Campos do Jordão - São Paulo - Brazil
CAMPOS DO JORDÃO
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Campos do Jordão is located in the Serra da Mantiqueira region, in the State of São Paulo, about 180 km by car from the capital of São Paulo, 83 km from São José dos Campos and 330 km from Rio de Janeiro. The closest airports are São José dos Campos (80 km away) and Guarulhos (150 km away).
There is a lot to see there, especially in terms of cultural events. For example, the Campos do Jordão Winter Festival, a major classical music festival, is held every July at the Cláudio Santoro Auditorium. Conceived in 1970 by the then Minister of Finance Luis Arrobas Martins, it was inspired by the Tanglewood Festival in Boston, in the United States. It is considered the largest classical music festival in Latin America.
The municipality also has the Boa Vista Palace, which presents a huge collection of colonial and modernist ethnic art to the public. It also has the Casa da Xilogravura Museum, the largest of its kind in the country, and the Felícia Leirner Museum with outdoor sculptures.
Amantikir Park
Also known as Amantikir Gardens, it is a park that includes a set of gardens and various points of interest. The park is visited by thousands of tourists annually and was designed by landscaper and agronomist Walter Vasconcellos, known as Dr. Garden, and houses more than 700 species of plants in 26 gardens in its 60,000 square meters.
The park, as well as the city of Campos do Jordão, are located in Serra da Mantiqueira, a mountain considered the 8th most “irreplaceable” protected natural formation on the planet, according to an article by the International Union for Conservation of Nature published in 2013 by Science magazine.
In addition to the park's 26 gardens, other points of interest include: Patio Zen, the Tori, the Meda, the Chinese Dragon, the Porta da Lua, the Mandala, the Pottery, the Lookout, the Grove, the Horta, the Great Vases, the Tent, the Picture Frame and the Tree House. All these spaces have varied architectural references. Among the park's gardens is the Classic Labyrinth, similar to the hedge maze seen in castle gardens in Europe. It has an area of 450 square meters and 600 meters of corridors, with walls measuring 2.20 meters. The grass maze is considered by a group of scholars and labyrinth finders around the world, the largest grass maze in Brazil and is among the largest in the world of its type.
Capivari Park
The park, which today is a reference for leisure and tourism, home to the first chair lift in Brazil, has its origins in 1874, when Vila de São Matheus do Imbiri was founded, and goes through 1914, when the Campos Railway of Jordan was inaugurated. Its period of greatest expression, however, was in 1934, when the city was officially created.
Today the park has a modern structure and differentiated attractions, in addition to exclusive services and high quality service. From the top of Morro do Elefante, where the park is located, the scenery is not only unique, but also offers an environment where nature and modernity come together to offer the best for tourists in Campos do Jordão. A tour highly recommended by tourists.
Elephant Hill
The cable car on the hill offers an unforgettable view of Vila Capivari, where the park described in the previous item is located. It was inaugurated in 1970 and runs 560 meters with its 74 chairs to the top, at no less than 1,800 meters high.
The hill has this name because its silhouette resembles the trunk of a pachyderm. It's quite an adventure: once up there, the tourist is amazed by the view, which combines the predominant nature of Serra da Mantiqueira with the predominant architecture of the city without one reaching the other. It is the location of TV Vanguarda, an affiliate of Rede Globo, which loves to broadcast panoramic scenes of the city from the hill.
Itapeva Peak
This rocky elevation of 2,025 meters of altitude has its summit located in the municipality of Pindamonhangaba, just 35 meters from the border with Campos do Jordão. To reach it there is a path that starts from there, being one of the highest points accessible by car in the country.
The place is ideal for contemplating nature and also allows you to see 15 cities, all in the Vale do Paraíba region, including Aparecida, which receives a large number of faithful who attend the basilica. In addition to this, it is also possible to see the cities of Tremembé, Taubaté, Caçapava, São José dos Campos, Pindamonhangaba, Guaratinguetá, Aparecida, Roseira, Lorena, Potim, Cruzeiro, Piquete, Moreira César, Cachoeira Paulista and Eugênio de Melo.
Boa Vista Palace
This is the official winter residence of the governor of the State of São Paulo. It is located in Alto da Boa Vista and houses a large artistic collection, composed of works by important names in Brazilian art. Next to the palace is the Chapel of Saint Peter the Apostle, designed by the architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha. The palace collection is open to the public and is part, together with the collections of the Bandeirantes and Horto palaces, of the Artistic-Cultural Collection of the Government Palaces of São Paulo.
The palace began to be built in 1938, as requested by the federal intervenor Adhemar de Barros, to serve as an official summer residence. It was only completed in 1964. Six years later it was declared a monument for public visitation and became an artistic center, a condition it maintains to this day.
Campos do Jordao State Park
Campos do Jordão State Park, known locally as Horto Florestal, occupies a third of the municipality, on the border with Minas Gerais. It contains an important remnant of Atlantic Forest, including Araucaria and Podocarpus forest, alpine meadows and cloud forest. It brings the largest contiguous expanse of pine trees in southeastern Brazil in its deep valleys and hills with altitudes ranging from 1,030 to 2,007 meters.
There is a diverse fauna with more than 186 known species of birds and animals threatened with extinction, such as puma (Puma concolor), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and red-breasted amazon (Amazona vinacea).
The park has a visitor center, barbecue grills, fitness area, daycare centers, showers, chapel, restaurant, craft shop and hiking and biking trails. A 12-meter wooden tower offers panoramic views. The Sapucaí River and Quatro Pontes trails follow the Sapucaí River. Other more or less challenging trails lead to the Gargalhada and Celestina waterfalls.
