Sorocaba

Sorocaba is a city in the interior of São Paulo state. Although almost ignored as a tourist destination, Sorocaba is a large city with strong (and growing) economy, a charming and well-preserved Downtown, practically no slums, and known as one of the most cycling-friendly cities of the country (if not the most).

Understand
Sorocaba, founded in 1654, is located in the southeast region of the state, about 90km from the capital.

By car

 * SP 75 (Santos Dumont highway), from Itu, Salto, Piracicaba and Campinas
 * SP 79 (Waldomiro Correa de Camargo highway), from Itu
 * SP 97 (Emerenciano Prestes de Barros highway), from Porto Feliz
 * SP 264 (João Leme dos Santos highway), from Salto de Pirapora, Votorantim, and Piedade
 * SP 270 (Raposo Tavares highway), from Itapetininga, Presidente Prudente, São Roque and Vargem Grande Paulista
 * SP 280 (Castelo Branco highway), from São Paulo, Ourinhos
 * SCB 354 - from Iperó

By bus
Sorocaba is well served by city buses from two terminals..
 * Terminal São Paulo, serves the south and east zones.
 * Terminal Santo Antônio, serves the west zone.

By bicycle
With a network of 106 km of cycleways, 50 public bicycle parking lots, and 19 bicycle borrow points, Sorocaba is possibly the best large city in Brazil for cycling. Accidents involving bicycles are also rare. A map of the cycleways of the city can be found here.

Buy

 * Mercado Municipal, Largo do Mercado – Centro.

Splurge

 * Bacã, de Av. Marginal Dom Aguirre.
 * MW, Campolim.
 * Floresta Negra, Jardim América, close to Campolim. German cuisine.
 * Santa Victória, Alto da Boa Vista

Budget

 * Cardum Hotel
 * Chamonix Hotel
 * Hotel Ipanema
 * Sorocaba Hotel

Mid-range

 * Ibis
 * Shelton Inn
 * Sorocaba Park Hotel
 * Sorocaba Park Hotel

Splurge

 * Flat The First

Stay safe
Sorocaba is the safest of the 10 largest cities of the São Paulo state, and probably one of safest large cities of the country. This is likely due to the lack of extreme social contrasts commonly seen in other large Brazilian cities - Sorocaba contains practically no slums (favelas).

As in many cities of the country, drug addicts roam the city center, but until so far, their number has been kept under control by means of governmental assistance programs.