Sao Paulo's best running is found in the lakeside loops of Ibirapuera Park, the tree-lined Parque Villa-Lobos, and the weekly Paulista Aberta tradition that closes the entire 2.7 kilometre Avenida Paulista to cars every Sunday.
Sao Paulo offers surprisingly good running infrastructure for a city its size, anchored by one flagship park and a genuinely distinctive weekly road closure. Here are the best running routes in Sao Paulo for 2026.
Ibirapuera Park, Sao Paulo's flagship green space in Vila Mariana, offers loops from about 3 kilometres up to a 5.5 to 6 kilometre Circuito Parque Ibirapuera around its central lake, mostly flat and paved, with some locals extending to 7 or even 10 kilometres by combining the outer perimeter with the lake loop. Along the way are the Oca and Bienal exhibition pavilions, the Marquise walkway, and heavy weekend crowds of local runners.
In Alto de Pinheiros, Parque Villa-Lobos is flat and wooded alongside the Pinheiros River, planted with more than 37,000 trees. Marked running loops range from about 700 metres to 2,150 metres, with a full Circuito Completo of roughly 8 kilometres on paved, wheelchair and pram-accessible paths, free to enter.
Since 2015, Sao Paulo's Open Streets program has closed the roughly 2.7 kilometre Avenida Paulista to cars every Sunday and public holiday from 10am to 6pm, turning the city's main avenue into a linear running and cycling route with free bike-share pickup points along the way, part of the broader Ruas Abertas open-streets program.
In the Itaim Bibi and Vila Olimpia financial district, Parque do Povo has a dedicated running track of about 1.4 to 1.5 kilometres, separated from a parallel cycling lane, well-maintained and popular with nearby office workers, open from 6am to 10pm daily.
The Sao Paulo International Marathon, held each April and reaching its 30th edition in 2026, starts and finishes in Ibirapuera Park near the Obelisk Monument to the Constitutionalist Soldier of 1932, with the full 42.195 kilometre course routing through Avenida Paulista and other iconic avenues.
Ibirapuera Park and Parque Villa-Lobos are the most reliable choices for a straightforward run at any time; Sunday mornings are worth planning specifically around Paulista Aberta for a genuinely different running experience.
This article was compiled by AI and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.
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