Belo Horizonte is Brazil's sixth-largest city, the center of its third-largest urban area and the capital of the state of Minas Gerais. With its orderly grid plan and tree-lined avenues, it's a pleasant metropolis.
For travelers, it's a good stopping point on the way to the beautiful colonial towns such as Ouro Preto and Tiradentes.
Belo Horizonte is little over a century old. With a metropolitan population reaching more than 5 million more than Salvador, it was built as a planned city to take the place of Ouro Preto as the State's capital.
Its layout features square sections drawn out by broad avenues, intersected diagonally by smaller streets.
Belo Horizonte which means Beautiful Horizon is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, the thirteenth-largest in South America and the eighteenth-largest in the Americas.
The metropolis is anchor to the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area, ranked as the third most populous metropolitan area in Brazil and the seventeenth most populous in the Americas. Belo Horizonte is the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil's second most populous state.
It is the first planned modern city in Brazil.
The city lies in the center of the Minas Gerais state, and is intended to bring together the many parts of this very diverse state.
The region was first settled in the early 18th century, but the city as it is known today was planned and constructed in the 1890s, to replace Ouro Preto as the capital of Minas Gerais.
The city features a mixture of contemporary and classical buildings, and is home to several modern Brazilian architectural icons, most notably the Pampulha Complex. In planning the city, Aarao Reis and Francisco Bicalho sought inspiration in the urban planning of Washington, D.C.
The city has employed notable programs in urban revitalization and food security, for which it has been awarded international accolades.
The city is built on several hills and is completely surrounded by mountains. There are several large parks in the immediate surroundings of Belo Horizonte.
The Mangabeiras Park or Parque das Mangabeiras, 6 km (4 mi) southeast of the city centre in the hills of Curral Ridge or Serra do Curral, has a broad view of the city. It has an area of 2.35 km2 (580 acres), of which 0.9 km2 (220 acres) is covered by the native forest.
The Jambeiro Woods or Mata do Jambeiro nature reserve extends over 912 hectares (2,250 acres), with vegetation typical of the Atlantic Forest. More than 100 species of birds inhabit the reserve, as well as 10 species of mammals.
Belo Horizonte was one of the host cities of the 1950 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Additionally, the city shared the host of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the football tournament during the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The term Grande BH or Greater Belo Horizonte denotes any of various definitions for the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte.
The legally defined Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte consists of 34 municipalities in total, and a population of around five million inhabitants.
The intense process of urbanization that is taking place in the metropolitan region has made some of the political boundaries between municipalities in the region obsolete.
The city is now composed of a relatively contiguous urban area, centred on Belo Horizonte, which extends out into municipalities such as Contagem, Betim, Nova Lima, Raposos, Ribeirao das Neves, Ibirite, Santa Luzia and Sabara, among others.
The municipality bounded to the north by Vespasiano, to the north east by Santa Luzia, by Sabara to the east, by Nova Lima to the southeast, Brumadinho to the south and Ribeirão das Neves, Contagem and Ibirite to the west.
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Belo Horizonte lies on a region of contact between different geological series of the Proterozoic. The geology largely comprises crystalline rocks, which give rise to the varied morphology of the landscape.
It is located in a large geological unit known as the craton of San Francisco, referring to extensive crustal nucleus of central-eastern Brazil, tectonically stable at the end of the Paleoproterozoic and bordering areas that suffered the regeneration at the Neoproterozoic.
The archean rocks members of Belo Horizonte complex and supracrustal sequences of the Paleoproterozoic is predominant.
The area of Belo Horizonte complex includes the geomorphological unit called Depression of Belo Horizonte, which represents about 70% of the municipality area and has its greatest expression in the northern Ribeirão Arrudas (Rues Stream) pipeline.
The metasedimentary rocks has its area of occurrence on the south of Ribeirão Arrudas pipeline, constituting about 30% of the area of Belo Horizonte.
The characteristics of this area are lithological diversities and rugged topography, which has its maximum expression in the Serra do Curral or Corral Ridge, the southern boundary of the municipality.
Its soil comprises a succession of layers of rocks of varied composition, represented by itabirite, dolomite, quartzite, filities and schists different from the general direction northwest-southeast and dip to the southeast.
The hills of Belo Horizonte are part of the Espinhaço Mountains and belong to the larger Itacolomi mountain chain. The highest point in the municipality is in the Serra do Curral, reaching 1,538 metres (5,046 ft).
A centre for conservation and preservation of animals and plants it has also developed environmental education projects. The Zoo, which encompasses a total area of 1.4 million square meters, is located at the Foundation's headquarters and is regarded as one of the most complete in Latin America.
It has a collection of close to 900 animals representing 200 species, from Brazil and other parts of the world, as well as the first public butterfly sanctuary in South America.
Pampulha Ecological Park is administered by the Zoo-Botanical Foundation of Belo Horizonte and was inaugurated in May 21, 2004. It's 30 acres (12 ha) of green area that offers to the population and the tourists a permanent programming of environmental, cultural and patrimonial education.
The city contains the 102 hectares (250 acres) Baleia State Park, created in 1988. It contains part of the 3,941 hectares (9,740 acres) Serra do Rola-Moça State Park, created in 1994.
