Santos – A City Worth Visiting and you can see it

The Road from São Paulo to Santos

From São Paulo, we bought bus tickets to the neighboring city with the beautiful name Santos. The tickets cost 67 reais for both of us, and the journey took about an hour. As soon as we left São Paulo, all we could see around us were jungles. The road was very good and beautiful.

Interestingly, we arrived in Santos at the exact moment when Croatia and Brazil were playing in the World Cup. It was a crucial event for the entire country. Everyone who could leave work early was watching the game at home or in a bar. Those who couldn’t were watching at work.

We got off the bus and first went to a supermarket to buy something for a snack. All the staff were watching the game right at the cash registers. We also wanted to experience the atmosphere of this special day for Brazil, so we stopped at a bar where a large screen was set up on the street, and anyone interested could watch the game. The game had just started, but there was already quite a large crowd. People were whistling, shouting, waving their hands, and jerseys. Everyone was very emotional!

We were invited to join a cheerful group of elderly people and young couples with Labradors as soon as we arrived. Everyone was dressed in the colors of the Brazilian flag, even the dogs. The atmosphere was festive. Everyone celebrated Brazil’s first goal as if they had already won. But in the end, they lost. We headed towards our host’s home. The first thing that impressed us on our way was the waterfront.

The Waterfront

When we continued our journey and people asked us which cities we had visited in Brazil, they were always surprised that we had gone to Santos. They would ask, “Why? What is there to do?” But we always replied that we liked it there very much, and there was even a fleeting thought of finding an apartment with a view of this beautiful waterfront and staying there for a month.

We believe that Santos – a city worth visiting, even just to take a walk along the waterfront and admire the ocean. It’s very clean, modern, and well-maintained, with lots of palm trees, numerous sports and children’s playgrounds, parks, rides, cafes, restaurants, and of course, food trucks. People jog in the mornings, ride bikes, rollerblades, and skateboards. In the evenings, everyone goes out to meet friends, take a walk, listen to music, or simply enjoy the breathtaking sunset. There’s an incredible lively atmosphere here!

Roberto Mario Santini Municipal Park

We were lucky to stay right by the waterfront, not far from one of Santos’ attractions the Roberto Mario Santini Municipal Park, which features several sculptures, a skate park, a pump track, a roller rink, an art gallery, and, of course, the beach. The park exudes a sense of tranquility. People stroll, ride various vehicles, watch the sunset, and have picnics. There’s also an uninhabited island nearby, which can be reached on foot during low tide. This island is covered in jungle, so it’s not suitable for walking, but it adds a tropical vibe to the coastline.

Coffee Museum

The museum is housed in a beautiful old building. We were lucky because it was a Saturday, and on Saturdays, admission to the museum is free (on other days, it’s 10 reais). We don’t often visit museums, but as coffee enthusiasts, we wanted to learn about the history of coffee in Brazil, especially since Brazilian coffee is one of our favorites. We believe that Brazil produces the best coffee in South America.

The museum features numerous exhibits, both old and relatively new. Many of them were completely new to us and were quite surprising. ou can learn about where and how coffee grows, the tools used to produce it, and the types of cups used for drinking it. There are also many photographs and interesting historical documents, but very little information in English. So it’s better to take a guide if possible.

The museum also has a café where you can enjoy top-notch coffee with some tasty pastries.

By the way, there’s also a museum dedicated to the famous footballer Pelé in Santos. It seems he was born in this city, but we’re not big football fans, so we decided not to visit it. Besides, it was getting late, and we headed towards the Basilica of Santo Antônio.

Basilica of Santo Antônio

Located near the beach,. We couldn’t go inside because a wedding was taking place. But it still impressed us with its architecture! But it still impressed us with its architecture!

Panoramic View of Santos from Mount Serrat

The next day, our friend Valmiki and we went to one of the highest mountains in the Santos area – Monte Serrat. There are several ways to get to the top of this mountain. One of them, and our favorite, is, of course, on foot. But there’s a catch! It’s better to go with someone who knows the area because the path to the summit passes through an unsafe area. Valmiki warned us that we might encounter armed people, but they usually don’t pose a threat to tourists. On our way, we saw various suspicious individuals, but none of them had visible weapons.

The second and easiest way to reach the mountain is by cable car, which costs 15 reais. You can also take a car or a taxi. From the top, you can enjoy a beautiful view of the entire city. There’s a small park up there, and you can even go paragliding. But we just took a few photos for memory and headed down to prepare for our trip to Peruibe.

Santos – A City Worth Visiting

Santos is very different from São Paulo. In São Paulo, we were always accompanied by our friend Nat, and we had to be vigilant and watch our surroundings all the time. Here, we could walk together with a camera around our necks without any fear. There’s a very positive atmosphere here, with many interesting places, cafes, and restaurants, beautiful architecture, a stunning waterfront, an endless beach – it’s interesting at any time of the day and any day of the week.

Here, we first felt Brazil, and probably, in many ways, it’s thanks to our visit to Santos that we fell in love with this country. Santos is a city worth visiting at least once, and it’s worth spending at least a week here, or even more!