Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
of a valley, littered with countless hotels and private homes resembling Swiss chalets.
he town has three parts:
Abernéssia
, the commercial centre, where you'll find
ordinary shops and cheap eating places;
Juaguaribe
in the middle, where the
rodoviária is located; and the monied resort-like area of
Capivari
, where most of
the hotels, boutiques and expensive restaurants are concentrated. The three are
joined by a single main drag, called variously Avenida Frei Orestes Girardi, Avenida
Dr Januário Miraglia or Avenida Emilio Ribas, which consists of two carriageways
separated by a tramway.
The novelty of donning sweaters and legwarmers draws the crowds in the southern
winter, who spend their days filling in the hours before nightfall when they can light
their fires. Day-time temperatures at this time of year are typically very pleasant, the
sky is clear and the trails dry. In the summer the altitude offers relief from the
searing heat of the coast - but avoid going after heavy rains, which can make
walking unpleasant.
Parque Estadual Campos do Jordão
Horto Florestal: 8am-5pm; closed Wed • Free
There's not much in the way of entertainment in the town itself, unless you have a
thing for pastiche alpine architecture, but in the surrounding area there are some good
walks, with well-signposted trails. The
Parque Estadual Campos do Jordão
is 12km
outside the town, and its vegetation, including graceful
araucária
(
Paraná
pine) trees,
provides a striking counterpoint to the lower-altitude Mata Atlântica. Its most
accessible part, the Horto Florestal, can be reached by hourly buses from the main
drag, and has a number of short trails, the nicest being the Cachoeira trail, which leads
to a waterfall. A tougher option is to climb the nearby 1950m
Pedra do Baú
peak, for
which you must hire a guide (around R$100).
8
Morro do Elefante teleférico
Rua Dr Marco Antônio Cardoso 240, Capivari • Thurs-Sun 9.30am-5pm • R$11 return •
T
12 3663 3762
From the centre of Capivari, near a small boating lake (
lago de pedalinhos
), you can
take a
ski lift
(
teleférico
) up to the
Morro do Elefante
, a high rock overlooking the town.
From here you get a view over Campos do Jordão and the surrounding Paraíba Valley,
and it's also possible to hire horses.
ARRIVAL AND GETTING AROUND
CAMPOS DO JORDÃO
By bus
The rodoviária is off the main drag (Av Dr Januário
Miraglia) at the Capivari end of Juaguaribe, with six daily
buses to São Paulo's Tietê terminal (3hr), but only one a
day to Rio (5hr). Buses along the main drag link
Abernéssia, Juaguaribe and Capivari.
By tram
As well as buses, there's a tram (
bondinho
) along
the main drag, but really only for fun, as it isn't frequent
enough to be useful as transport.
By bicycle
Bicycles can be rented from Desafius, Av Frei
Orestes Girardi, Juaguaribe (
T
12 3664 6096,
W
desafius
.com.br; R$60/day); although useful for getting around the
spread-out town, you probably wouldn't want to take
them on the rather bumpy trails.
INFORMATION AND ACTIVITIES
Tourist information
The Centro de Informacões
Turisticas (Mon-Sat 8am-6pm, Sun 9am-2pm;
T
0800
770 2640 or
T
12 3663 1235) is on Av Dr Januário Miraglia
at Rua Washington Luiz, at the very beginning of Capivari
and not far from the rodoviária. It is marked by an old train
carriage out front. They can supply a tourist map of the
town and there's also an informative website (in
Portuguese) at
W
visitecamposdojordao.org.br.
By train
There are a few train
rides you can take, mostly
short trips of about forty minutes, such as the one to the
tiny village of Pindamonhangaba, surrounded by cattle
and rice plantations. Details of all of these can be found
on
W
efcj.sp.gov.br.
Horse riding
Horse treks lasting between thirty minutes
and four hours (R$60/hr), taking in hilltop viewpoints and
pine forests, are available from Rancho SB on Rua Dois Vila
Floresta in Morro de Elefante (
T
12 3663 1465).
Motorbiking
Off-road motorbike excursions are offered
by Alemão Motos, Av Frei Orestes Girardi, Juaguaribe
(
T
12 3662 5549,
W
alemaomotoracing.com.br).
