This blog post is to remove every piece of doubt when choosing the location of your next hostel: Pinheiros and Vila Madalena are the place to be when in São Paulo. It might feel terrifying finding the best area to stay in São Paulo just by looking at the city map and all know how important location is when we travel. Especially at large urban centers’ choosing well is crucial for you to enjoy your trips with no complications.

São Paulo has many neighborhoods, each one with a personality of its own, but we will zoom straight to Pinheiros – one São Paulo’s biggest – and Vila Madalena – a smaller zone within Pinheiros limits – to tell you why we chose here to call home and why Vila Madalena & Pinheiros are the best neighborhoods to stay in São Paulo.

Five reasons why Vila Madalena & Pinheiros are the best areas to stay in São Paulo.

1) Vila Madalena feels like a small town

São Paulo is a land of contrasts and even if it is all that big, it definitely doesn’t fell like you are in Latin America’s most dense metropolis when you are strolling the streets at Vila Madalena. Still, this is a very paulistano practice: locals come to our vicinity on their free time for some leisure, culture and to slow down the pace. Residential houses, tree-lined streets and neighbors greeting neighbors compose the scenario with the graffited walls and the young crowd coming for a beer at its many bars with tables on the sidewalk.

2) Pinheiros is always right in the middle of the action

When a new venue opens in town chances are big that the launch is happening here on our surroundings. New bars, restaurants and art galleries pop up every week and if you come on the weekend save some energy to join the locals on open air markets with live music and lots of street celebrations. The area is also known to be bohemian and many bars will serve you well at night. If it’s carnival the blocos will take you along and you will never want to go back home, seriously.

3) It’s cultural, artsy, organic, bike friendly…

If you believe progress is all about skycrappers and all you can call our neighborhood traditional. But if you like us believe that progress is about going local, being in Vila Madalena & Pinheiros will be staying at São Paulo’s most progressive area. Here you will find organic shops, yoga studios, the largest concentration of graffited walls in town and loads of art, cozy cafes, healthy restaurants, and world-class cultural venues such as Thomie Othake & Sesc Pinheiros Cultural Centers, Natura Musical and Largo da Batata, to name a few.

4) It’s home to great markets and shopping

If food is your thing, you won’t be disappointed at our local Mercado de Pinheiros. Produce markets will also take place on tuesdays at Deputado Lacerda Franco, Saturdays at Mourato Coelho and Thursday at Benedito Calixto. On Saturday, this same Benedito turns into São Paulo’s most famous flea market. Teodoro Sampaio is a shopping hub and some cool shops will surprise you as you stroll the streets. We have all those “Feiras” covered on this article.

5) You won’t want to leave the neighborhood, but if you do…

Pinheiros and Vila Madalena are probably the most well connected areas in town. Pinheiros, Faria Lima, Clinicas and Vila Madalena metro stations serve the region and buses will take you everywhere – with a view. Taxi drivers will know how to bring you back here and for the enthusiastics walking to the main attractions in town is also possible: Paulista Avenue and Jardins is only 3,5Km away, Ibirapuera Park is about 4km away, and the city center at 5,5Km away is probably the farther you may go during your stay in São Paulo.

Conclusion – Pinheiros and Vila Madalena: the most convenient neighborhoods in São Paulo.

Lively but easygoing, crowded venues contrasting with tree lined residential streets, safe and easy to walk around, with supermarkets, markets and cool shops surrounding us, staying is Vila Madalena/Pinheiros area will give you a taste on living like a local. From cheap botecos serving lunch to sophisticated dinner venues, this region has it all. Also, it’s pretty easy getting everywhere from here. And when in Vila Madalena, stay at Ô de Casa Hostel, of course!