Bar Brahma

São Paulo

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On the downtown corner made famous by Caetano Veloso's 1992 love song to São Paulo, 'Sampa,' Bar Brahma once lived a glorious life as the city's see-and-be-seen samba destination in the '50s and '60s. Today, it remains a popular – if not too slick – place for live samba (Fridays from 8pm to 1am, Saturdays from 2:30 to 7:30pm).

Scruffier choices around town will net you a more authentic experience, but you could do worse than a musically fueled Saturday afternoon feijoada here chased with ice-cold Brahma chope (draft beer; R$9.20).

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Edifício Copan

    Edifício Copan

    0.4 MILES

    Copan was designed by late modernist master Oscar Niemeyer. The building, with its serpentine facade and narrow brises soleil (permanent sunshades), is…

  • Mercado Municipal

    Mercado Municipal

    0.72 MILES

    This covered market is a belle epoque confection of stained glass and a series of vast domes. Inside, a fabulous urban market specializes in all things…

  • Museu de Arte de São Paulo

    Museu de Arte de São Paulo

    1.64 MILES

    Sampa’s pride, this museum possesses Latin America’s most comprehensive collection of Western art. Hovering above a concrete plaza that turns into an…

  • Mosteiro São Bento

    Mosteiro São Bento

    0.44 MILES

    Among the city’s oldest and most important churches, São Bento dates to 1598, though its neo-Gothic facade dates only to the early 20th century. Step…

  • Farol Santander

    Farol Santander

    0.47 MILES

    For one of Sampa’s best panoramas, head to the top of this 161m-high skyscraper, Brazil’s version of the Empire State Building – completed in 1939 and…

  • Pina_Luz

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    This elegant neoclassical museum, formerly known as Pinacoteca do Estado but modernly rebranded 'Pina_Luz' (with the underline!) in 2017, houses an…

  • Museu Xingu

    Museu Xingu

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    Relatively unknown and blissfully uncrowded, the unassuming Casa Amarela is part NGO handicraft shop, part two-table romantic cafe and part tiny Museu…

  • Estação da Luz

    Estação da Luz

    0.59 MILES

    Across the street from the Parque da Luz sits one of São Paulo's most stunning structures, a classic late-Victorian train station constructed with…

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