Buzios or Sao Paulo?

Buzios is built around its beaches. On the bay side, calm, clear coves such as Ferradura and Azeda are good for snorkelling and floating. On the Atlantic side, Geriba and Tucuns have long, surfable sand, and water taxis link coves that roads barely reach. The one surprise is the water, which upwelling can make chilly on some days.

Sao Paulo is inland on its plateau, so a beach day means the road down the Serra do Mar to Santos or Guarujá. The sea there is warmer, but the sand is wide and urban, and traffic is heavy on summer weekends. The prettier coves around Ilhabela and Ubatuba need a weekend away.

Immigration made Sao Paulo one of the great eating cities of the Americas. There is Japanese food in Liberdade, Italian cantinas in Bixiga and Lebanese and Syrian cooking all over town. Everyday life runs through padarias and botecos, and the most ambitious kitchens are in Jardins and Pinheiros.

Buzios eats well for a resort. Rua das Pedras and the Orla Bardot serve grilled fish, moqueca and shrimp, and beach kiosks sell caipirinhas. It is pleasant after a day on the sand, but the range does not go beyond coastal seafood and menus aimed at visitors.

In Buzios, the whitewashed lanes of the old fishing village, the chapel of Sant'Ana and the Bardot statue on the waterfront take about an hour to walk round. Sao Paulo offers days of museums and buildings: MASP's glass easels above Avenida Paulista, Brazilian art at the Pinacoteca, Niemeyer's buildings in Ibirapuera and Lina Bo Bardi's SESC Pompeia. Its heritage is twentieth-century rather than colonial, and the sights are far apart.

Sao Paulo goes all night. Evenings run from pavement beers at the botecos of Vila Madalena to cocktail bars in Pinheiros and the grittier scene of Baixo Augusta. The city also has electronic clubs with an international reputation and one of Latin America's largest LGBTQ+ scenes.

Buzios packs its evenings into Rua das Pedras. In summer, late dinners lead on to lounge bars and small clubs, and New Year and Carnival bring beach parties. Out of season, a night out is mostly a drink by the water.

In Buzios, nature is on the doorstep. Snorkellers find turtles in the clear bays, schooners sail past islands and headlands, and the steady wind at Rasa and Manguinhos is good for kitesurfing. Arraial do Cabo, under an hour away, offers diving. What the town lacks is forest or mountains.

Sao Paulo has both, but beyond the sprawl. The Atlantic Forest of the Serra do Mar has trails and waterfalls, there is the misty village of Paranapiacaba, and the hills of Campos do Jordão are cooler. Inside the city, Ibirapuera Park and the Cantareira hills are the green spaces, and traffic means trips out need an early start.

Neither city is a great base for excursions, but Sao Paulo has more choice. From there you can see the restored centre and coffee exchange in Santos, the craft market of Embu das Artes, the wineries of São Roque and interior towns such as Itu and Holambra. From Buzios the options are the fort at Cabo Frio, the boat trips of Arraial do Cabo and a few quiet coastal villages, and Rio is too far for a day.

Both work for families, in different ways. Buzios has calm, shallow bay beaches such as Tartaruga, boat trips with snorkelling stops and pousadas with pools. It has no zoo, aquarium or parks, though, and there are hills between the beaches.

Sao Paulo has the attractions Buzios lacks: the hands-on Catavento science museum, the zoo's drive-through safari, the aquarium and the playgrounds of Ibirapuera. The cost is long car journeys, crowded pavements and a centre where you need to stay alert. Children are welcome in restaurants in both.

Sao Paulo is somewhat easier to get around. Its clean metro links Paulista, Liberdade, Luz and Pinheiros, and ride-hailing fills the gaps, although traffic is heavy and the sights are far apart.

Buzios has a small centre around Rua das Pedras that is easy to walk. The rest of the hilly peninsula means taxis, hired buggies or water taxis, as buses are infrequent and some roads have no pavements. Getting there also takes a road transfer of about three hours from Rio's airport.

Sao Paulo is Brazil's shopping capital. It has Brazilian labels on Rua Oscar Freire, lavish malls, the chaotic wholesale streets around Rua 25 de Março, design studios in Pinheiros and weekend fairs in Liberdade. Buzios is good for an evening browse along Rua das Pedras for swimwear, linen and jewellery, plus its craft fair, but there is little beyond that.

Sao Paulo is the cheaper of the two for everyday costs. Set lunch plates, coffee at a padaria, beers at a boteco, metro rides and free museum days all keep spending low. Its smart hotels and top restaurants, though, cost close to Southern European prices.

Buzios charges resort prices for pousadas and waterfront dining, and taxis and boat trips add up because the town is so spread out. Rooms cost far more over New Year, Carnival and summer weekends. Per-kilo lunches and a visit between April and November help most.

In Sao Paulo you can plan your evenings around performances. The state symphony plays at Sala São Paulo, the Theatro Municipal stages opera and ballet, and there are musicals in Portuguese, samba circles, choro, jazz clubs and low-cost SESC programmes. In Buzios, live performance means bossa nova and samba played over dinner on summer nights, and there is no theatre or concert hall.

Buzios is the more restful of the two. Hillside pousadas have spas and pools that look out to sea, and a day built around a cove, a long lunch and a sunset sets an easy pace, especially from April to November. In high season, stay away from Rua das Pedras if you want quiet.

Sao Paulo has polished day spas in Jardins and Itaim, a strong beauty-salon culture and a few Japanese-style relaxation spots, but the city itself is fast and loud. Its calm moments are a car-free Sunday on Paulista or an afternoon under the trees of Ibirapuera.