Walk 01 — Concrete and Marble

Concrete and marble, on foot

This is the walk to do first. In about two hours, starting at your own front door, you pass the building that started São Paulo's skyline, the sinuous concrete landmark that defined its modern one, and the marble opera house between them. Wear comfortable shoes and go in the morning.

The route

1. Praça da República — start in the plaza below the Suite. On Sundays the art-and-craft fair is setting up; any day, it's the green heart of the district. Read its story in Praça da República.
2. Edifício Itália — a two-minute walk. The Terraço Itália at the top has the highest view in Centro; if it's open, ride up to orient yourself over the whole route.
3. Edifício Copan — Oscar Niemeyer's great S-curve, a short walk on. Stand at the base and follow the wave of the façade with your eye. Background in Edifício Copan.
4. The corner of Ipiranga and São João — the crossing a song made famous, with the old Bar Brahma on it. See the corner.
5. Viaduto do Chá and the Vale do Anhangabaú — cross the iron viaduct over the valley that divides the new center from the old.
6. Theatro Municipal — the 1911 opera house in marble and bronze, just across the valley.
7. Farol Santander — the old Banespa building; ride up to the deck for a second, different panorama.
8. Edifício Martinelli — the city's first skyscraper, a few streets on, then loop back toward the plaza. Its story is in Itália and Martinelli.

Eight buildings, two hours, and the whole coffee-to-modernism story of São Paulo told in stone and concrete.

Notes

Do it in daylight and keep to the busy streets. Break it anywhere for a coffee — Centro is full of good stops. And if your legs give out, you're never far from a metrô station back to República. When you're ready for the next one, the Coffee and Culture walk heads north into Luz.