Belo Horizonte's latitude at 19'55"South places it in the tropical zone. Yearly temperatures average between 9 and 35 °C (48 and 95 °F). The region is tropical savanna climate and it borders on a humid subtropical climate, tropical on high altitudes, humid/warm summers and a dry/mild winters.
Belo Horizonte is located about 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the sea.
Even though inter-seasonal differences are not as pronounced as they are in temperate places, there is a contrast between spring and summer, and between fall and winter. The coldest month is generally July, with a lowest recorded temperature of 2 °C (36 °F).
The hottest month is usually January, with a highest recorded temperature of 37.4 °C (99 °F).
The 852-metre (2,795 ft) elevation of Belo Horizonte helps a little in cooling the city, suppressing high maximum air temperatures experienced in nearby cities at lower altitudes. Belo Horizonte's climate is mild throughout the year.
Temperatures vary between 11 and 31 °C (52 and 88 °F), the average being 22 °C (72 °F). Winter is dry and mostly sunny, and summer is rainy.
According to the 2010 IBGE Census, there were 2,258,096 people residing in the city of Belo Horizonte. The census revealed the following numbers:
- 1,110,034 White people (46.7%)
- 995,167 Pardo - Multiracial people (41.9%)
- 241,155 Black people (10.2%)
- 25,270 Asian people (1.1%)
- 3,477 Amerindian people (0.1%)
In 2010, the city had 428,893 opposite-sex couples and 1,090 same-sex couples. The population of Belo Horizonte was 53.1% female and 46.9% male.
The Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, called Greater Belo Horizonte, is the 3rd most populous of Brazil, after only Greater Sao Paulo with 19,672,582 people, first in Brazil and 5th in the world, and Greater Rio de Janeiro with 14,387,000 people. The city is the 6th most populous of the country.
During the 18th century, Minas Gerais received many Portuguese immigrants, mainly from Northern Portugal as well as many enslaved Africans.
Belo Horizonte has a notable Italian influence; around 30% of the city's population have some Italian origin.
The Italian culture is present in the cuisine, dance, and language. People of German, Spanish, and Syrian-Lebanese ancestries also make up sizeable groups.
Religion:
Catholic - 59.87%, 1,422,084
Protestant - 25.06%, 595,244
No religion - 8.02%, 190,414
Spiritist - 4.07%, 96,639
Belo Horizonte receives large numbers of visitors, as it is in the Brazilian main economic axis, exerting influence even on other states.
Multinational and Brazilian companies, such as Google and Oi, maintain offices in the city. The service sector plays a very important role in the economy of Belo Horizonte, being responsible for 85% of the city's gross domestic product (GDP), with the industry making up for most of the remaining 15%.
Belo Horizonte has a developed industrial sector, being traditionally a hub of the Brazilian siderurgical and metallurgical industries, as the state of Minas Gerais has always been very rich in minerals, specifically iron ore.
Belo Horizonte is the distribution and processing centre of a rich agricultural and mining region and the nucleus of a burgeoning industrial complex. Production is centred on steel, steel products, automobiles, and textiles.
Gold, manganese, and gemstones mined in the surrounding region are processed in the city. The main industrial district of the city was set during the 1940s in Contagem, a part of greater Belo Horizonte.
Multinational companies like FIAT which opened its plant in Betim in 1974, Arcelor, and Toshiba have subsidiaries in the region, along with other textile like Group Rachelle Textil, Ematex and Cedro Textil, cosmetic, food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, furnishing and refractorycompanies.
Among the companies headquartered in the city we can list steel producer Açominas held by Gerdau, one of the largest multinationals originated in Brazil; Usiminas; Belgo-Mineira held by Arcelor; Acesita partially held by Arcelor; mobile communication Vivo; and Telecom Italia Mobile.
Also Dasein executive search, executive coaching company, as well as the NYSE-listed electrical company CEMIG. Leading steel product makers Sumitomo Metals of Japan and Vallourec of France have also plans to construct an integrated steel works on the outskirts of the city.
There are also a large number of small enterprises in the technological sector with regional to nationwide success, particularly in the fields of computing and biotechonology. Because of both governmental and private funding in the diversification of its economy.
The city has become an international reference in Information Technology and Biotechnology, and is also cited because of the advanced corporate and university research in Biodiesel fuel.
The number of jobs in the Information sector has been growing at annual rates above 50%. The Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Area, composed of 33 cities under the capital's direct influence, is home to 16% of the country's biotechnology companies, with annual sales of over R$550 million.
Projects in these fields are likely to expand because of integration between universities, the oil company Petrobras and the Brazilian Government.
One of the largest events that ever took place in the city, the Inter-American Development Bank meeting, occurred in 2005 and attracted people from everywhere in the world.
For a long time it was marked by the predominance of its industrial sector, but from the 1990s there has been a constant expansion of the service sector economy, particularly in computer science, biotechnology, business tourism, fashion and the making of jewelry.
The city is considered to be a strategic leader in the Brazilian economy. The move towards business tourism transformed the capital into a national hub for this segment of the tourist industry.
