São Pedro
Informations about São Pedro
São Pedro is a tourist city at 580 m from the sea level located in northeast of the State of São Paulo. It is placed between Itirapina and Águas de São Pedro, close to the Serra of Itaqueri. In São Pedro you find many attractions such as traditional food, parks, squares, mountain sight, churches, historical and cultural places.
In the countryside or neighboring cities you will find hills, mountains, waterfalls and cascades, and can also have ecotourism, religious tourism, horse riding, radical sports and adventure (hiking, rappel, tree climbing, cascading, off-road, 4x4, paragliding and hang-gliding), or simply leisure and resting.
Below are some distances (approximately) to São Pedro from:
- Águas de São Pedro: 6 km
- Araraquara: 120 km
- Bauru: 150 km
- Botucatu: 90 km
- Brotas: 70 km
- Campinas and Viracopos Airport: 100 km
- Piracicaba: 35 km
- Ribeirão Preto: 200 km
- São Carlos: 85 km
- São Paulo: 190 km
At the beginning, São Pedro was covered by huge forests from the Hill sides to the prairies. These areas were inhabited by the Paiaguás indians, possibly from the Carijós tribe, who lived in groups and dedicated themselves to hunting and fishing.
Around the year 1807 with the clearing of path connecting Limoeiro Settlement to the Constitution Village (today Piracicaba), there was a continuation of this path to the West, which became known as Picadão.
Due to the settlers needs, a place with a ranch was built for the troupes and place for the settlers to rest. This place was built near the Itaqueri Hill (soft stone in the indian language, between the Samambaia and Pinheiros rivers). Nowadays this place is where the main square.
In 1856, Joaquim Teixeira de Barros considered the founder of the city asked to build a chapel beside picadão’s road. This chapel was called Picadão’s Chapel and it was built in rustic wood and covered with palm leaves and clay walls, a Saint Sebastian was worshiped in its.
In 1864, the place became a parish. The ox carts brought the coffee production to the station, where it is nowadays. This cycle also motivated the Italian immigration, which occured in the period from 1890 to 1895.
In the 20’s there is the oil drilling at the Querosene borough (called so because of the “Macuco” creek smell) and in other places. From some wells metane gás of high pureness came out, paraffinic, petroleum etc... Most of these wells ended up closed or clogged, although, in many of these wells mineral water was found with high concentrations of sulfur, sodium bicarbonate and sodium sulfate and São Pedro became a tourist resort.
Transportation
The two best airport options for reaching São Pedro are the São Paulo International Airport (Guarulhos – GRU) and the Campinas Airport (Viracopos - CPQ). The driving time from GRU is about 2.5 hours (180 km) and from CPQ is about 1 hour (100km).
São Pedro is a small town located 180 km northwest of São Paulo and is accessible by a multi lane highway. The driving time from São Paulo International Airport (Guarulhos – GRU) is about 2.5 hours and from Campinas Airport (Viracopos-CPQ) is about 1 hour (100km)
If you choose to take a taxi from the airport to the hotel in São Pedro, the journey will cost approximately US$ 150,00. You will find a taxi stand outside the airport terminal, where the taxi can be prepaid either in cash (in Brazilian currency) or with a credit card. You should go directly to the Hotel Fonte Colina Verde in São Pedro, SP.
You can also take a taxi or a local bus to the bus station Rodoviária do Tietê in São Paulo. There you should look for the Piracicabana sales office where you should buy a ticket to the city of São Pedro. The cost of the bus journey is approximately US$ 20.00. When arriving at São Pedro, you should take a taxi to the Hotel Fonte Colina Verde.
