Campinas is the second-largest city in São Paulo state, a sprawling industrial and university city about 100 km northwest of São Paulo. With a metro area of over three million people, it is one of Brazil's most important technology and research centres — the state university (Unicamp) and the national synchrotron laboratory are both here.
The city is not a tourist destination in the traditional sense, but it has a pleasant central market, good restaurants, and the huge Parque Portugal (known as Lagoa do Taquaral), a green lung popular with joggers and families. The nightlife centres on the Cambuí neighbourhood, where a concentration of bars and restaurants fills the streets on weekend evenings.