//
Municipality in Southeast, Brazil
Photo: Flickr user: Ana Paula Hirama https://www.flickr.com/photos/anapaulahrm/, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
São Sebastião is a coastal city and a municipality on the North Coast of São Paulo. The city is known for its historical heritage and for the Maresias beach, part of the international surf circuit and regarded as "the Ipanema of São Paulo".
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
Casa Esperança Tecidos E Aviamentos
The best-preserved colonial structure in town, it is a beautiful residence built in the 18th century complete with its original ceiling paintings. Now it is used as a shopping center and art gallery.
Colonial-era house typical of the 18th century. Inside visitation is not permitted.
Carmelite Convent
Constructed in the 17th century as the headquarters of a farm run by Carmelite monks, it is now on private property within the residential complexes of Balneário de Guaecá and Portal do Carmo.
Convent of Our Lady of Amparo
Completed in 1668, this church is the oldest building in the city.
Casa de Câmara e Cadeia
Built the late 1600 when the outpost was upgraded to vila status. It serves as the Military Police station.
Santana Farm
Built in 1743, it contains the family residence, a chapel, and a sugar cane mill.
This church, built towards the end of the 17th century, marks the history of the local coast-dwelling people, serving as an important symbol of the religiosity and the development of the municipality of São Sebastião.
Seven blocks designated as a National Historical Heritage site, with 300-year-old colonial manors built around the Igreja Matriz.
Restaurants, ice cream shops, bars, kiosks and lots of fun.
The first beach you'll encounter as you come in from the west on the Rio-Santos Highway. A calm beach with preserved flora, and with an indigenous tribe established in the area.
A small, almost deserted beach with few residences and a lot of greenery.
With its light-colored sand and calm waters, this beach attracts families and groups of young couples.
This beach has beach-side mansions and the best infrastructure, attracting families and groups of young people.
Boat rides to the nearby island or sunbathing in the soft, white sand. Children have parties in the small beach park.
With large condominiums amidst the vegetation, this beach is wider and has harder sand. Surfers converge at the end down to the right.
The most touristy beaches in town, Camburi and the neighboring Camburizinho have choppy blue-green waters that make surfers swoon. Young people from São Paulo come in search of action, battling for space on the soft sand.
This beach has perhaps the best sunset in town, and has active businesses as well. Brava Beach is near the division with Maresias, frequented by adventurous types who go to see its emerald-green water first-hand.
The most well-known beach of the North Paulista Coast, Maresias attracts surfers in search of the perfect wave, upper class people who keep impeccable beachside mansions, and partiers from around the world looking for exciting nightlife. There are plenty of hotel options, and plenty of chances to bump into someone famous.
This beach has just some houses and soft sands, and is popular with foreigners, families, gays, and nature-lovers. You can see the south part of Ilhabela from this beach.
This beach has infrastructure, historical spots, and exciting nightlife. The ferry to Ilhabela departs from here.
The beaches of the north coast towards Caraguatatuba have calm, level water and are frequented by fishermen.
A GLS pousada.
Prices from USD21. Two types of rooms: shared and private (private have access to a parking lot). Breakfast, shared kitchen and Wi-Fi included in the fee.
This hotel is one of the cheaper options in town but very nice. Note that not all rooms have an en suit bathroom (there are bathrooms and showers in the corridors). They have a nice breakfast buffet included in the price. It's very central and only a short walk from the ferry terminal to Ilhabela.
By ride sharing
Many people offer the trip for R$35-40. Read more here.
By car
Coming from São Paulo, there are three routes of access.
The "city" of São Sebastião is more properly described as a compact downtown and various discontinuous or semi-continuous coastal suburbs, distributed along 100 km of coast.
Read in the guideChoose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
São José Dos Campos · Regional · SJK
Loading places around the airport…
Articles and travel topics about São Sebastião and Brazil.
InspirationExplore the best places to visit in February across snow festivals, world-famous carnivals, tropical island beaches, and polar night aurora displays.
6 min read
Travel tipsPlan your trip with our Rio Carnival 2027 guide. Compare Sambadrome tickets, street blocos, safety strategies, and neighborhood hotel recommendations.
8 min read
ItinerariesLearn how to plan a trip around major sports events in 2027, covering ticket deadlines, rooms, flights, and costs for the world's biggest tournaments.
7 min read
Travel tipsNaturism – also known as Nudism or a Clothes-Free lifestyle – has a small but enthusiastic following in a number of countries around the world.
Wikivoyage
Every section of the guide. Open one to read it in full.