Rua Gonçalo Afonso, aka beco do Batman (Batman’s alley), is a narrow alleyway in the Vila Madalena neighbourhood known for being a true open air graffiti museum. Here you will find São Paulo‘s street art at its best.

A 360º panorama of the alley:

The entrance to the alley:

All the walls are covered with graffiti from different artists.

Two videos to give you and idea of what the alley looks like:

How to get there:

The following map shows the exact location of the alley.

See the map on a new window

There are two easy ways of getting to the alley:

• Take the number 2 (green) line of the underground/subway system towards the Vila Madalena end and hop off at the Sumaré station. From there it’s just a 20 minute walk to the alley.
• Take a bus at the Avenida Paulista making sure it goes down the Cardeal Arcoverde street. When you reach the cemetery (you’ll recognize its long walls), get off the bus, walk around the graveyard, and you’ll reach the alley.

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Google has just incorporated a transit layer to its maps. It contains information for a number of world cities, including an important selection from Brazil: Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Recife, Río de Janeiro and São Paulo.

When you turn on the transit layer (accesible through a drop-down menu on the top right-hand side of the map) you will be able to see lines showing the layout of rail transportation in the above-mentioned Brazilian cities. Both underground and above-the-ground train services are shown. It is a very useful tool as you can easily see whether there is fast and convenient public transportation to any point in the city.

Let’s take Porto Alegre. You are arriving in the airport and want to know whether there is any transportation into town. You just have to locate the airport on the map, activate the transit layer, and you will quickly find an visual answer to your question.

If you click on the symbol of any station you will find out more information about it.

How about the location of São Paulo’s underground stations?

The only care you need to take is not to confuse the subway/underground lines with the suburban trains – both exist in the case of São Paulo. A single click on any station will allow you to see which means of transportation is available there.

A warm welcome to this additional layer of information. You probably know we are big fans of Google Maps. Our work landed us recently a double-page spread on Info magazine (GoogleMaps on the Brazil Travel Blog). Might be nice to see more people using Google Maps in Brazil. At times it seems the institutions and powers-that-be responsible for putting out tourist information are completely unaware of its existence and usefulness.

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The São Paulo subway system (the metrô), although minute, takes you to a large number of points of interest in the city. It used to be fast, safe and clean. There are three main lines and a fourth line not connected to the rest of the network.

On the metrô’s website there is section where you can have a look at the network map. If you want to download a PDF file with the map, click here.

The map contains lines that haven’t been built yet and lines that belong to the suburban railway system. The three subway lines of interest to tourists are:

• línea 1, also known as línea azul (blue line). From north to south, it goes through the Terminal Tietê (São Paulo’s main bus station), the Pinacoteca, the estação da Luz, the centro, the Liberdade neighbourhood, the Paraíso neighbourhood and as far as the terminal Jabaquara (bus station) on the southernmost tip of the line.
• la línea 2, or línea verde (green line). It links the Avenida Paulista area with the Vila Madalena district.
• la línea 3, or línea vermelha (red line). It goes from the centre of the city to the gigantic east region of São Paulo.

Línea 4, or línea amarela (yellow line) is being built at the moment, at an astonishing speed of 1 km per year. It will link the center of São Paulo with the Vila Sônia district, running in front of the São Paulo University (USP) and the Instituto Butantã.

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As it is the case with São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro’s subway [underground] network is minute, specially when you take into account the size of the city. However, it’s good to be familiar with it as it runs through a number of places of interest in the city.

There are two subway lines: linea 1 (orange) and linea 2 (green). Both lines meet at Estácio station. On the Subway website you can check and download a map of the network.

LINEA NARANJA (orange line)
It is the most interesting line, running from Saens Peña station through the centre of the city till the west end of Copacabana. Those wanting to visit the centre of Rio need to stop at Cinelândia station, which happens to be near the Teatro Municipal, the Biblioteca Nacional, the Arcos da Lapa, the bondinho de Santa Teresa and the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes. It is also quite close to the entrance to the Santos Dumont airport (domestic flights) – it is a bit too far to walk there with your luggage.

To go to the Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf) you have to stop at Botafogo station, where bus Expresso 511A will take you to the Urca neighbourhood, where the Sugar Loaf is. To use this shuttle bus you need a special ticket (integração) that allows you to combine subway and bus at a reduced price.

To go the the train station that takes you up the Corcovado mountain, you have to stop at Largo do Machado station, where bus Expresso 584A will take you to the Cosme Velho neighbourhood, where the Corcovado train station is located. As before, you need to buy an integração ticket.

During carnival time, the nearest station to the Sambódromo is Praça Onze – within walking distance of the main carnival venue.

The orange line has three stations in the Copacabana area: Cardeal Arcoverde, Siqueira Campos and Cantagalo. The latter is, for the time being, the terminus. It is also the closest to Arpoador and Ipanema.

LÍNEA VERDE (green line)
The main interest on the green line is the Maracanã station, next to the football stadium.