- In 2008, the city's GDP was R$42 billion or about of US$26,2 billion.
- In 2008, the Greater Belo Horizonte's GDP was R$98,5 billion or about of US$61 billion.
- In 2008, the city's per capita income was R$17,313 or US$10,820. In 2007, it was R$15,830 about of US$9,893.
Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. Schools are required to offer at least one foreign language, English and Spanish being the most common.
Belo Horizonte is served by three airports:
- Tancredo Neves/Confins International Airport, dedicated to domestic and international traffic. It is located in the municipalities of Lagoa Santa and Confins, 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Belo Horizonte, and was opened in January 1984.
Plans for gradual expansion to meet growing demand had been already drawn up from the airport's inception. The airport has one of the lowest rates of shutdown for bad weather in the country.
It ran at limited capacity until 2005, when a large proportion of Pampulha Airport air traffic was transferred to Confins. There are direct international flights to/from Miami, Orlando, Lisbon, Buenos Aires and Panama City.
- Pampulha – Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport, dedicated to domestic traffic;
- Carlos Prates Airport, dedicated to general aviation.
The city is connected to the rest of Minas Gerais state and the country by a number of roadways. Minas Gerais has the country's largest federal highway network.
- BR-040 connects Belo Horizonte to Rio de Janeiro going south and Brasilia going northwest. It also links other cities in the state, such as Juiz de Fora, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Barbacena, Sete Lagoas, and Paracatu.
- BR-262 begins in Mato Grosso do Sul and ends in Espirito Santo, crossing Minas Gerais from west to east. It links Belo Horizonte to Para de Minas, Araxa, Manhuaçu, Uberaba, Governador Valadares, and Vitoria, the capital of Espirito Santo state.
- BR-381 is an important federal highway. It connects Belo Horizonte to Sao Paulo.
- MG-010 is a state highway that connects the capital to the Tancredo Neves International Airport, itself located in the municipalities of Confins and Lagoa Santa, which are part of the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte.
Starting in 2005, several flights were transferred from the Pampulha Regional Airport to the international airport. To improve access to the international airport, MG-010 is being expanded effectively duplicating its lanes.
The city is also served by other minor roads such as state highways MG-020, MG-050, MG-030, and MG-433. There is also an East-West Express Way, which goes from the city to the nearby industrial centres of Contagem and Betim together having a population of 900,000, and Anel Rodoviario, a kind of beltway.
Indeed it is not circumferential, but connects many highways, such as the federal (BR-ones) so it is not necessary for a large number of cars and trucks to pass through the city centre.
Many of these roads are in poor condition, but in the last years many revitalization and rebuilding projects have been started.
The bus system has a large number of bus lines going through all parts in the city, and is administrated by BHTRANS. Among the upcoming projects are the expansion of the integration between bus lines and the metro, with integrated stations, many already in use.
And the construction of bus corridors, with lanes and bus stops exclusively for the bus lines. Keeping buses from traffic congestions, making the trips more viable for commuters.
Belo Horizonte Metro or MetroBH started operating at the end of the 1970s. There is one line, with 19 stations, from Vilarinho to Eldorado Station, in Contagem, transporting over 160,000 people daily.
The current projects of expansion include Line 2, linking the existing Calafate Station to the region of Barreiro. And Line 3, from the city's main bus terminal to Savassi economical district.
Line 2 is planned to be overground similar to the current line and Line 3 is planned to be underground, passing through the city's financial centre, Praça Sete and Afonso Pena Avenue. Also, Line 1 is planned to be extended to Novo Eldorado Station.
The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Belo Horizonte, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 85 min.
26% of public transit riders, ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 23 min, while 50% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day.
The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 8.7 km, while 19% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.
Every two years, FIT BH, The International Theater Festival of Belo Horizonte, takes place in the city. This attracts artists from all over Brazil and worldwide.
With the merger of two projects that would happen separately in 1994, one stage based, organized by the Francisco Nunes Theater, and the other street based, idealized by Grupo Galpao, came FIT-BH Palco & Rua.
Produced every two years, under responsibility from the Belo Horizonte City Hall, through the Municipal Culture Office and the Association Movimento Teatro de Grupo of Minas Gerais, in the program there are street and stage shows, and also seminars, workshops, courses, talks, etc.
The Annual Campaign for the Popularisation of Theatre takes place every year in January and February, offering dozens of plays in theatres all over the city at affordable prices.
Several notable artistic groups originated in Belo Horizonte. Grupo Corpo, which is perhaps the most famous contemporary dance group in the country, was formed in the city in 1975. In March and April is the performance program from FID promoting contemporary dance in Belo Horizonte.
The program presents groups from Belo Horizonte. For this project the priority invitations go to the shows created by groups and choreographers living in the city.
The purpose is to take shows and other activities such as workshops, talks and video screenings to the less privileged regions of the city regarding access to cultural assets. Belo Horizonte is also host to the Centro Mineiro de Danças Clássicas school.
Clube da Esquina is one of the most important musical movements in the musical history of Brazil. It originated in the mid-1960s, and since then its members have been hugely influential in Brazilian and even international music, some like Milton Nascimento and Toninho Horta achieving worldwide acclaim.
