Campinas

Campinas is a city in São Paulo state, Brazil, and the core municipality of the Grande Campinas, a metropolitan area with 2.8 million people, the second largest in the state after Grande São Paulo. Campinas is a major center of industry, services and research, holding the 11th highest GDP of Brazil and being responsible for 15% of all scientific research of the country. The city is home to State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), considered (QS Ranking 2012) the second best university of the country and the third best of Latin America.

For a visitor, besides the obvious business/academic opportunities, Campinas offers the shopping, gastronomy and nightlife typical of a large city, but with ease of access to the beautiful landscape and the scenic towns of the Mantiqueira mountain range. Campinas also hosts a considerable historical heritage from the late 19th century, associated with the prosperity of coffee farming during this period.

Districts

 * The main district of Campinas contains two high-rise areas: Downtown, the oldest part of the city and main shopping area and transport hub, and just next to it, Cambuí, an affluent neighborhood with several restaurants, bars and hotels. The rest of the main district is mostly composed of low-rise suburbs of different social profiles, with points of interest relatively spread.
 * Sousas and Joaquim Egídio, adjacent to each other, offer lots of nature and a charming historic center. Several gated communities have also popped up in this area.
 * Barão Geraldo is the district that contains UNICAMP, plus several companies and research centers. It is basically a collection of calm suburbs, but with good infrastructure of commerce and services, and a substantial number of restaurants and bars.
 * Nova Aparecida is a more industrial/suburban district and should not be of interest to a visitor.

Understand
Campinas is certainly not a main tourism destination, attracting more business travellers, international students and research visitors than conventional tourists. It offers however a number of interesting things to do for the casual visitor, such as exploring the city's coffee farming heritage and its lively nightlife.

History


Campinas started as a simple outpost for Portuguese settlers on 1774. It became a municipality on 1797, with the name of Vila de São Carlos. The city grew and prospered in subsequent decades with sugarcane farming, followed by coffee farming by the end of 19th century. After the decline of the coffee farming, Campinas started to re-emerge after the 1930s by means of industry development and more diversified exported-oriented agriculture. It eventually became the center of Brazil's major important industrial areas, which includes nearby municipalities such as Paulínia, Americana and Valinhos, collectively forming the Campinas metropolitan area. The creation of State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), in 1966, also resulted in the city becoming one of the country's most important centers of research and technology, hosting several research institutes and technology startup companies.

Culture
Campinas' culture can be described as a mix of the urban, cosmopolitan São Paulo city and the rural, caipira culture of the countryside of the São Paulo's state. The city's many bars and clubs play international pop music as much as sertanejo music. Demographically speaking, Campinas is similar to São Paulo, with a strong Portuguese and Italian heritage as well as a sizeable population of descendants of Japanese as well as migrants from the Northeast of Brazil.

By plane
Campinas has its own an international airport, but many international and domestic visitors arrive from São Paulo's airports.

By Viracopos International Airport

 * Viracopos Airport is one of the main airports in the state of São Paulo and the main hub of the airline Azul Brazilian Airlines. It has flights to Fort Lauderdale, Lisbon and Orlando, and seasonal flights to Punta del Este.

To arrive from the airport to the city, one can use the following options:

By Guarulhos/Congonhas airports
The airports of Guarulhos and Congonhas are both about 1:40 minutes away by car. Cab trips are somewhat pricey but you can take a shuttle from Lirabus that goes directly to Campinas and take about 2 hours. It costs R$40 from Guarulhos, R$35 from Congonhas, and will leave you at Largo do Pará Square, one block from Hotel Ibis, or at Terminal Multimodal Ramos de Azevedo (Rodoviária). From there you can get buses or taxis to other points of the city.

A far less attractive option is to use the Airport Bus Service from EMTU that goes to Terminal Rodoviário Barra Funda and stop at Terminal Rodoviário Tietê, where you have to take an intercity bus to Campinas. This option is both more expensive and takes a longer time (about 3 hours) than the LiraBus direct bus, so it would typically only be used in an emergency.

