9 hr layover at GRU - anything of interest nearby?
 

I'll have a 9 hr layover from 7 am to 4 pm, connecting from international to international (LH to TAM). Is there anything to do, preferably outdoors, near Guarulhos? Just to give you examples of my other 4 to 8 hr layovers, I went for a swim near SYD, to the termal baths near MUC, to the Great Wall near PEK. Anything fun to do at GRU? A shady park with a nice lawn would do as well. Thanks, ps

I highly recommend you stay at the airport, Gaurulhos area is one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods. Go to a lounge or else book a hotel. Cesar or Marriott and try to take the hotel shuttle and not a taxi if possible.

Guarulhos is not in a "good" area, but nothing so bad as implied by djjaguar64 comment. Having said that, there is not really much to do around GRU.

Your best bets are, in my opinion:

- Go to São Paulo. You can expect to expend some 3-4hs in the city.

- There is a day hotel inside GRU: FastSleep. They rent their rooms by the hour. You can go there, have a shower, get some sleep.

- My choice: go to TAM check-in and ask if it would be possible to put you on an earlier flight. They usually do it without charge, if seats are avaiable.

A friend of mine posted a couple of notes on her travel blog about getting stuck at GRU for a day, thanks to a Gol-Delta misconnect.

http://thewanderlife.com/stranded-in-sao-paulo/

Fortunately, she's Uruguayan so does not need a visa to exit the airport. I've been at GRU for nearly 24 hours on connections, at least it felt that way, and I could not, as a USA national without visa. Even with a Uruguay cédula, the 2007 revision to the Mercosur treaty bases entrance on nationality, not residency in the bloc.

Sadly, the last three times I was there on long connections, long after I lost any elite status with lounge access. Not that either the Smiles nor the United lounges were any great shakes. But they certainly beat hanging out in the gate areas. Functional but not fun airport.

Not sure if the OP needs a visa or not being from Germany, as I haven't looked into that scenario. But impossible to get one upon arrival in Brazil, so if you don't want the capsule hotel in the walkway between the two international tiers, you should verify before your trip.

Thanks everybody! Award availability opened up fur a much shorter connection - no need to hang around GRU for more than two hours now.