Other people involved in the movement include musicians, songwriters, composers, conductors and lyricists, such as Tavinho Moura, Wagner Tiso, Andersen Viana, Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges, Beto Guedes, Flavio Venturini, Toninho Horta, Márcio Borges and Fernando Brant, among others.
The band Uakti, known for performing with self-built musical instruments originated in Belo Horizonte under the influence of Walter Smetak and the Composition School from Bahia.
Also, several nationally famous rock groups have been founded in Belo Horizonte, including Jota Quest, Pato Fu, Skank, 14 Bis and Tianastacia. In later years, Belo Horizonte has been more frequently included in Brazilian tours of foreign mainstream and independent acts.
Belo Horizonte is also known as the Brazilian Capital of Metal, hence the huge number of heavy metal bands founded there, especially in the 1980s.
Most importantly, Overdose, the first metal band from BH and one of the first to gain prominence in Brazil; Sepultura, the world's best known Brazilian metal band; and Sarcofago, one of the founders of modern black metal.
The contemporary Christian music band Diante do Trono, is also of Belo Horizonte. A short instrumental song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire is named after the city on their album Now, Then & Forever.
Belo Horizonte features a number of museums including the Mineiro Museum, the Abilio Barreto Historic Museum, Arts and Workmanship Museum, a Natural History Museum and the UFMG Botanic Gardens, a telephone museum, the Pampulha Art Museum, the Professor Taylor Gramke Mineralogy Museum, and the UFMG Conservatory.
The puppet theatre group Giramundo was established here in 1970, and continues to maintain a puppetry museum hosting a collection of their creations.
There is also The Circuito Cultural Praça da Liberdade, located in the central region of Belo Horizonte is currently the largest cultural circuit in Brazil.
In all, there are eleven functioning museums and cultural spaces:
- Arquivo Publico Mineiro (Minas Gerais Public Archive)
- Biblioteca Publica Estadual Luiz de Bessa (Luiz de Bessa State Public Library)
- Cefar Liberdade, Centro de Arte Popular Cemig (Cemig Center of Popular Art)
- Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (Culture Center Bank of Brazil)
- Espaço do Conhecimento UFMG (UFMG Knowledge Space)
- Horizonte Sebrae – Casa da Economia Criativa (Sebrae Horizon – The House of Creative Economy)
- Memorial Minas Gerais Vale (Minas Gerais Memorial)
- Museu das Minas e do Metal (Mines and Metal Museum)
- Museu Mineiro (Minas Gerais Museum) and Palacio da Liberdade (Liberty Palace).
Besides these, another three spaces are already in the process of being implemented:
- the Casa Fiat de Cultura (Fiat Culture House),
- CENA
- Oi Futuro
The proposal, according to the Circuit manager, Cristiana Kumaira, is to strengthen the circuit in the world cultural context.
We are already on this path and are being careful to ensure that the activities, services and assistance fulfill the needs and expectations of both the local population and the tourists who come to Belo Horizonte from around the world.
The Circuit is establishing itself as one more source of pride for the people of Minas Gerais, she stresses.
Inaugurated in 2010, the Circuito Cultural Praça da Liberdade was created with the goal of exploring cultural diversity – with interactive options open to the public in an area of great symbolic, historical and architectural value for Belo Horizonte.
The opportunity came with the transference of the Minas Gerais Government headquarters to the Cidade Administrativa or Administrative City, in Serra Verde. After they had been adapted, the old department buildings opened their doors and began to house museums and cultural spaces.
The Circuito Cultural Praça da Liberdade is co-managed by the Instituto Sergio Magnani since June 2012, through a partnership signed with the Minas Gerais Government, and the museums/spaces are mostly run by private companies, which carry out investments in heritage recovery and building maintenance.
According to Kumaira, this public-private partnership model allows large companies to participate and effectively contribute to the cultural advance of the city.
Beyond their fields of activities, the partners invest in the implantation and maintenance of museums, learning spaces, exhibitions rooms and shows, as well as memory centers that consolidate the history of Minas Gerais, presenting it either for free or at affordable prices, she adds.
The Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden holds an important treasure of folk art – the Nativity of Pipiripau.
Created during the 20th century, the craftsman Raimundo Machado, synchronizes 586 figures, distributed in 45 scenes, which tell the story of life and death of Jesus, mixed with its variety of arts and crafts.
With 600,000 sq. m. of green area, the UFMG Museum of Natural History and Botanic Garden (MHN-JB) is a privileged ecological space that enables visitors to experience nature in a rich, multidisciplinary way.
For 30 years, the mission of the MHN-JB has been to do research, to educate, and to meet the community's demand for service. It covers the areas of Anthropology, Archeology, Environmental Education, Natural History, Mineralogy, and Paleontology.
It has an Ecological Amphitheater, a Free Art Atelier, a Greenhouse, and an Interactive Room. One of its traditional exhibitions is the Pipiripau Nativity Creche.
Palacio das Artes, inaugurated in 1970, is the largest and most varied cultural complex in Minas Gerais. It comprises three theaters, three art galleries, a movie theater, a bookstore a coffee shop and photography exhibition space.
