Things to do in Belo Horizonte

Known as the capital of bar, Belo Horizonte is a rich city in culture and architecture. This post is your must see guide of the city according to what we like to do here!

Pampulha World Heritage:

 We love this area because of its beauty and architecture. Pampulha was created as a region of entertainment for the city with casinos and nightclubs (they are museums now unfortunately). In the area you can make the route Casa JK - Igreja São Francisco de Assis - Iate Clube - Casa do Baile by foot. If you have time, you can also visit the museum of modern art, the zoo and Mineirão - our stadium where Brazil lost for germany from 7x1 in 2014 world cup. When visiting Pampulha, don't forget to visit Xapuri restaurant to try some local food.

Praça da Liberdade:



This square is a must see of the city. Its landscape design is beautiful and its gardens were inspired on the ones from versailles palace in France. Around the square you can find beautiful buildings from the 19th century. Nowadays some of the building around the square are used as museums (best of all: they are free and work until late during the Thursdays!). Our favourite museums are CCBB and Museu das Minas e Metais.

Mercado Central:


Image result for mercado central bh

Our market has more than 400 stands and is consider the third best one in the world according to Tam magazine (the first ones are La Boqueria in Barcelona and Borough Market in London). In the market you find the best sweets, cachaças, cheeses, spices, crafts and souvenirs. Make sure to try the fresh pineapple/ watermelon or "bife de fígado acebolado com jiló" in the bars.

Parque das Mangabeiras



A beautiful park in one of the highest areas of the city. It has plenty of animals like little monkeys, nasua, birds (be careful, they try to steal our food). The area has nice walks and different paths, one of the paths leads you to a beautiful viewpoint and other leads you to river springs. When you visit the park don't forget to stop in Praça do Papa.

Praça do Papa


Also in one of the highest areas of the city, the square has a great view of the city and is used as viewpoint. It has this name because the Pope John Paul II conducted a mass there in 1980.

Bars


Image result for rua sapucai bh

There are bars basically everywhere in the city but some of them are more special. Savassi is the area where you can find many different bars together. Rua Sapucai is one of my favourites, it is a street with many good bars and restaurants but the of it is the view: you can see the city line here and it is very beautiful to see the sunset behind the buildings, you can also try to spot some street art there. Another place famous for its bars is in Rua da Bahia - Edifício Maleta. It is a building with lots of different uses, including bars. The location is great and also the price.

 Day trips:
Inhotim



Totally worth a visit! One of our favourite museums in the world! Inhotim is an open museum where you can find beautiful gardens designed by Roberto Burle Marx, lots of contemporary art, nice art installations and restaurants. Visiting the museum, you can use two swimming pool: one internal and one external. You can pay to use the golf cars or walk along, one day may not be enough to see all the galleries. There are buses that live the central bus station for 30 reais. The entrance of the museum is around 44 reais + 30 for the car which is optional.

Ouro Preto



Ouro Preto is a cute little city located 100km from Belo Horizonte, it was a gold and diamond mining area and you can still visit some mines. Ouro Preto is a UNESCO world Heritage Site, the wealth of from the mines can be seen in the baroque and rococo churches. It is a charming city where you can find great architecture and nice restaurants and coffee shops.