“São Paulo would best be described by a film, especially one which goes faster and faster every hour.” Stefan Zweig, Brazil: Land of the Future

If you hate cities, don't go to São Paulo. Seek serenity or solitude elsewhere. But if you love cities, you’ll love the energy and passion of this frenetic place. Little-visited by tourists, because it lacks sights, monuments or history, this is nevertheless a city that hums with excitement day and night. The pleasures here are all urban: restaurants, parks, galleries and, more than anything, the exhilaration of millions and millions of human beings crammed into quite a small space, working and playing, eating and drinking, making love and music, never stopping, never standing still.

No one seems to know quite how many people live in São Paulo. Eighteen million, say some. Sixteen, say others, or twenty, or just twelve. Geographers cannot decide whether this is the third largest city on the planet, or the fourth, or even the fifth. But everyone is agreed that São Paulo is big, and getting bigger. Yet, oddly, you’ll probably find that you spend your time in a small, manageable part of this vast metropolis, and it can even start to feel quite homely. And don’t be put off by scare stories about the violence. Just be sensible: don’t wave your money around; take cabs at night; avoid dark alleys.