Which is better for traveling? Which is more fun, more safe, more Brazilian, or better use of your travel time?
The argument goes on forever between people with different priorities and tastes in lifestyle. So I’ll present a serious comparison full of context and firsthand details between these 2 massively different cities. It can be as simple as knowing whether you’re a beach person or a city person. But still many other nuances to consider.
The quick rundown – Rio de Janeiro is more beautiful, Sao Paulo is more livable.
For those who don’t have time, Rio De Janeiro is the easy winner on paper. If you only got a limited time in Brasil, RDJ just seems like the more logical choice. Big beautiful beaches with picturesque rocks and favelas in the background. Lots of partying in the streets, beautiful people everywhere in beach clothes. It seems more exactly like the Brasil you see on TV. RDJ offers a quick and easy highlight collection of all the things that make Brasil distinctly different from other countries/cultures.
Sao Paulo though is 100 times more livable. Safer, cleaner, more relaxed, way more liveable neighborhoods, restaurants, bars and clubs. Much bigger nightlife where you can simply cross the street to visit other bars, instead of having to taxi to another side of town or walk through dangerous favela-adjacent neighborhoods. SP feels like a big European city and in this, loses a lot of that Brazilian caricature charms that appeals to tourists. For me, it’s still very much Brasil….but more like city Brasil rather than beach Brasil (that people expect from TV).
Being an American, I do somewhat agree with the RDJ is like Los Angeles (beaches and nature) and SP is like New York (big concrete jungle and fast-pace lifestyle). But not really. I feel RDJ is more like a flashy/showey Miami scene that isn’t relaxed. And SP is more like Portland/Houston/Austin, a big but relaxed city with lots of hipster charm.
Want to dive deeper into detailed comparisons?
Natural beauty – RDJ
No doubt about it. RDJ feels like a city built right inside nature, with huge rocks and beaches and natural aesthetics throughout. It is incredibly beautiful to say the least, nothing like you’ve ever seen before. Beaches, nature, hiking, endless natural beauty. The most obvious recognizable “Rio” visuals for me are the giant rocks in the distance beyond the beaches.
Indeed the state of SP itself has tons of lovely nature nearby, beautiful beaches and jungles and landscapes…but that’s a drive away.
Lifestyle & Safety – SP
SP just has a better lifestyle to me. Much more relaxed and easier to get around places and many things to do. Rio feels like a stressed vacation spot where many people are running around everywhere. You feel this stress especially if you’re not staying by the main tourist areas. SP has people running around as well but there’s more of a routine local vibe instead of chaotic tourist vibe.
SP is also sooooooo much safer. So more walking with your iPhone out. Not worrying about getting robbed. I understand that on paper SP is more dangerous (statistics-wise) but this won’t be the case when you visit. You can see with your own eyes it’s safer. The dangerous parts are far away from places you’d be visiting. Unlike RDJ, where you can get robbed even on the most popular nice beaches like Copacobana and Ipanema. The reason for the safety disparity is because in Rio, the elevated rocks and hillside favelas are built right into the city. So the criminals and favela kids easily descend onto the nice tourist areas by the beach. Whereas in Sao Paulo, the poor areas are more isolated from the nice ones.
I would SP feels like a typical safe European city and getting robbed seems impossible. Whereas RDJ feels like everyone gets robbed. And in fact, everyone does get robbed in Rio. Locals and native Brasilians, no. But tourists….definitely, you are targeted and you feel that you are targeted.
Options – SP
Sao Paulo wins hands down. There are so many livable neighborhoods in SP, that are nice and have tons of restaurants and shops and bars/clubs, etc. SP has more museums and groups/clubs for different hobbies and passions. There’s just more people, more places, and more things to do.
Friendliness – SP
SP is easily the friendlier city even though it may seem colder. RDJ might seem friendlier if all you do is party but SP is actually more lowkey friendly for me. Less people dressing up and playing the status card. If you want, you can just chalk it up to personal vibes and what kind of person you are and who opens up to you.
Nightlife – SP
SP wins no question. Tons of streets completely lined with bars and clubs. So much that you can just party on the street with the people standing outside, don’t even have to go in. RDJ on the other hand is an absolute mess. You can’t just have your friends all meet up at some place and decide. You have to decide BEFORE you go out. Then you all taxi there, and pay a lot of money to get in, and if it sucks, then you’re stuck since you’d have to taxi 30 mins to go elsewhere and pay again to get in! (If you’re in a big group and have to round each other up…it’s a pain in the ass. In SP, just go next door and text your friends where you went. They’ll see it when they see it.)
With SP, it’s so easy. If you don’t like a place, just leave and go next door or follow the crowd. It’s so much easier to hop/crawl multiple spots in the same night in SP. In RDJ, it’s impossible.
Unique-ness – RDJ
If you’re comparing RDJ to SP, RDJ easily feels like the more unique must-see travel destination. Because of its beautiful beaches/nature and Carnaval festivities, alongside many other cultural things. It looks and feels very Brasilian everywhere you go. So for someone with limited time, it’s a no-brainer to choose RDJ because it feels special compared to other places/countries in the world.
SP on paper feels like a typical European city and comparable in many ways, making it much less of a must-see destination for a short-term trip to Brasil.
…but…
For me, SP actually feels more unique. And for many reasons. It’s like the New York of Brasil…a big city version of Brasil, and therefore is more unique when compared to all the endless beach towns you see in Brasil. SP also has beautiful beaches and nature as well if you go to other towns within the state. For sure when I visited both, SP compelled me to stay longer and felt like I had more to see there. Whereas RDJ had me feeling I was done within 2 weeks. But yeah, it definitely comes down to if you’re a beach person or city person. A beach person can just go to the beach everyday and feel like they had tons of things to do. A city person obviously will get bored of beaches at some point.