CRUISES TO AND FROM SANTOS (SÃO PAULO), BRAZIL

To see the best of São Paulo, cruise to and from Santos

With curves of Serra do Mar, Santos is a jewel on the São Paulo coastline, and visitors can walk through more than 500 years of history in a city packed with Baroque and neoclassical buildings. Home to one of the largest ports in South America (as you’ll discover on a Santos cruise), the city is famous for its beaches, with sandy stretches like Gonzaga Beach attracting day-trippers from nearby São Paulo.

The Coffee Museum celebrates Santos’s role in the coffee trade, while football fans can walk in the footsteps of legendary player Pelé at Estádio Urbano Caldeira, home to Santos FC. Pelé kicked off his career here and the Pelé Museum pays homage to the late, truly great player.

Santos cruises also offer easy access to glamourous sister city São Paulo, renowned for its street art, sophisticated restaurants, world-class museums and pumping nightlife. For a snapshot of São Paulo life, take a stroll along iconic Avenida Paulista. The city’s landscape blends centuries-old churches and theatres with ultra-modern skyscrapers, and there’s abundant greenery at vast Ibirapuera Park

CRUISES FROM SANTOS (SÃO PAULO)

Santos is perfectly placed for exploring South America, as well as for extended cruises across the Atlantic to Europe. Unlimited adventures await with cruises from Santos 2024-25.

Cruise from Santos to discover Rio de Janeiro – ‘the Marvellous City’ – and the tropical tranquillity of neighbouring beach destinations like Búzios and Ilha Grande. Embark on a voyage of discovery along the Brazilian coast towards architecturally rich South American capital cities like Montevideo and Buenos Aires. Santos cruise port is located on leafy São Vicente Island, and cruises from Santos are ideal for island-hopping, taking in palm-fringed beaches on nearby Ilhabela or islands around Angra dos Reis on Brazil’s Costa Verde (Green Coast).

Santos has long been a departure point for maritime adventures. Continue this legacy with MSC Grand Voyages, sailing from Santos up to northern Brazil and across the Atlantic to Tenerife, off the west coast of Africa and onwards to Italy, Spain or the UK.

CRUISES TO SANTOS (SÃO PAULO)

Discover one of Brazil’s best-kept secrets with our Santos cruises. In fact, a cruise to Santos is the perfect entry point to an alluring beach city that proudly displays centuries of history.

Pay homage to local hero Pelé at the Vila Belmiro stadium (home of his former club, Santos FC) and at a museum dedicated to the soccer superstar. Ride antique trams through the historic centre, discovering neoclassical grandeur that reflects Santos’s importance in the sugar and coffee trades. Guests on a Santos cruise can find secrets of the ocean at the Santos Aquarium, one of Brazil’s oldest or visit the Municipal Orchidarium.

From Santos, visit Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo, where you can dive into history at the Ipiranga Museum, admire revered paintings at the São Paulo Museum of Art and uncover contemporary street at famous Beco do Batman, at the heart of Vila Madalena, with a lot of restaurants and bars nearby to enjoy.

But why stop there? A Santos cruise also lets you visit Argentina and Uruguay, chic European spots like Barcelona and Marseille, and numerous other bucket list destinations.

HOW TO REACH SANTOS CRUISE TERMINAL

 MSC Cruises’ ships dock at Terminal de Passageiros Concais: Avenue Cândido Gafre S/N Santos, SP 11013-240, Santos. The cruise port is located in the Macuco district, around two and a half kilometres south-east of central Santos.

The car park at Santos cruise port is next to the Concais Passenger Terminal.

If driving from São Paulo Guarulhos International Airport (the main airport in São Paulo), you first need to make the journey to Santos (lasting approximately one hour and 50 minutes), which is very well-signposted. When approaching the centre of Santos, follow signs to the Terminal de Cruzeiros, off Avenida Perimetral. When entering the port, turn left and you will soon see the cruise terminal on your right. The car park is located just beyond the cruise terminal, behind the statue of Our Lady of Fatima (Nossa Senhora de Fátima).

 Santos does not have a train station or regular passenger rail service from São Paulo. However, it does have a tram network called the Baixada Santista Light Rail. The closest station to Santos cruise port is Porto, which is the eastern terminal station on Line 1. Santos cruise terminal is located around 800 metres to the north of Porto station and can be easily reached on foot.

Santos does not have an international airport, so if you are arriving by air from a country outside of Brazil, you will need to fly to one of São Paulo’s two airports: Guarulhos International Airport or Congonhas – Deputado Freitas Nobre Airport.

The easiest way to reach Santos cruise port from either of São Paulo’s airports is to take a taxi. The journey from Guarulhos Airport should take around two hours in good traffic conditions, while the trip from Congonhas should take around one hour and a half. There is also a bus service from Guarulhos Airport to Santos cruise port, which can take up to two and a half hours, and a bus from Congonhas Airport, which takes around an hour and a half.

São Paulo, much like the rest of Brazil, can be relatively inexpensive to visit when compared to popular destinations in Europe and North America. A good meal with a drink can be found for around £10 per person (even less if you’re keen to budget), while a single metro journey costs around 60p.

Located in the south of Brazil, São Paulo has a subtropical climate, with consistently warm temperatures all year round, summers that can see rain, and relatively dry winters. The warmest months in São Paulo are typically from November to February, which have an average high daily temperature of between 28°C and 29°C. These summer months are also usually the wettest, with around 12 to 14 days of rainfall per month on average. In contrast, June to August – São Paulo’s winter months – see cooler daily high temperatures, averaging between 23°C and 25°C, and just three to four days of rainfall per month on average.

The city of São Paulo is located inland, so it does not have beaches within city limits. However, Santos – where the cruise terminal is found – is on the coast and has a number of excellent beaches to choose from, both within the city and in surrounding areas.

The main beach in Santos is Gonzaga Beach, located in the south. Gonzaga is a long, sandy beach backed by restaurants and bars, and is one of the most popular places to visit when in Santos. Further afield, Guarujá is a small coastal city to the east of Santos that has a number of beautiful beaches, which are perfect for relaxing on.

To the west of Santos is Praia Grande, which is popular with sunbathers, surfers and cyclists. Further out are Ubatuba’s wild, rugged beaches, spread across 100 kilometres of coastline, and the archipelago of Ilhabela, whose islands boast tropical-style beaches with incredible scenery