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Santos is a historic port city on the coast of São Paulo state in Brazil, famous for the largest port in Latin America, its Coffee Museum, the record-breaking beachfront gardens and Pelé's club, Santos FC. It lies mostly on São Vicente Island, about 50 km from the city of São Paulo.
Founded in 1546 by Brás Cubas, Santos is one of the oldest towns in the Americas. In the 19th century it became the export gateway of the coffee boom, and the coffee exchange, railway station and tiled merchant houses of its old center date from those wealthy years. Pelé spent most of his career with Santos FC, and the city honors him with a museum.
Start in the Historic Center with the Coffee Museum, the Pelé Museum and a ride on the tourist tram, then take the funicular up Monte Serrat for the view. Afterwards follow the 5 km of gardens along the beach to the aquarium and museums at Ponta da Praia, where ships enter the port.
Coffee Museum in Santos occupies the palace of the Bolsa Oficial de Café, the coffee exchange that opened on Rua XV de Novembro in 1922. Prices of Brazil's great export were once set in its trading hall, decorated with works by Benedito Calixto. It reopened as a museum after a 1998 restoration.
Casa da Frontaria Azulejada is a merchant house on Rua do Comércio in the Historic Center of Santos, built in 1865 for the Portuguese trader Manoel Joaquim Ferreira Netto. Its neoclassical facade is covered in tiles imported from Portugal. Later a hotel, it was listed by IPHAN in 1973.
Valongo Station in Santos opened in 1867 as the first railway station in São Paulo state, at the start of the São Paulo Railway line to Jundiaí. Coffee from the interior arrived here to be loaded onto ships. Passenger trains ended in 1995; the restored building now houses the tourism office.
Santos Tourist Tram is a heritage line through the Historic Center of Santos, a city whose tram network ran from 1870 to 1971. The tourist line opened in 2000 and was extended in 2009, with restored trams including cars from abroad. It boards at Valongo Station, opposite the Pelé Museum.
Monte Serrat is the highest hill in Santos, 157 m high with a 360-degree view of the city and port. A funicular climbs from the center, beside a stairway of 402 steps. On top is the sanctuary of Our Lady of Monte Serrat, the patron saint of Santos, whose church dates to 1603.
Santos Cathedral is the neo-Gothic seat of the Diocese of Santos, designed by Maximilian Emil Hehl, architect of São Paulo Cathedral. Building began in 1909 to replace the ruined old church; it became a cathedral in 1925, finished in 1967. Statues of Saints Peter and Paul guard its entrance.
Pantheon of the Andradas in Santos is the mausoleum of José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva, the Patriarch of Independence, and his brothers. It opened on 7 September 1923 in the former entrance of the Carmo Convent, with a monument by Rodolfo Bernardelli, and reopened in 2023 after a restoration.
José Bonifácio Palace is the seat of Santos City Hall, on Praça Mauá in the city center. Designed by Plínio Botelho, it was built in 1937 and opened in 1939, and it is named after the Patriarch of Independence. Its classical facade has broad stairways flanked by two statues.
Santos Beachfront Gardens line the whole seafront of Santos, from José Menino to Ponta da Praia across seven neighborhoods. At 5,335 m long and 45 to 50 m wide, they were listed by Guinness in 2002 as the largest beachfront garden in the world. Lawns, palms and almond trees edge the sand.
Santos Municipal Aquarium at Ponta da Praia in Santos was opened by Getúlio Vargas on 2 July 1945, among the first public aquariums in São Paulo state. Its 32 freshwater and saltwater tanks hold more than 200 species, including penguins and sharks, and it receives about 500,000 visitors a year.
Museu do Mar in Santos is devoted to marine life and opened on 30 June 1984 on the initiative of marine biologist Luiz Alonso Ferreira. Run by a private society, it holds one of the most important marine biology collections in Latin America, built to share knowledge of marine biodiversity.
Fishing Museum in Santos stands at Ponta da Praia on the ruins of Forte Augusto, a fort dating from 1734 that guarded the entrance to the Santos estuary. The site later held a school for navy apprentices and then a fishing school. Today it is run by the Fisheries Institute.
Pelé Museum in Santos is dedicated to the career of Pelé, who spent most of his career at Santos FC. It opened on 15 June 2014 in two buildings on Largo Marquês de Monte Alegre in the Valongo district, one a ruined mansion rebuilt for it, with interactive exhibits over 4,134 square meters.
Vila Belmiro, officially Estádio Urbano Caldeira, is the home ground of Santos FC in the Santos district of the same name. Opened on 12 October 1916, it is one of the oldest stadiums in Brazil, and with seats for 20,360 people it is the largest in the Baixada Santista. It was Pelé's home ground.
Orquidário Municipal de Santos is a 22,240 m² park in the José Menino district of Santos, opened on 11 November 1945. Shaded by planted Atlantic Forest, it has a greenhouse with more than 3,500 orchids of over 120 species and about 500 animals of 70 species, such as agoutis and peacocks.
Urubuqueçaba Island is a small rocky island belonging to Santos, lying off the beach between José Menino and Itararé, where it marks the boundary with São Vicente. Its Tupi name means resting place of the vultures. Plans for a sanatorium and a resort there were never built, so it remains wild.
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