It offers high quality programs for the several expressions in arts. The building was designed by Oscar Niemeyer and it also houses the Minas Gerais Handcraft Center.
The Pampulha Art Museum is located at the Pampulha Lake in Belo Horizonte in a building that originally housed the Pampulha Casino.
The building was designed by Oscar Niemeyer, commissioned by the then mayor and future president of Brazil Juscelino Kubitschek in the early 1940s, with external grounds by landscaper Roberto Burle Marx.
The building was the first project of Oscar Niemeyer, opened as a casino, and closed in 1946. In 1957, it was re-opened as the Art Museum. His design was influenced by the principles of Le Corbusier. The gardens of Burle Marx are an tribute to the tropical green.
There is three sculptures by Ceschiatti, Zamoiski and José Pedrosa. In 1996, it won new multimedia rooms, library, cafe bar, souvenir shop and technical infrastructure. The MAP has an impressive collection of 1.600 works.
The Museum is an integral part of the Pampulha Architectural Complex a watershed in the history of modern architecture in Brazil and internationally.
The regional Minas Gerais' food and the now internationally known drink of cachaça are very popular and highly rated in the capital.
Belo Horizonte is internationally known as the capital of neighborhood bars.
Every year, the city hosts the Comida di Buteco festival, Pub Foods, in an approximate translation, in which a panel selects 41 bars to be visited, and then elects the one with the best appetizers using the theme ingredient of each year.
Minas Gerais' cuisine is famous for its traditional dishes, like pao de queijo, feijao tropeiro, tutu de feijao, pork ribs, chicken-and-okra served with a rich, brown gravy and rice and other usually heavy, comfort-like food.
The city also abounds with pizza places, barbecue houses, fine restaurants of many nationalities and other options.
As in the rest of Brazil, football is the most popular sport. The city's major teams are Cruzeiro, Atletico Mineiro, and America Mineiro.
The city also has one of the biggest football stadiums in the world, the Mineirao, which opened in 1965. The older Independencia Stadium was the site of the FIFA World Cup 1950 game, when the United States beat England in a 1–0 win.
Mineirao, officially called Estadio Governador Magalhaes Pinto, was built to provide the city of Belo Horizonte with a larger alternative for Independencia Stadium, then the prime venue of the city.
The stadium was meant to become the most modern stadium of Brazil and the new home of Atletico Mineiro and Cruzeiro. Construction took almost five years, and on September 5, 1965 Mineirao officially opened. Mineirao hardly changed in the following decades, and in the 1990s still had its original capacity.
When Brazil won their bid to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup, it was clear that Mineirao needed to undergo a large redevelopment.
The project included the complete reconstruction of the bottom tier, an extension of the roof, and further refurbishments to upgrade the stadium to FIFA standards. Building works took a total of three years, and were completed in December 2012.
The first match at the reopened Mineirao was played on February 3, 2013 with a state championship match between Cruzeiro and Atletico. While Cruzeiro agreed on a lease to play the next 25 years at Mineirao, Atletico have not yet come to an agreement and will keep playing at Independência Stadium until doing so.
Mineirao hosted a total of six matches during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, including one round of 16 match and the historical semi-final referred to as Mineirazo in which Brazil lost 1–7 against Germany.
The stadium also was one of the playing venues of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the Olympic football tournamentin 2016
In addition to football, Belo Horizonte has one of the largest attendances at volleyball matches in the entire country. They are played either at Mineirinho, home of Brazil's national volleyball team, or at Minas Tênis Clube.
Belo Horizonte is home to 2015 French Open men's doubles champion and former World no. 1 doubles player Marcelo Melo as well as 2016 Australian Open men's doubles and mixed doubles champion Bruno Soares.
How To Get To Belo Horizonte
BH is a major national hub for bus travel. The bus terminal rodoviaria is at downtown at the northern end of Av. Afonso Pena. Approximate travel times from other capitals:
Brasilia - 10 hours
Rio de Janeiro - 7 hours
Sao Paulo - 8 hours
BH is served by two airports:
Confins - Aeroporto Internacional Tancredo Neves - CNF Rodovia MG 010 S/N, 40 km - Confins/MG. Direct flights to the USA, the Caribbean, Europe and to most major cities in Brazil. It's located about 40 km from downtown. To get to the city center there are two options:
Taxi: R$90-115 to the center pre-purchased from one of the kiosks in the departure hall.
Conexao Aeroporto to Rodoviaria in the center of town: Onibus Convencional (R$ 9,50) or Onibus Executivo (R$ 21,00). The executive buses have WiFi as well. Information booths are available right outside the Airport waiting hall. Link: Conexao Aeroporto
Pampulha - Aeroporto Carlos Drummond de Andrade - PLU. For some domestic flights, especially within the state of Minas Gerais. 9 km from downtown.
If you plan to get around the city center on foot, you might want to take a map. Because the city grid is laid out with both ordinals and diagonal streets, it is very easy to take a wrong turn.
Also, the land where the city was build over has plenty of hills so one should wear comfortable shoes to go up and down the streets. At night, stay in the main Avenues and Streets for safety, because it can be dangerous.
