Sao Paulo

Getting Around

In a huge city such as São Paulo, roads can be extremely congested, with peak traffic between the hours of 6am to 9am and 4pm to 8pm. Driving is not recommended in the city, as parking can be as much of a problem as the traffic. Fortunately, there are hundreds of buses covering the city, though these can be rather crowded and slow during peak hours, and also won't stop unless hailed from the sidewalk.

The subway system is usually the fastest option for getting around in São Paulo. The metro system consists of five colour-coded lines: Line 1 (Blue), Line 2 (Green), Line 3 (Red), Line 4 (Yellow) and Line 5 (Lilac), all of which operate from Sunday to Friday, from 4.40am to midnight, and on Saturdays until 1am.

We recommend tourists invest in a Bilhete Único, which is a smartcard that simplifies payment on São Paulo's buses, subways and trains. Visitors can buy these at underground stations and charge them at convenient locations such as newspaper stands.

Taxis are freely available and we'd advise tourists to make use of them after dark. White cabs can be found at stands near big venues and central areas. Radio taxis are more reputable and favoured by tourists, but are more expensive and must be ordered by phone. There's also the option of ride-sharing apps, such as Uber and Lyft.

São Paulo is large and spread out. You won't be able to walk everywhere, but the various neighbourhoods are easy to negotiate on foot and are usually safe by day.

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