Santos is home to the largest beach-front gardens in the world, as registered in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2002. Still the record holder, the gardens, which frame the seven kilometers of beaches, are one of the city’s  main tourist attractions  and stretch for 5.335km, varying in width between 45m and 50m, with a total area of 218,800m2 .

They are also an open-air art gallery, housing no fewer than 38 monuments and sculptures, highlighting characters from the Santos, national and international scenarios.

Top photo: Marcelo Martins

Hosted in a beautiful neoclassical mansion from the early 20th century, the Benedicto Calixto Art Gallery is an important cultural space in the city, offering musical happy hours, courses, and various events for children and adults, especially on weekends.

The house, the last on the Santos coastline that retains the characteristics of the era of the coffee barons, served as a family residence, a retirement home, a boarding house for young women, and even a tenement, before being declared a public utility in 1979 and beginning its restoration seven years later.

On the ground floor are an art library and a permanent exhibition of works by Calixto, considered one of the greatest exponents of Brazilian painting from the early 20th century. The upper floor functions as a gallery for temporary exhibitions.

Top photo: Anderson Bianchi

Enchanting generations for seven decades, the Santos Aquarium is the oldest in Brazil, and has featured in the Guinness Book of World Records since 1995. 

A favored spot for leisure and knowledge, this attraction is a pioneer in conservation projects concerning the sea and its creatures – it was the first Brazilian institution to carry out rescue and recovery of sea animals. The Aquarium occupies an area of 3000 m², 2214 of which are open to visitors.