BH is well served by buses. The SC buses circulate through the downtown; others serve outlying neighborhoods.
The buses are color-coded:
- Blue buses go from one region of the city to another, through downtown.
- Red buses go from one region of the city to downtown and then go back to the same region, often serving more distant neighborhoods.
- Yellow buses are called circular buses, they circulate within a same city region.
- Orange buses go from one region of the city to another, without going through downtown, there are very few of these lines.
- Green buses serve BHBUS bus stations, going from a BHBUS station to downtown and then back or connecting two different BHBUS stations.
Some companies sometimes use temporary replacements buses with the wrong color, so even thought the colors can help, always pay attention to the line number.
The best way to plan your route is by using Google Maps, which has great public transit coverage for Belo Horizonte.
If you are outside the center, take a blue bus to the center. As there is no bus map, remember its number to find your way back. Check BHTrans-Onibus for more information of buses.
The buses are complicated and are excruciatingly slow and full during rush hours. Don't go anywhere by yourself without properly planning your itinerary first.
The Metro snakes through the city, from Eldorado northeast to Vilarinho, tangential to the north side of downtown. Lagoinha Station is near the rodoviaria bus station, Gameleira Station is near the ExpoMinas Convention Center and Minas Shopping Station is near the Mall of the same name and Ouro Minas Palace Hotel.
Unlike subways in developed countries or in Sao Paulo, the Metro lines, even though connecting the two biggest cities in the metro area, Belo Horizonte and Contagem, do not cover most of the city and outside the stations can be dangerous.
New lines are been planned and when completed will connect downtown to Pampulha and Savassi, the two most visited neighborhoods.
The trains are useless for someone traveling. Take a taxi.
Belo Horizonte relies on a big and reliable taxi fleet - one of the best in Latin America. The service is also relatively inexpensive. A trip accross downtown costs around R$15, ranking number 10 among the major Brazilian capitals The official color is white.
A lot of places including museums, the parque municipal and the Mangueira park are closed on mondays.
Pampulha. This 1940's neighborhood has some of the highlights of Brazil modern architecture, including the Sao Francisco de Assis Church. The building is not shocking by itself, until you realize it was meant to be a church.
Not surprisingly, the Catholic Church refused to consecrate it for more than one decade. Next to the church, there's the Parque Guanabara, an amusement park that is small, but worth visiting.
In Pampulha lies the world-famous Iate Tenis Clube, founded along with the Pampulha Architectural Complex designed by Oscar Niemeyer. Invitations to the club can be bought at the place, they are free if you know someone affiliated to the club.
Mangabeiras Park. This is an amazing place for nature lovers, a place where the Cerrado mixes with the Atlantic Forest, this is a great visit for children and family.
Praça da Liberdade. A beautiful palm tree-lined square, sidelined by interesting buildings from the 19th century, including the historic seat of the State Government, and a curvaceous. You can use this word to describe an Oscar Niemeyer building, edifice from the 60s.
Circuito Cultural Praça da Liberdade. The Cultural Circuit Praça da Liberdade was inaugurated in 2010 and was recognized as an important cultural corridor in the country.
It is housed in a historical area of Belo Horizonte (MG) and consists of 14 institutions, a museum, cultural centers and training centers that are different from Cultural and artistic universe.
Museum of Arts and Crafts. Praça Rui Barbosa, Centro. Tue, Thu, Fri noon to 7pm. Wed, noon to 9pm. Sat, Sun, 11am to 5 pm. Groups: daily, from 9am-noon. The Museu de Artes e Oficios is installed in the 19th Century buildings of the former Central Train Station.
Its collection shows the richness of Brazilian popular work and professions before the country's industrialization. Admission: R$ 4. Saturday - free.
Alta Vila Tower. Located in the district of Nova Lima, Belo Horizonte city Metro area, this tower offers a spectacular view of Belo Horizonte and its surrounding mountains. On the main floor is the Hard Rock Cafe - Belo Horizonte.
Parque Municipal. An oasis of green right in the centre of downtown. Based on French parks, it has small lagoons where you can rent a boat or feed the ducks. It has the Casa Maluca or Crazy House, the Casa dos Pneus and a small amusement park,three places where children always like to play.
Museu de Ciencias Naturais. Take the Metro to the Gameleira station, go NW to the PUC campus, and turn right. Diverse mollusks, whales, and Brazilian forest animals. A new exhibit is under construction. Admission: R$ 3.
Museu Historico Abílio Barreto - Av Prudente de Morais, 135 - Cidade Jardim Neighborhood. This museum is dedicated to the history of the city and was created in the only standing farmhouse from the old Curral d'El Rey, farmland replaced by the new planned city.
Go Shopping
- BH Shopping. One of BH's oldest and biggest shopping centers, with shops, food, cinema and games. It's in Belvedere area and close to Nova Lima road.
- Shopping Del Rey. Another of BH's oldest and biggest shopping centers, with shops, food, cinema and games.
- Minas Shopping. Among the biggest shopping centers, with shops, food, cinema and games. Metro station nearby.
- Diamond Mall. A very refined and expensive shopping center.
- Patio Savassi. Also very refined and usually expensive shopping center, in the heart of Savassi.
