Making the most of Santos
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
Concais Passenger Terminal lies 1.5km from Santos city centre and historical sites, 70km from Sao Paulo, and 120km from Guarulhos International Airport (two hours by bus). Santos also has a bus station linked to different cities in Brazil.
Cruise ships in Santos dock alongside the port, directly in front of and close to the cruise terminal. Buses take passengers to their ships. On some dates, as many as 6 ships are in port.
The port forms part of South America’s largest dock area. Taxis are almost the only way to travel to or from it; check whether your cruise line provides other transportation. Santos downtown is approximately 2 kilometers (about 1.2 miles) from the cruise terminal.
Plans are in place for a new cruise terminal.
A printable map to take with you.
Portuguese nobleman Brás Cubas founded Santos in 1546; it is a municipality of Brazil's São Paulo state.
Among the city’s sights are the Coffee Museum, where coffee prices were once negotiated, and a football memorial devoted to the city’s greatest players, including Pelé. Its 5.335 km beach garden is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest beach front garden. Santos is also home to the famous Santos FC, the football club for which Pelé played.
Getting around
Excursions generally visit Sao Paulo, Guaruja or Santos itself. The trip to Sao Paulo takes about an hour each way. South America’s largest city is impressive for its scale, but has little to see from a tourism perspective.
Guarujá has beautiful beaches, although this very modern town also has relatively few tourist attractions.
Santos has a historic but not especially large city centre. In either case, excursions are always the safer choice: the port area is not somewhere to walk around, and taxi drivers are not invariably reliable. Vans to local shopping centres provide another option.
Santos’s renovated downtown, or "Centro", offers a tram tour and/or Monte Serrat, where a funicular takes you up for a great city view.
Santos beaches are pleasant only because of the long, beautiful garden that borders them.
Nearby places
With 11 million inhabitants, São Paulo, also known as Sampa, is probably one of tourism’s most underrated cities, often overshadowed on Brazil’s sun & beach circuit by Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. It is in fact a great place to explore, with its own idiosyncrasies and residents’ exquisite way of living, alongside world-class restaurants and regional and international cuisine to suit every taste. Its principal attractions are the outstanding restaurant quality and the range of cultural activities available.
Nearby Guarajá is a chicer beach area with upscale shops and restaurants.
Food and shopping
Next to the ship’s docking area is a small outdoor mall (coffee and handicrafts).
Money
The Brazilian Real.
Staying connected
Portuguese is spoken.
Cafes offering customers free WiFi are sparse, but internet is available in the terminal.
Opening Hours and
Most businesses and stores keep 9am to 6pm hours, allowing an extended lunch from around noon until 2pm.
Many museums close on monday.