Prefeitura de São Paulo

PARQUE IBIRAPUERA

The city’s biggest recreational area measures 1.6 million square meters and attracts about 200,000 visitors on weekends. There is an 800-person auditorium, Oca and the Pavilhão da Bienal (Biennial Pavilion) and much more. The Museu AfroBrasil (Gate 10, tel. 5579- 8542, museuafrobrasil.com.br) houses 5,000 works with African themes. The Museu de Arte Contemporânea, or MAC (Gate 3. Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo, 3rd floor, tel. 5573-5255, mac.usp.br), runs courses workshops, seminars and conferences. The Pavilhão Japonês (Japanese Pavilion) (Gate 8, tel. 5081- 7296) shows traditional Japanese products in a replica of a classic Japanese garden. The 48,000 square meter Viveiro Manequinho Lopes (Gate 7, tel. 3887-6761) is a nursery used to produce seedlings for plants used along city streets and avenues. O Planetário Professor Aristóteles Orsini (Gate 10, tel. 5575-5206) brings the heavens closer in a dome 18 meters in diameter.

The Auditório Ibirapuera (Gate 3, tel. 3629-1075, auditorioibirapuera.com.br) was chosen by Travel & Leisure magazine as one of the World’s Coolest Buildings in 2009. Another cool thing to do in the park is to check out the colored light show at the fountain in the lake, every weekend between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.

Address:
Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, unnumbered (Gates 3 and 10)
Av. República do Líbano, 1158 (Gates 7A, 7and 8 – pedestrians)
Av. IV Centenário, unnumbered (Gate 6 – pedestrians)

PARQUE DO POVO

Opened in 2008, the 112,000 square-meter park has sports courts and paths for walking, running and cycling.

Address:
Av. Henrique Chamma, unnumbered