Museu Catavento

Museu Catavento is São Paulo's superb interactive science museum, housed in the grand early-20th-century Palácio das Indústrias. It's built for hands-on discovery across four themed sections, Universe, Life, Ingenuity, and Society, with hundreds of experiments and exhibits covering physics, astronomy, biology, and technology. Kids can touch, build, and experiment everywhere, but adults are drawn in too, especially by the genuine dinosaur fossils, the meteorites, and a real piece of moon rock.

It's one of the best family attractions in the city, engaging and educational without being dry, and a welcome air-conditioned refuge. Set in a handsome palace in the Parque Dom Pedro II area, it's affordable, and free on certain days, well worth half a day with children, or for any curious traveller.

Don't miss

• Hundreds of hands-on science experiments
• Real dinosaur fossils and meteorites
• A genuine piece of moon rock
• Four themed sections from astronomy to society
• The grand 1920s Palácio das Indústrias setting

Tickets & tours

Ways to visit Museu Catavento

Cheapest way inVisit São Paulo with a local guide4.8★ · 130 travelers3-4 hoursFree cancellationFrom$26 per personSee dates →Most bookedAmazing São Paulo overview in 4 or 5 hours with a private guide4.9★ · 355 travelers3-5 hoursFree cancellationFrom$158 per personSee dates →Private & flexibleWalking Tour São Paulo Center: Historical Process Of The Largest City in Brazil5★ · 24 travelers3-4 hoursFree cancellationFrom$113 per personSee dates →

Good for

How travelers rate it

Getting there

Know before you go

• It's hands-on and built for kids, but the fossils, meteorites, and moon rock draw adults too.
• Check for free-entry days before you go.
• Closed Mondays; weekdays are calmer than weekends/school-trip days.
• The building itself, the Palácio das Indústrias, is worth a look.

A bit of history

Opened in 2009 in the restored Palácio das Indústrias (built in the 1920s), Museu Catavento was created by the state of São Paulo as an interactive science and technology museum aimed at making science accessible and fun for all ages.