Walking Tour São Paulo Center: Historical Process Of The Largest City in Brazil | 3 hours to 4 hours

17 Reviews | Sao Paulo
Likely To Sell Out
Select Date and Travelers
You can select up to 10 travelers in total.
Adult (1-99) Minimum: 1, Maximum: 10
2
Free Cancellation For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
(4-HOUR TOUR)
2 Adults x $213.00
$426.00
Approx Total
$426.00
(3-HOUR TOUR)
2 Adults x $180.00
$360.00
Approx Total
$360.00

Inclusions / Exclusions

  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: Portuguese, English, Italian, French, Spanish
  • Entry ticket for Farol Santander (Observation Deck)
  • Professional licensed bilingual tour guide.
  • Meals and drinks.
  • Tips. (optional)

Overview

Take a private walking tour in the São Paulo downtown to understand the amazing historic process of São Paulo that in 465 years of existence, marked by relative inexpressiveness for more than three centuries, has become the largest city in the Southern hemisphere. Begin your tour at Pátio do Colégio, where your guide will provide you with some historical background about the area. Then, move on to visit the Manor of the Marchioness of Santos, Sé Cathedral, Sé Square, Largo São Francisco Law School, the FECAP and more. Continue to see Brazil Bank's Cultural Center. Make a quick stop here to use the toilets or grab a drink, before walking to the Stock Exchange. Take in a great view of the city at the Altino Arantes building and Farol Santander. Other sites you will pass on the tour include: the Martinelli building, the Monastery of Saint Benedict, the Sampaio Moreira building, and City Hall. The tour will finish at the Municipal Theater and you can admire its beautiful architecture.

Meeting points

• In front of the main entrance of “Pátio do Colégio” on the address Praça Pateo do Collegio, 02 - Centro • Reference point: It's a walkable distance from the subway / metro stations "Sé" and "São Bento" part of red line.

End point

Open in Google Maps

The tour must end after a coffee break at the “Municipal Theater” which is very close to the subway / metro stations “Anhangabaú” and "Patriarca" part of the “red line” .

Itinerary

  • Pateo do Collegio

    Historic São Paulo founding site and museum of the city. With the intention to teach and catechize the natives, the Jesuits built the first school and began what 4 centuries later would become the largest city in the Southern hemisphere.

    20 minutes

  • Manor Of The Marquesa Of Santos

    The residence built around the second half of the eighteenth century served as housing for Domitila de Castro Canto known as "Marquesa de Santos". Domitila played an important role in contributing for the greatness of the city of São Paulo.

    5 minutes

  • Image House and Alley Pinto

    House No 1 is a three-story 17th century historical residence that nowadays is one of the thirteen historic buildings part of the Museum of the City of São Paulo.

    5 minutes

  • Catedral da Se de Sao Paulo

    Visit the Sé Cathedral which was inspired by medieval European churches. The imposing construction marks the center of São Paulo (the ground zero of the city is at Sé Square), a very busy area.

    20 minutes

  • N/A

    From the Largo São Francisco Law school, its students and graduates, began the main movements of Brazilian History, from the Abolitionism to the Republican Movement. Not to mention the campaign for "VOTING NOW" (diretas já) during the military government in the 80's. Over time, 9 Brazilian presidents, several governors, mayors and a countless of other figures emerged from it.

    10 minutes

  • N/A

    FECAP holds the oldest public utility certification in Brazil since 1915. The institution was also the first to open courses in Economics (1934) and Accounting (1939) in the country.

    5 minutes

  • Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil

    In the historical heart of the city, the Cultural Center Banco do Brasil occupies a building of 1901 with five floors. Cinema, theater, auditorium, store and coffee shop as well as great exhibitions all in a neoclassical architecture.

    15 minutes

  • N/A

    São Paulo’s Stock Exchange is the main stock trading market of publicly traded companies in Brazil and 8th in the world in capitalization.

