On weekends, Avenida Paulista turns into São Paulo’s great open‑air living room. On Sundays it closes to cars for several hours, becoming a long pedestrian and cycling boulevard. People stroll, skate, bike, dance, and stop to watch street musicians, performers, and political or cultural demonstrations. Along the avenue you have heavyweight cultural institutions: MASP, Instituto Moreira Salles, Japan House, Itaú Cultural, Sesc Paulista, Casa das Rosas, and others, many with free or inexpensive exhibitions and events. Under the MASP’s dramatic concrete span you find antique and art markets, while nearby Parque Trianon offers a pocket of Atlantic Forest right beside the traffic. Cafés, bookshops, and shopping galleries fill in the gaps. For a visitor, a Paulista weekend is ideal for people‑watching, street photography, and hopping between museums without ever leaving one of the city’s most iconic streets.