Sorocaba City Hall.

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.

Get in

By bus

• Sorocaba Bus Station, tel. (15) 3232-6964, is relatively small, but it has various companies which run between Sorocaba and nearby cities of the region such as Ibiúna, São Roque, and Iperó, as well as destinations further afield such as Curitiba, Londrina, Foz do Iguaçu, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro. Only one company, Viação Cometa, offers service from the city of São Paulo.

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

Get around

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.

See

• Cathedral Church. 
• Brigadier Tobias' Manor (Casarão de Brigadeiro Tobias). 
• Monastery of São Bento, Largo São Bento - Centro, ☏ +55 11 3328-8794. 
• Pelourinho, Rua Dr. Nogueira Martins - Centro. In 1599, governor Dom Francisco de Souza established the first slave trading post in Vila de Nossa Senhora de Monte Serrat. In 1661 it was transferred first to Itavuvu and then to what is now central Sorocaba. 
• Sorocaba Historical Museum. Housed in the former house of the Marquesa de Santos. 
• Zoológico Municipal Quinzinho de Barros. 

Buy

• Mercado Municipal, Largo do Mercado – Centro.
• Sorocaba Shopping Center, Av. Afonso Vergueiro, 1, ☏ +55 15 3232-2757. 700. One of the first malls constructed in Brazil, with a cinema and a large variety of shops. 
• Esplanada Shopping Center, ☏ +55 15 3224-4666. Av. Profa. Izoraida Marques Peres, 401 - Campolim. Several department stores, a cinema, and one of the region's biggest supermarkets. 
• Panorâmico Shopping Center, ☏ +55 15 3231-6917. Rodovia Raposo Tavares, km 99,5, Sorocaba. 

Eat

Splurge

• Bacã, de Av. Marginal Dom Aguirre.
• Daniel, Campolim.
• Floresta Negra, Jardim América, close to Campolim. German cuisine.
• Santa Victória, Alto da Boa Vista
• Chopperia Barbacana. Jardim Piratininga. 

Drink

• Tribeca Café. Dance music, pop and techno. 

Sleep

Budget

• Cardum Hotel
• Chamonix Hotel
• Hotel Ipanema
• Sorocaba Hotel

Mid-range

• Grand Hotel Royal. 
• Ibis
• Shelton Inn
• Sorocaba Park Hotel

Splurge

• Flat The First
• Hotel Pitangueiras. 

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 governamental assistance programs.