A Rainy Day in São Paulo

The city has a nickname for the weather

São Paulo is sometimes called the terra da garoa — the land of drizzle — and while the climate has shifted over the decades, a grey, misty afternoon is still part of the city's character. The good news: Centro is one of the easiest places in São Paulo to spend a wet day well, because so much of it is indoors and close together, and the metrô keeps you mostly dry.

Stay dry, stay busy

• The Pinacoteca, two stops north in Luz, is the perfect rainy-day museum — beautiful light even under cloud, and hours of good art.
• The Mercadão is fully covered: eat the famous sandwich and watch the market from the balcony.
• CCBB and the Theatro Municipal sit near the Anhangabaú and make an easy indoor afternoon of exhibitions and architecture.
• Cafés — this is the moment for a long, slow cafezinho and a book.

Or don't leave at all

Honestly, the best rainy-day room in the city might be the one you booked. The Suite was built for it: pull the emerald chair to the window, watch the garoa blur the skyline, and put the six-screen desk to work. A grey day up here, with brass lamplight on and the city soft and quiet below, is one of the nicest things the place does.

A wet afternoon is not a lost afternoon in Centro. It's an excuse to stay in a beautiful room.

Getting around in the wet

Keep to the metrô — República, Anhangabaú, Sé and Luz reach nearly everything above without a long walk in the rain. Carry a small umbrella; the garoa is more mist than downpour, but it's persistent. And save the rooftops for a clear evening — they're worth the wait.