- Mercado Central, Av. Augusto de Lima and R. Curitiba. Traditional market where you can find tofu, whole grains, cheese, meat, herbs, religious articles, fruit, live birds, pots, souvenirs and lots of other stuff. It's one the most visited places in the city.
- Hippie Fair, Av. Afonso Pena in front of the Municipal Park. Opens every Sunday, from 8AM to 2PM. The fair is one of the biggest in the country and offers from crafts to jewelry, furniture to souvenir, clothing to food. Receives from up to 100,000 people every Sunday. Definitively worth the visit.
For a good traditional mineira food go:
Dona Lucinha II, Rua Sergipe, 811. Mon-Fri 12PM-3PM and 8PM-midnight. Sat 12PM-5PM and 8PM-midnight. Sun 12PM-5PM. Only buffets at R$59 and optional 10% service on top.
Restaurante Xapuri, Rua Mandacaru, 260 - Pampulha, near the Pampulha Lake and the City Zoo, the restaurant is open Tue-Thu from 11AM to 11PM, Fri-Sat from 11AM to 2 AM and Sunday and holidays from 11AM to 6PM. It has live music from Wed-Sun and Holidays
For great Brazilian food, here are some options:
Porcao, Avenida Raja Gabaglia, 2985. One of the most famous restaurants in BH is the steakhouse chain Porcao. Considered to have the best meat in BH, it is also one of the most expensive in town. Some nights there are live performances by some of the more well-known performers in BH.
Fogo de chao, Rua Sergipe, 1208, Savassi. It's a restaurant chain similar to Porcao. Both offer the traditional Brazilian barbecue. They are a must go to any tourist who isn't familiar with the Brazilian way to prepare and serve meat.
Fogo de chao started in Porto Alegre in Brazil and now has subsidiaries in many other Brazilian cities and even in the United States.
For great international food, here are good options:
Outback Steakhouse, Shopping Patio Savassi - Av. do Contorno, 6061 - Funcionarios.
Applebee's Restaurant, Located at BH Shopping, the restaurant has a casual feel with an American Menu.
If your food tastes lean toward brown rice and tofu, try Bem Natural. This is both a snack bar with tuna and chicken sandwiches on whole wheat, and a por quilo buffet with stuffed tomatoes, vegetarian feijoada, and brown rice. There are four locations in BH:
- Av. Afonso Pena 941, Centro.
- Augusto de Lima 1652, Barro Preto.
- Bernardo Guimaraes 166, Funcionarios.
- Tome de Souza 947, Savassi, open weekends and holidays too.
CAUTION: Brazilian law has a ZERO tolerance for drinking and driving.
Recently, major cities such as BH started to heavily enforce these laws with daily random DUI checkpoints. The penalty is severe and the police does not need you to comply with the breath analyzer, they may arrest you on suspicion alone.
If caught, you will probably be taken to jail and have to pay a fine of about R$2,000 and this is just the best case scenario.
There are usually plenty of taxis in front of popular bars and nightclubs during all hours.
The state of Minas Gerais is famous for their cachaça. The price stars from R$1,00 to R$50,00 and above, for some high-end brands. It is the main ingredient of the famous Caipirinha cocktail, but Brazilians enjoy drinking it pure as well. Whenever you are at a classic local bar, ask the bartender for some options.
People from BH are famous for their love of bars. The Savassi neighborhood has dozens of bars. The city is widely known although without any confirmation as the city with most bars per capita in the world.
There are too many great bars in town to list, you should ask the locals for suggestions for any given day and neighborhood:
- Andaluz Club Cafe - Rua Congonhas, 487 - Santo Antonio. GLBT Bar.
- Bar do Careca, Rua Simao Tamn, 395 - Cachoeirinha. Great food! Winner of many Comida diButeco awards. Best tongue and best tripe ever.
- Bolao, Praça Duque de Caxias, 288 - Santa Tereza. Tradition mandates that a night out ends up with one Bolao famous pasta or the Rochedao, it is just as great during daytime. Also frequented by local celebrities.
- Cafe Alexandrina, Rua Pernambuco, 797 - Savassi.
- Cafe com Letras, Rua Antônio de Albuquerque, 781 - Savassi. Excelent bar with books and wireless available to clients
- Damas e Valetes - Rua Antonio de Albuquerque, 862 - Savassi. GLBT bar
- No Fundo do Bau - Avenida Raja Gabaglia, 4767 Santa Lucia. Classic Rock playing all night.
- Soho - Rua Tome de Souza, 133 - Funcionarios. Bar with table games.
- Stonehenge Rock Bar - Rua Tupis, 1448 - Barro Preto.
- Sushi Thai - Rua Grão Mogol, 564 - Sion.
- Vinnil - Rua dos Inconfidentes, 1.068 - Sobre Loja - Savassi.
- Beb's - R. Levindo Lopes, 303 - Savassi.
Some of the best nightclubs in town are in the Raja Gabaglia, they can also be very expensive, call ahead to see if you can get on a list for discounted prices.
Alambique Cachaçaria, Av. Raja Gabaglia, 3200 - Estoril. Check their schedule and be sure to check out the nights with Sertanejo music.
