Safety in São Paulo

São Paulo is not dangerous per se, but it’s not necessarily safe either. Like most places in the world, if you’re looking for a bit of danger, you’ll find it. There are places in other cities where I would not wish to walk around at any hour, much less at night, and this is certainly the case in a city of more than 20 million.

Just use your head. If you’re not using your camera or phone at the moment, why on Earth is it in your hand announcing its presence to anyone with two eyes? Subways and crowded tourist streets are rife with pickpockets all over the world — the same is certainly the case in São Paulo. The downtown streets of Paulista Avenue, Oscar Freire Street and Vila Madalena are famous for pickpockets, so be aware and use your front pockets.

São Paulo does not have a reputation as a city where women are in more danger than men when walking down the street, but there are certainly neighborhoods that should largely be avoided by everyone, especially at night. These include the downtown neighborhoods of Sé, Santa Efigênia and Consolação. Away from the center, you’re likely going to get in trouble in the poorer neighborhoods of Pari, Perdizes Lapa, Campo Limpo, Vila Clementino and Capão Redondo. And frankly, what the hell were you doing way out there if you weren’t looking for trouble or fell asleep on the subway?

Speaking of the subway, the green line is without question the safest at all times of night, while others can get a bit dodgy at night at the following stations on the blue line: Carandiru, Parada Inglesa, Carrão, Corithians-Itaquera, Sé, Barra Funda, Tatuapé and República.

If you need to speak with the police to file a report, you’ll need to dial 190 with fairly low expectations anything will be done beyond a piece of paper for your travel insurance company. In an emergency situation, the Brazilian equivalent of 911 is 128.