By car

 * From São Paulo, via the SP-330 Anhangüera or SP-348 Bandeirantes highways.
 * From Vale do Paraíba, via SP-65, Dom Pedro I highway.
 * From the Macro region of Mogi-guaçu, via SP-340, Adhemar de Barros Highway.
 * From South (Valinhos and Vinhedo), via SP-91 (Campinas - Valinhos)
 * From the Macro region of Sorocaba, via SP-75, Santos Dumont Highway)
 * From the Monte-mor, via SP-101 (Campinas - Monte-mor)
 * From Valinhos, via SP-83, Anel Viário Magalhães Teixeira
 * From Indaiatuba, via SP-73, Lix da Cunha Highway (access for the Royal Palm Plaza)
 * From Morungaba, via SP-81, Estrada das Cabras
 * From Vinhedo, via SP-324, Miguel Melhado Campos Highway
 * From Paulínia/Arthur Nogueira, via SP-332, General Milton Tavares de Souza Highway

By bus


Buses to Campinas arrive at Terminal Multimodal Ramos de Azevedo (Rua Dr. Pereira Lima - Centro), in (Botafogo). Bus tickets can even be reserved and purchased by Internet for the main bus companies. You would need to check on the bus station which company serves to a certain destination in particular.

Buses from São Paulo are however quite frequent (4-5 departures per hour) and reserving in advance is seldom necessary. The two companies that operate buses from São Paulo are Viação Cometa and Lirabus. The ticket costs R$25 and the trip takes about 1 hr 20 min (often more because of traffic in São Paulo).

However, do not use such buses if you just want to get to the Viracopos airport (there are buses from São Paulo that go directly to the airport).



By train
The only passenger train operating in Campinas is the weekend touristic ride to and from Jaguariúna (see section). At some point in the future, Campinas is expected to be linked by high speed train to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and by commuter train to São Paulo and Jundiaí.

On foot
Downtown Campinas, containing most of the city's shopping and historical buildings, is a relatively large area but still easier to be explored on foot, given the large amount of traffic. The center of Sousas/Joaquim Egídio is also an excellent area to walk.

Other areas of Campinas don't offer much in terms of sightseeing, but calm, green suburbs like Parque Taquaral, Nova Campinas, and Cidade Universitária (in Barão Geraldo), can offer a nice leisurely stroll.

By bicycle
Campinas has a very limited network of cycleways; there is for instance one that links the center of the Barão Geraldo district with the UNICAMP, and another surrounding Parque Portugal. It is better to cycle in calmer suburbs, with small amount of traffic. Cycling is a popular means of transport for the students of UNICAMP.

By bus
Despite being a city with more than 1 million inhabitants, Campinas does not have any mass rapid transit system, although a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is under implementation. Buses are hence the only option of public transport; check the EMDEC company website for routes and itineraries.

As with most large Brazilian cities, buses are confusing, and can be overcrowded and slow (as they often get stuck in traffic), but they are relatively frequent and reach practically everywhere.

Although it is not easy to find where are the bus stops and which bus to catch, people on the street will be glad to help if they can understand you. There are several main bus terminals, where you can transfer from one line into another. Some urban buses even go to neighbor cities as Jaguariúna and Paulínia.

Campinas has adopted a prepaid smartcard for paying buses, the Bilhete Único, that allows you to take multiple buses in a 2-hour period paying only a single tariff (R$3,30 as of May 2013). A visitor can obtain a Bilhete Único for free in the main bus terminals, by bringing an identity document and charging as little as R$9,00 (two tariffs).



By car
If driving a car, be aware that some avenues have been converted to one-way streets to form a ring around downtown. Sometimes it can be tricky to find your way back and be careful not to get into the wrong way on one of those avenues.

After 22:00 until 06:00, some traffic lights are turned off and just blink yellow. Don't be scared, this is not effect of a Martian invasion. For safety reasons, you are not supposed to be stopped at red lights late at night.

Be aware, however, that during normal hours red lights and speed are enforced by cameras everywhere in the city, so stick to the speed limits and don't cross red lights.

Downtown


Like many others large Brazilian cities, Campinas' Downtown suffers from urban degradation. However, it contains several buildings of historical and architectural value, many associated with São Paulo state's glorious coffee farming era between the 19th and 20th centuries.



Theater and culture
For a city of its size, Campinas is somewhat underwhelming in terms of cultural options, mostly due to the proximity to São Paulo, that tends to get the most relevant performances and expositions. Theatrical performances are mostly in Portuguese; check websites such as for a list of ongoing performances in the Campinas metro area.