As well as the two lines mentioned here, Rio has a Metrô na Superfície (surface subway) which is not really a subway at all, but a bus service linked to different subway stations. Three of the Metrô na Superfície lines are quite interesting:

• Botafogo – Gávea. From Botafogo station, takes you to the Jardín Botánico (Botanic Gardens).
• Siqueira Campos – Gávea. From Siqueira Campos station, cuts through Ipanema and Leblon.
• metrô Barra. From Siqueira Campos station, follows the coast to the far away area of Barra da Tijuca.

On the Rio subway website (Portuguese only) there are loads of information on the current fares and the different stations. As well as a series of maps to download.

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BY PLANE

The main airlnes (TAM, Gol and Varig) fly to Curitiba from São Paulo. New low-cost airline Azul flies to Curitiba from Viracopos airport in Campinas. The company runs shuttle buses from São Paulo to Viracopos.

BY BUS

The trip takes approximately 6 hours (traffic permiting) and leaves from Terminal Tietê in São Paulo. Fares from R$52 one way (the better the bus, the more expensive the fare). Two of the companies doing the São Paulo – Curitiba link are Cometa and Itapemirim. There are frequent departures during the day.

Most Brazilian taxis are equipped with meters. The fare shown on the meter when the ride finishes is what you are supposed to pay. The only supplement that can be added to that value is one for carrying suitcases.

There are two tariffs: normal, (or bandeira 1, identified by a number 1 on the taximeter), and the bandeira 2, more expensive, applied to rides at night or during Sundays and bank holidays (identified by a number 2 on the taximeter).

In rural areas taxis can have fixed fares depending on where they are taking you. In urban areas you can negotiate your fare when you are making a long ride (to the airport on the outskirts, for instance).

In general, Brazilian taxi drivers are honest and will not try to cheat on you. The exception to this rule are unlicensed taxis opperating at the airports – there are hundreds of them. The fact that they are waiting for passengers at a place where they are not allowed to work gives you an idea of what you can expect from them.

In large cities such as São Paulo or Rio it is quite common for the taxi driver not to have the faintest idea of how to get to your destination. If you are going into far away neighbourhoods, is good to have an idea of how to get there so you can show the driver should the need arise.

Taxis can be hailed on the streets, you can find them at taxi ranks (pontos de taxi), or phone for them.

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If you are caught unawares, your long bus ride through Brazil might well become the shortest trip ever to pneumonia. Whether summer or winter, hot or cold, you cannot board a long-distance bus in Brazil without at least a good fleece. Air-conditioning temperatures inside buses borders on the reckless.

It’s stiffling hot outside, the temperature doesn’t seem to stop rising. Ok, I concede air-conditioning is not such a bad idea. But why on earth do you need the air conditioning on full blast when the temperature outside is, say, 24 degrees? So these people who ask for air conditioning can stand 40 degrees at the beach but can’t stand 24 degrees inside the bus? Oh, please.

And the problem is not restricted to long-distance buses. Take Fernando de Noronha. There is a small minibus running from one side of the tiny island to the other. You have spent your day at the beach, with nothing else than your swimwear and a towel. Your body is wet. You board the bus to take you back to your pousada and, there it is again, full blast air conditioning. You start shaking, your sweat freezes, and begin to wonder whether anyone will sell you a fleece anywhere on a tropical island.

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Brazil, the continental giant, abandoned the railway as a means of transporting people many decades ago. In spite of being an ideal means of transportation for such a large country, the authorities made a political choice and opted for the roads and the car.

The website of the Agencia Nacional de Transportes Terrestres has a list of all the passenger trains in Brazil. Basically, there are two important lines, the one linking Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais) to Vitoria (Espírito Santo) and the one linking São Luís (Maranhão) to Paraupebas (Pará). Then there’s a shorter line, from Curitiba to Paranaguá, in the state of Paraná [company’s website].

On the same page you will find a listing of all the tourist trains (30 of them) operating in Brazil.

The website of the Associação Brasileira dos Trens Turísticos (in Portuguese only) is also full of useful information.

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These days, air travel in Brazil can be best described as the crisis that never ends. The website of INFRAERO (the state-run body that manages the Brazilian airports) presents real time information on arrivals and departures from all the main airports in the country.

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The site of the Agencia Nacional de Transportes Terrestres (the Brazilian’s government official body for road transportation) is a very useful resource for anyone planning to use the bus while in Brazil. On the webpage you can check which companies operate between two given destinations. The site is in Portuguese only, so here’s how you get about:

1. Click on Transporte de passageiros (on the left sidebar)
2. On the drop-down menu that will appear, click on Consulta às empresas e linhas
3. Next you want to choose Linhas que fazem ligação entre duas localidades (lines running between two specific points)
4. Choose the state where you starting point is located (Selecione um estado), and write down the name of your starting point (Localidade de origem). Once you’ve written the name, click on Verificar
5. Choose the state where your destination is located (Selecione um estado), and write down the name of your destination (Localidade de destino). Again, click on Verificar
6. A new page will appear hopefully showing the results of your search, with timetables, prices and links to the companies’ websites (where available).

SEE ALSO ON THIS BLOG: Link: Socicam (bus routes)

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