São Paulo - Surroundings

Paranapiacaba Paranapiacaba

From Santo André an excursion can be made to Paranapiacaba 60km/37mi from São Paulo). This little mountain village, very British in aspect, was built by the British engineers who constructed the railway line between Santos and Jundiaí.

The best way of visiting Santo André and Paranapiacaba from São Paulo is to take the tourist train which leaves the Estação da Luz and takes just under an hour to cover the 48km/30mi to Santo André, with views of magnificent scenery on the way. From there the journey to Paranapiacaba must be continued by road (SP 122).

Paranapiacaba has preserved the wooden houses of the railway construction workers, and it has a Railway Museum (Museu Ferroviário), with old steam engines. An unexpected landmark is the clock-tower, modeled on London's Big Ben. From the village footpaths run down into the Serra do Mar, from which there are views of a stretch of the coast.