This guide is for you if you want a day in the mountains from São Paulo and Campos do Jordão is on your list. It is the longest of our day trips from the city, and the place behaves very differently in July from the rest of the year. Here is what to decide before you book: the month, the day of the week, the clothes and whether one day is enough.
When to go
Campos do Jordão sits at 1,628 metres in the Serra da Mantiqueira, which makes it the highest municipality in Brazil. It is about 167 kilometres from São Paulo. Summers are mild and winters are cool, with frost common in the cold months. The lowest official temperature on record there is 7.3 degrees below zero, measured on 1 June 1979. Snow has fallen a handful of times, the last recorded in 1966.
July is when most visitors come. The cold is part of the attraction, and the town is one of Brazil's main winter destinations, sometimes called the Brazilian Switzerland. The Festival de Inverno, which grew out of a series of winter concerts first held in 1970, fills most of the month. Many of its concerts are free, while indoor venues such as the Auditório Claudio Santoro need tickets. Check this year's dates and programme.
The festival is a good reason to go if you like classical music, but it brings heavy traffic and crowded streets in Capivari. If you want the town quieter, choose any other month. June and August are winter months too, so you still get the cold mountain air without the July queues.
Which day of the week
The first stop has fixed days. The Palácio Boa Vista opens Wednesday to Sunday, from 10:00 to 12:00 and from 14:00 to 17:00. A Monday or Tuesday date means you see the palace from outside only. We arrive at about a quarter to ten, so on an open day there may be a short wait for the doors.
The Amantikir gardens, by the account we found, open every day of the year, including public holidays. Both places can change their hours, so check the official sites before you go. We check for your date when you book.
How the long day is split
You leave at 07:00 and are back at about 18:00. Roughly five and a half hours of that are on the road, two and a half to three hours each way, out along the Via Dutra and up into the mountains.
The rest of the day is spent in four places:
- Palácio Boa Vista. Opened in 1964 as the São Paulo governor's winter residence and open to the public as a museum since 1970. It holds Brazilian art from the colonial period to modernism. Visits are guided, entry has been free, and photographs are not allowed inside. Entrance is not part of the tour.
- Capivari. The centre of town, with shops, cafés and restaurants around a small lake where you can hire pedal boats. A cable car runs from here up the Morro do Elefante if you want an extra view.
- Amantikir. Hillside gardens laid out in styles from different countries. The name comes from the Tupi word that also gave the Serra da Mantiqueira its name, usually translated as the mountain that weeps. Entrance is not included.
- Pico do Itapeva. A viewpoint at around 1,800 metres, with a view of almost 360 degrees over the Paraíba valley. On a clear day you can pick out eleven towns and the basilica at Aparecida.
Lunch is in between, and not included. Fondue and trout are what the town is known for.
Because the vehicle is yours alone, you can shift the balance. Skip the palace and spend longer in Capivari, or the other way round. Tell your driver in the morning.
One day, or a night up there
Five and a half hours in a car for five or so hours in town is a fair trade only if you are happy in a car. If the drive sounds like too much, stay the night. We can drop you one day and collect you on another; message us for a price.
A night also helps in winter. The early mornings in Campos are cold and quiet, and you avoid both the outward rush and the evening traffic back to São Paulo on festival weekends.
The price of the day trip depends on the size of your group; see it on the tour page.
What to bring
The main thing is warmth. It is much colder than São Paulo, especially in the morning.
- A warm jacket, and in winter a hat and gloves. Frost is common in winter.
- Layers you can take off. The middle of the day can be pleasant in the sun.
- Comfortable shoes for the garden paths and the viewpoint.
- Sunglasses and sun cream for the viewpoint and the gardens.
- A card or local cash for entrances, lunch and the chocolate shops.
Who it suits, and who should think twice
It suits couples and families who want cool air, gardens and slow eating, and anyone who likes a view. It also suits classical music lovers in July, if they are prepared for the crowds.
Think twice in these cases:
- Someone in your group gets car sick. The last part of the road climbs into the mountains. Bring what they need, or consider an overnight stay.
- You have small children. Eleven hours is a long day. The Holambra day trip is shorter on the road and the town is flat.
- You only have half a day. Campos needs the full day. Embu das Artes is the half-day choice outside the city.
- You are more than 16. Two vehicles travel together on one booking. Message us and we will price it.
Our guide to day trips from São Paulo compares this with the other four.
Questions people ask
Will it snow?
Almost certainly not. Snow has been recorded only a few times, the last in 1966. Frost, though, is common on winter mornings.
Can we go to a festival concert?
In July, yes, if the timing fits the day. Many concerts are free, but indoor venues need tickets. Check the programme and tell us when you book, so the day can be planned around it.
Can we cancel?
Yes. Cancel up to 24 hours before pick-up and you get a full refund. See our cancellation page.
Booking the day
Pick a Wednesday to Sunday if the palace matters, avoid July if crowds bother you, and pack a warm layer whatever the São Paulo forecast says. The stops and times are on the Campos do Jordão private day trip page, where you choose the size of your group and book.
