Rua Augusta is the long avenue that cuts north–south through the heart of São Paulo, crossing Avenida Paulista at right angles, and it is a different street on either side. South of Paulista, climbing into the Jardins, it is upmarket: international fashion houses, the Conjunto Nacional shopping arcade, and Cidade Jardim further down. North of Paulista, dropping toward Consolação, it turns into the city's most concentrated nightlife strip — dive bars, indie venues, late-night burger joints, sex shops, the city's gay scene.
The transition happens in about a hundred metres. Both ends are worth a wander. The northern end is the one to come back to at night, when the queue starts forming outside the Cine Joia and the bars overflow onto the sidewalk.