Getting to GRU
 

What time do I need to leave Sao Paolo to make it to GRU for an 11:10p flight? I will be taking a taxi / hired car.
I've heard it can be a challenge at all times

Thanks

Are you a Hoya? SFS 06, JD 09 here...

Travel times to GRU vary considerably. Without traffic or rain, 30 minutes would be enough from Avenida Paulista (I lived in Cerqueira César, at Av. Paulista and R. Haddock Lobo), near the Rennaissance Hotel. With traffic, double it, and any time it rains in São Paulo the roads become quite chaotic. I would allow 1 hour to be safe.

I think the longest it ever took me was 1hr15min in pouring rain and rush hour traffic. The shortest was during Easter weekend without any traffic, at around 25 minutes.

Indeed, SFS 96. ^

This will be my first time to GRU and I will spend all of 72 hours there. Thanks for the info, just what I needed. Hoya Saxa!

Wanted to resurrect this 7 year old thread to see if the travel times to GRU are still accurate. A lot can change in 7 years.

I will have a domestic flight on TAM leaving GRU at 7:20 am in mid-June (having arrived the day before internationally). I plan on staying in the Avenue Paulista area. What time would you leave the hotel to get there comfortably? Would 5:30 am be safe?

Hillarious to read this thread and realize it's from 7 years ago. Yes, things have changed a lot.

I would leave no later than 5am. Given the early hour and the fact that you're going generally against traffic and you're leaving from the paulista area (which cuts out about 30-60 minutes of travel time), you are likely to arrive early. But São Paulo traffic is volatile and unpredictable. What takes an hour one day can take 90 minutes the next can take two hours the day after. Coming from just a bit farther into the city, it has taken me anywhere from 35 minutes (early morning Sunday) to three hours (4 pm on a weekday) to get to the airport (2-3 hours being my average).