    5 minutes

  • Farol Santander

    One of the tallest buildings in São Paulo with an observation deck on the top with a stunning 360º view of São Paulo.

    30 minutes

  • N/A

    The first skyscraper in Latin America. The construction generated much controversy, because until then there was no building of such great height. Currently, the building is one of the main architectural symbols of Brazil.

    10 minutes

  • Mosteiro De Sao Bento

    The San Benedictine Monastery is one of those sacred tips that also applies to people who are not religious. The building hosted Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Brazil. Believers are attracted by the masses with Gregorian chants, and shop with breads, cakes, cookies and jams made by the monks themselves and whose recipes are secular.

    10 minutes

  • Matarazzo Building City Hall Of Sao Paulo

    Inaugurated in 1939 to host one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Brazilian history, the Matarazzo Industries". Designed by the favorite architect of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the Italian Marcello Piacentini.

    10 minutes

  • N/A

    Featuring 12 floors and 50 meters high, Sampaio Moreira was the tallest building in the city of São Paulo between 1924 and 1929, when the Martinelli building was inaugurated. It is considered, therefore, the first multi-story large building in the city, as well as one of the first in the country to present such typology.

    5 minutes

  • Viaduto Do Cha

    One of the postcards of São Paulo, the tea viaduct was the first in the city of São Paulo. It bears this name because of the extensive tea plantation nearby.

    15 minutes

  • Vale Do Anhangabau

    Historical meeting point for cultural and political manifestations. The most significant was the "VOTING NOW"(diretas já) movement calling for direct elections during the military government.

    10 minutes

  • Shopping Light

    Inaugurated in 1929, the building was the headquarters of the Canadian company that was responsible for the electric power service of São Paulo between 1899 and 1981.

    10 minutes

  • Theatro Municipal De Sao Paulo

    Considered a postcard of São Paulo, the Municipal Theater is one of the most important historical places in town due to several important cultural events that took place in its facilities like the Week of Modern Art of 1922.

    20 minutes

Sample Menu

Additional Info

  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Free Cancellation

June 19100% refund
June 20No refund

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
Reviews

5.0

17 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
  • 5 stars
    17
  • 4 stars
    0
  • 3 stars
    0
  • 2 stars
    0
  • 1 star
    0

Reviews by TravelOne travelers

Showing 1-5 of 17 reviews with 5 stars

Fantastic walking tour covering Sao Paulo history!

Published on Oct, 2024

Great tour covering the history and main sites of Sao Paulo city center. Our guide, Joice, was fantastic! She is extremely knowledgeable, pleasant and friendly. I totally recommend this tour if you want to better understand how Sao Paulo was founded and grew into such a massive city.

A great walking tour

Published on Jun, 2024

Fantastic walking tour of downtown Sao Paulo. My guide Ilan was extremely knowledgeable and informative and gave me a great overview of the history and architecture of Sao Paulo. I was able to visit numerous interesting places and get some great photos. Highly recommended to really get to know Sao Paulo.

Wonderful tour

Published on Apr, 2024

Doris was amazing. She was so knowledgeable and friendly. We really enjoyed both of our tours with her and learned so much. And the food??? Holy cow it was unbelievable.

We did not tour São...

Published on Jan, 2024

We did not tour São Paulo, rather Santos. I made an error in location in terms of where our cruise ship docked. Viator assisted in changing São Paulo tour to Santos. It was an excellent and welcome change. Our guide Roma was an amazing historian, so proud of her city and made our full day so rewarding - she balanced traffic, with rain and 12 passengers’ need so well. We saw more than we expected! Well done Roma.

Very nice tour, fun, dinamic and well paced

Published on Jun, 2023

This tour was very well paced. Participants age ranged from 13 to 75. Explanations were great, very appropriate for the age and interests of the participants. The choice of places to visit was customized accordingly. Our guide Marcio was fun, knowledgeable, and made everything easy for us.

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