need a van. And you are not waiting for forty strangers at every stop.

You can change your mind

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before pick-up, refunded in full. If the date stops working, message us and we will do our best to move you to another day.