Araraquara Airport (AQA) is a compact regional gateway in the interior of Sao Paulo state, and picking up a rental car here is by far the most practical way to move around a region built on sugarcane, citrus and university life. The terminal is small, which works in your favor: you can be off the aircraft and on the road in minutes, without the queues that slow down the big Sao Paulo hubs. From the airport, the SP-310 Washington Luis highway is the spine of the region. Sao Carlos and its universities are around forty minutes away, Ribeirao Preto is roughly an hour and a quarter, and the city of Sao Paulo itself is about a three-hour drive when traffic behaves. Brazil drives on the right, and visitors can generally drive on a home-country license alongside a passport for up to 180 days, though an International Driving Permit or a certified translation is strongly recommended if your license is not in Portuguese. Two local details catch first-time renters. First, most Brazilian rental fleets run on flex-fuel engines that accept either ethanol or gasoline; check which fuel the desk expects at return so you are not surprised. Second, Sao Paulo state highways are tolled at staffed plazas, so keep a payment card or some cash within reach rather than buried in luggage. Air conditioning is not a luxury in the hot interior months; confirm it is included, because you will use it daily. Transmission is worth checking too, as manual gearboxes remain common in Brazilian fleets and automatics sell out first. Demand spikes when the regional calendar does: large agribusiness events in nearby Ribeirao Preto can drain rental fleets across the whole area, and university terms add steady weekday demand. Booking a few weeks ahead keeps both the choice and the pickup painless, and returning with the agreed fuel level keeps checkout quick.
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