Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Vila Belmiro
, is open to the public when there's no game on. In addition to honouring
Pelé at the club's small museum, you can take an hour-long guided tour including the
players' bar and dressing rooms.
The beaches
Santos's
beaches
are across town from Centro on the south side of the island,
twenty minutes by bus from Praça Mauá or around R$25 by taxi. The beaches
are huge, stretching around the Atlantic-facing Baía de Santos, and popular in
summer, but they're also fairly scruffy. To the east, the huge
port area
is a fascinating
place, with its giant elevators pouring grain into ships, and warehouses piled to
the roof with sugar, but its sheer size means that you really need transport to get
around it.
Gonzaga
Alongside the beach, facing the Baía de Santos, is
Gonzaga
, where the town's
hotels are concentrated, as well its two shopping malls. A lot less interesting than
the town centre, it is nonetheless here that you are most likely to end up staying.
The neighbourhood's main landmark - aside from the beach - is a huge statue of
Santos's most famous native son, the early nineteenth-century revolutionary
politician, Antônio Carlos Ribeiro de Andrada e Silva, which stands in the middle
of Praça da Independência.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
SANTOS
8
By bus
The rodoviária is in the Centro on Praça dos
Andradas. Coming from São Paulo, be sure to remember
that buses to Santos (every 15min; 1hr 15min) leave from
the Jabaquara rodoviária and not from Tietê. Other
destinations served from Santos include Cananéia (1 daily;
5hr), Iguape (3 daily; 4hr) and Rio (8 daily; 7hr 30min).
Local buses from the municipal terminal by the rodoviária
serve Gonzaga (#42, #139, #154, #194) and the ferry.
By boat
Regular ferries depart from the Ferry Boat
terminal at the southeast end of town (frequent; 10min).
The ferry terminal is served by bus #42, #156, #191 and
#194 from the municipal bus terminal by the rodoviária in
Centro, or #23, #42, #52, #152 and #194 from Av Presidente
Wilson in Gonzaga.
INFORMATION AND TOURS
Tourist information
There are tourist o
ces at the
rodoviária (daily 9am-7pm), and in an old tram car on the
seaward side of Av Presidente Wilson in Gonzaga, opposite
the end of Av Ana Costa (daily 9am-7pm;
T
0800 173887)
- both are extremely friendly and helpful. From outside
the latter, the local tourist board runs an excellent city tour
(March-Nov Sat & Sun 9am-4pm, Dec-Feb Tues-Sun
9am-4pm; hourly; R$10), lasting two hours. It takes in all
of Santos's main sights, including the port area, and at
weekends it stops at the various attractions, giving you
the option of getting off and on again as many times as
you like.
ACCOMMODATION
Avenida Palace
Av Presidente Wilson 9, Gonzaga
T
13 3284 9629,
W
www.avenidapalace.com.br.
Now
slightly run-down but has an air of faded grandeur about it,
and an almost quaint charm, wi
th unif
ormed bellboys and
English-speaking receptionists.
R$290
Parque Balneario
Av Ana Costa 555 at Av
Presidente Wilson
T
13 3285 6900,
W
parque
balneario.com.br.
Being the first hotel on the
seafront, this grand old place bagged the top spot, at
its main junction, and although it's no youngster, it's
been upgraded and modernized, and remains the best
hotel in town. If you just walk in, you'll pay the rack
rate, but reserve ahead (online, for example) and
you're sure to get a discount (often sizeable).
R$584
Ritz
Av Marechal Deodoro 24, Gonzaga
T
13 3284
1171,
W
hotelritz.com.br.
Not as ritzy as its name
suggests, and actually a bit worn around the edges, but the
staff are friendly and it's got everything you need (wi-fi,
a/c, T
V
,
fridge
), plus it's only a couple of blocks from the
beach.
R$220
Torre Panorama
Rua Euclides da Cunha 15, Gonzaga
T
13 3208 6400,
W
mendesplaza.com.br.
A rather
hideous-looking tower block, but it's the best-value mid-
range place around, and the roo
ms are
modern and well
equipped. Discounts often apply.
R$382