Cherry Blossom Park
An authentic piece of Japan in the city, the park has hundreds of cherry trees that, when they bloom, between July and September, generate a surprising visual spectacle that attracts thousands of tourists every year. In addition, there are other highlights that add to the oriental feel, such as a replica of the Buddha statue from the Japanese city of Kamakura and a waterfall with a koi pond. In addition, the site has many other bridges and typical decorations.
For sports fans, the park offers a trail with a lookout point, from where the view of the park is breathtaking. For small children, there is a playground, along with an infrastructure aimed at adults, such as cafes and restaurants, in addition to stalls with a fair of varied products. These services are not permanent, so always check the official website for availability.
Felicia Leirner Museum
Located in an area of approximately 35 thousand m2, in the midst of a remnant of Atlantic Forest, the cultural establishment shares space with the Claudio Santoro Auditorium, organizer of the Campos do Jordão Winter Festival.
It has a collection of 85 sculptures by Felícia Leiner, 44 of which are bronze, 39 of white cement and 2 of granite, expressing the sculptor's passion for the forms of nature. There are a total of five phases of his production: Figurative (1950 to 1958), On the way to abstraction (1958 to 1961), Abstract (1963 to 1965), Organic (1966 to 1970) and Cutouts in the landscape (1980 to 1982).
Imbiri Peak
Located just 4 km from the city center is this peak, away from the urban center, it is the ideal place for those who want an absolutely different point of the city. It was opened in November 2021 and completely revitalized, with its main street widened and altered with a layer of small stones, which allows access by any passenger car. There is a raised viewpoint around it that receives an increasing number of visitors.
In its impressive 1,862 meters of altitude it is possible to identify several regions of the city, mainly seen from places already commented as Pedra do Baú, in addition to having a view of the mountains that border the south of Minas Gerais.
Ecopaque Mountain Fishing
Located at the top of the Mantiqueira mountain range, between Campos do Jordão and São Bento do Sapucaí, this corner connected to nature is 18 km from the center of both cities. It is right on the way to Pedra do Baú, as mentioned earlier.
The park was an effort by São Paulo businesswoman and journalist Monica Simonsen, who set aside an area right in the center of the 550 bushels of Fazenda Campista in order to create a tourist spot. After 14 years, her dream became a reality, receiving tourists from all over the country and abroad.
There are activities with horses, waterfall baths, art workshops, adventure tourism, trails, archery and trout fishing. The place also has an inn and a restaurant in the midst of more than 200 thousand square meters of pine forests, native forests, lakes and small waterfalls. For nature lovers there are squirrels, pampas deer, mono-coal monkeys (an endangered species) and a wide variety of birds.
Enchanted Forest Park
Have you ever thought about being able to walk with your children in a place that reflects all the magic of fairy tales? Just go to this park, located in a region full of green, with several toy houses spread over 12 thousand m², reproducing several themes from children's stories, such as the House of Rabbits, House of Angels, House of Snow White, House of Santa Claus, House of Dalmatians, House of Dolls, among many others.
All of them are decorated with typical pieces from the best-known stories from books and TV. On weekends, costumed monitors participate in the game and the children are even more relaxed and willing to participate. The park also has a snack bar so that adults and children can recover their energy and play even more. The place is open from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm daily and the ticket costs only R$ 5.00 ($1 U.S dollar) during the week and R$ 10.00 ($2 U.S dollars) on weekends, holidays and throughout the month of July.
Araucaria Chocolate Factory
The chocolate from Campos do Jordão is almost as famous and appreciated as that from Gramado. And one of the best-known local manufacturers is precisely this factory, which is open to public visitation. Founded in 1991, Araucária, according to its official website, has been expanding its area of operation, increasing its production volume year after year. The company has clients along the Rio – São Paulo axis, but is also active in other states such as Minas Gerais, Goiás, Ceará, Piauí, Bahia and Paraná.
The factory has a store, always open to the public, where the production team can be seen through glass. It also has a cultural space to help understand the steps of the manufacturing process. The visit is free of charge, with prior appointment required only in case of groups over 15 people, “so as not to run the risk of two large groups arriving at the same time”, explains the website.
Baden Baden Brewery
Founded in 1999 aiming at the craft beer production market, it became the first premium beer manufacturer in Brazil, strictly following the worldwide movement The Craft Beer Renaissance.
The brewery was born from the union of three companies: Sheps do Brasil, The Beer Store and Choperia Baden Baden. The famous German cuisine restaurant of the same name, founded in 1985, was one of the main customers of Sheps do Brasil, a brand building company and selective distributor of English and Canadian gourmet beers.
Anyone who appreciates a good beer should visit the factory in Campos do Jordão and check out the entire brewing process. To do so, you need to access the official website and guarantee your ticket. The brewery staff also requires proof of vaccination, so keep the necessary precautions to enjoy this tour.
Iceland Ice Bar
Our last stop couldn't be more quirky. At 1,500 meters above sea level, we find Iceland, a bar built of ice. With the themed interior decoration, the place took its shape with the use of a total of 38 thousand kilos of ice, which projects an ambient temperature between freezing -15º and -20º.
And don't be fooled: everything there is made of ice, including the sofas, armchairs, benches, counter and even the walls. Just get to the center of Vila Capivari, inside the São Bento Market. The visitor spends an average of 15 minutes at the place, but can enjoy a menu with drinks based on vodka, hot chocolate, soft drinks, juices, beers, draft beer and drinks made by the bartenders, cooled in nitrogen.
2 or 3 days are enough to get to know the basics of Campos do Jordão, so those who travel to the city on a weekend will be able to do many of the activities on offer. For those who like to get away from the traditional route and do programs that are out of the ordinary or want to travel more calmly, 5 days is a great period! Campos is a place that you can come back to several times and that always has a special charm!
Have fun!