Belo Horizonte

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Pampulha Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Lagoa da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

About Belo Horizonte

Belo Horizonte was drawn on paper before it was built: planned in the 1890s as the new capital of Minas Gerais to replace hilly Ouro Preto, it opened in 1897 with a grid of streets crossed by wide diagonal avenues inside a ring road. Today it is one of Brazil's largest cities, ringed by the iron-rich ridges of the Serra do Curral, and known for friendly locals, hearty mineiro cooking and an endless supply of neighbourhood bars.

Its most celebrated sights are modernist. Around Pampulha Lake, a young Oscar Niemeyer designed a chapel, casino, dance hall and yacht club in the 1940s, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the centre, Praça da Liberdade is surrounded by palaces turned museums, and the Mercado Central overflows with cheese, cachaça and sweets.

Sundays bring the vast Feira Hippie to Avenida Afonso Pena, while evenings are for a cold beer and pão de queijo on Rua Sapucaí or in a corner boteco. The city is also the base for day trips to the contemporary art park of Inhotim and the colonial towns of Minas Gerais.

Best seasonApril to September is dry and mild; October to March is warmer with heavy afternoon rain.

Ideal stayTwo to three days, plus day trips to Inhotim or Ouro Preto.

ArrivingBelo Horizonte International Airport at Confins is about 40 km north of the centre; buses and taxis link it to the city.

12 Best Things to Do in Belo Horizonte

Landmarks 2

Pampulha Church of Saint Francis of Assisi

Designed by Oscar Niemeyer in the early 1940s, this small chapel on the shore of Pampulha Lake shocked church authorities with its...

Praça da Liberdade

For a century this elegant square was the seat of the state government, and it is still framed by the Palácio da Liberdade, tall p...

Parks 3

Lagoa da Pampulha

This artificial lake in the north of the city is ringed by a long path for walking, running and cycling, with the Niemeyer buildin...

Parque Municipal Américo Renné Giannetti

Laid out when the city was founded, this park in the centre is a shady refuge of old trees, lakes, winding paths and playgrounds r...

Parque das Mangabeiras

Spread over the slopes of the Serra do Curral, this large park was landscaped by Roberto Burle Marx and mixes native forest, water...

Museums 2

Memorial Minas Gerais Vale

Housed in a former state government building on Praça da Liberdade, this museum brings the culture and history of Minas Gerais to...

Museu de Artes e Ofícios

Set in the restored railway buildings on Praça da Estação, this museum displays thousands of tools, machines and implements used i...

Food and Drink 2

Mercado Central de Belo Horizonte

Open since 1929, this covered market is a maze of stalls selling Minas cheeses, cachaça, doce de leite, spices, herbs, crafts and...

Rua Sapucaí

In the Floresta district, this short street sits on a ridge above the railway lines and has become one of the city's favourite pla...

Entertainment 1

Mineirão Stadium

Opened in 1965 and rebuilt for the 2014 World Cup, the stadium near Pampulha Lake hosted that tournament's famous semi-final in wh...

Viewpoints 1

Serra do Curral

This long mountain ridge on the southern edge of Belo Horizonte is the city's natural symbol, its iron-rich slopes framing views f...

Shopping 1

Feira Hippie

Every Sunday morning, a long stretch of Avenida Afonso Pena in the centre fills with the stalls of one of the largest open-air cra...

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Photo credits

Photo: Paulo SP/ Wikimedia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: MTur Destinos, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Photo: Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Pedro Lopes pedrinholula, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

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Photo: Paulo SP/ Wikimedia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photo: MICHELLE TAMIETTI, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Photo: Tiago Macedo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Paulo SP/ Wikimedia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Prefeitura de Belo Horizonte, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Photo: Iswzo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Tiago Macedo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Paulo SP/ Wikimedia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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