Out of town trips
Campinas is just south of the Circuito das Águas Paulista (Paulista Water Circuit), a collection of mineral spring towns over the Serra da Mantiqueira mountain range. Even if you are not interested in mineral springs, it is still worth a visit as it is a scenic area with cozy and charming towns, offering also options for radical sports and ecotourism.


 * Águas de Lindóia – 90 km. One of the most popular mineral spring towns of the state
 * Amparo – 70 km. The largest city of the Water Circuit, with an impressive XIX century heritage
 * Jaguariúna – 30 km. Famous for its annual rodeo and sertanejo festival
 * Lindóia – 90 km.
 * Monte Alegre do Sul – 80 km. Lovely small town surrounded by beautiful nature
 * Serra Negra – 90 km. With lots of nature and "family-friendly" activities
 * Socorro – 80 km. Popular destination for shopping of locally made-clothes and radical sports

Outside the Circuito das Águas Paulistas, there are some other places worth a visit:
 * Vinhedo – 20 km. Containing the Wet'n'Wild and Hopi Hari theme parks
 * Águas de São Pedro – 100 km. Tranquil mineral spring town
 * Holambra - 40 km – The Brazilian "Little Netherlands", famous for its annual floral exposition

Shopping malls
Like any decent-sized city in Brazil, there are a number of American-style shopping malls, typically including a food court, movie theater, and a variety of shops.



Eat
While, like most of the state, Campinas has the fairly typical paulistano range of Italian, Japanese, Middle Eastern, and standard Brazilian food, it doesn't have anything much that might be called campineiro food. The two most notable things might be the local penchant for arugula salad (salada de rúcula) and the local lancherias' habit of serving their sandwiches cut into bite size pieces, dubbed the "angel-mouth cut" (corte boca-de-anjo). Among desserts, you should not miss the torta holandesa (Dutch pie) which, despite its name, was invented in Campinas.

Drink
While in terms of cultural options, Campinas is not quite what you expect from a metropolis, its nightlife will surely not disappoint you. Cambuí is the "city center" of bohemian life, but good bars can be found everywhere, Barão Geraldo including. Campinas' clubs, mostly contained in the affluent northern and eastern suburbs, attract crowds from the entire region. The musical scene is dominated by sertanejo (Brazilian country music) and electronic music, although there are options for all tastes, including MPB and rock'n'roll.

Stay safe
Campinas is pretty much similar to São Paulo in terms of crime problems. During the day, most of the city is considerably safe - exceptions are the "Crackland" area in the Botafogo neighborhood (Downtown) and some lower class suburbs. Fortunately, the intercity bus terminal has been moved from Botafogo, so there is no need anymore for a visitor to wander this area.

The Downtown area is not safe during the night and should be avoided. Cambuí and most affluent suburbs are relatively safe during the night, but take a cab or drive yourself if you have to walk anything more than a few blocks. If you just want to fool around during the evening, a safer bet is to go to one of the city's shopping malls.

The districts of Barão Geraldo, Sousas and Joaquim Egídio are safer than the main district, but crime does happen and staying alert to your surroundings during the night is always a good idea.

Go Next
You find hostels and private rooms in ...:

in the east:

 * Bragança Paulista – 65 km. Famous for its traditional sausages, with several establishments claiming to sell the "real Bragança sausage". One of the town's main attractions is Taboão Lake

in the west:

 * Piracicaba – 70 km. It's regarded as one of the most pleasant medium-sized cities in the state. Attractions of the city include a charming riverside area, historical heritage and Tyrolese villages. You can do boat trips on the river.
 * Boituva – 110 km. The "National Skydive Capital". It's also known for ballooning.
 * Botucatu – 220 km. It is known as the Land of Adventure. There are more than 70 waterfalls in its region, some with easy access, others with extreme difficulty. For those who enjoy extreme sports, this is the right place to venture out.
 * Bauru – 260 km. The city is the hometown of Marcos César Pontes, the first Brazilian in space. It is also the town where Pelé grew up and learned his football skills.

in the south:

 * São Paulo – The cosmopolitan state capital, with endless options of gastronomy and culture, is easily accessible from Campinas by bus