Clube Chalezinho, Alameda da Serra, 18 - Seis Pistas. Rock, Country and Electronic music, check their schedule.
Wood's, Alameda da Serra, 154 - Vale do Sereno. Country and Electronic music, check their schedule.
Na Sala, BR 356 Ponteio Lar Shopping, Loja 120D - Santa Lucia. Electronic Music.
Other Good Clubs
Forro da Serra, na Avenida Getulio Vargas, 900 - Funcionarios. Opens on Fridays at 10pm. Go there to learn and watch Forró! Fun times guaranteed.
Utopica Macenaria, Avenida Raja Gabaglia, 4700 - Santa Lucia. Forró, eletronica, pop and pagode, check their schedule.
A Obra, Rua Rio Grande do Norte, 1168 - Savassi. Shows and electronic music.
Barra Lounge,Avenida Antônio Carlos, 7585 - Pampulha. Live Country shows.
Eros Mix Club, Rua Aimorés, 1.840 - Lourdes. GLBT Club.
Jequitibar, Av. Assis Chateaubriand,57 - Floresta.
Major high-rise hotels are generally on Av. Afonso Pena or at Savassi neighborhood, while mid-range and budget accommodations are clustered around the train station.
Rock! and Hostel - Rua Cristina, 1185 - Santo Antonio. Located in the most exclusive area of the capital, 10 minutes walk from Savassi Rock. and Hostel offers a truly Brazilian experience, with comfort, safety and fun.
Prices from R$ 39,99. From Rodoviaria take bus SC01A stop at the Carangola's Street point and get up the Carangola's Street until arrive to Rua Cristina
Hostel Chale MineiroRua Santa Luzia, 288 - Santa Efigenia. This hostel is a member of Hostelling International and has a nice swimming pool for its guests. Prices from R$ 28. From Rodoviaria take bus 9801 - Saudade-Santa Cruz, at Rua dos Caetes, or the subway to the Santa Tereza station.
Hostel Sossego da Pampulha - Av. Coronel Jose Dias Bicalho, 1258 - Pampulha. Quite distant from downtown but really closer to Pampulha's Lake.
Hostel O Sorriso do Lagarto Rua Cristina, 791 - Sao Pedro. Located in Savassi, this hostel has the best location near restaurants, bars, concert venues, shopping, cinemas, markets and more. They have WiFi, table games and common areas, are child-friendly and can help you find anything you want around the city.
Hostel Pousadinha Mineira Rua Espirito Santo, 604 - Centro. Basic, clean beds in large dorms. Excellent security. Close to everything, right in the center. Dorms R$ 16.00 (w/o breakfast), R$ 20.00 incl. breakfast.
Hotel Sao Bento Rua dos Guaranis, 438 - Centro. Located within walking distance of Mercado Central, Parque Municipal and Minascentro Exhibition Centre. Highlighted in the French guide Le Guide du Routard as the best cost-benefit in town in its category. Prices from R$46.
La em Casa Hostel-Pousada - Rua Eurita 30, Santa Tereza 31010-180 Belo Horizonte MG. I very relaxing and affordable place to stay in a relatively safe neighborhood. only a short distance from Savassi and centro, as well as several cool bars in santa tereza. Great facilities with good wifi. From R$35
Normandy Hotel, Rua dos Tamóios, 212 - City Centre. Located in the heart of Belo Horizonte, close to the commercial and financial center. checkin: 12:00; checkout: 12:00.
The Normandy Hotel highlight is its great location, right at the cultural, commercial and financial hub of Belo Horizonte, making it a good option for travellers looking for commodity and agility when staying in town. Prices from R$ 119.
Le Flamboyant - Rua Rio Grande do Norte, 1007. Good value for money. The 80s decor may be a little out of date, but the flats are spacious and there is a swimming pool for guests. Besides, location is excellent: right in the middle of the lively Savassi neighborhood. Singles/doubles R$ 100-120.
To keep hydrated, drink bottled water or water from drinking fountains, usually located at malls.
Tap water provided by COPASA the sole provider for the city is regarded as fully potable it is filtered, sterilized, PH controlled and fluoridated, but it is important to note that due to historical unreliability of water supply in Brazil.
The vast majority of buildings have water tanks, so even if it is provided by COPASA, if you are unsure of the sanitary conditions of the building water tank, you should avoid drinking it before filtering, boiling or ozonizing it.
Even though bottled water in Brazil is labeled as mineral water, you should be careful and use good sense when buying it. Cases of tap water and untreated water being bottled and labeled as mineral are not uncommon.
Always check the color of the water, the general aspect of the bottle and the seal. Some Brazilians are used to untreated water but it is very likely that tourists will have serious issues with it, including diarrhea, vomits, fever, headaches and muscular pain.
It is usually safer to drink COPASA tap water then bootleg bottled water. Free healthcare is widely available, but waiting times may be long even on minor emergencies, for non urgent cases go to the free Posto de Saude near where you are staying, there are plenty all over the city.
Private hospitals usually have faster service and better facilities and you can pay your treatment with either cash or with your insurance. Check with your insurance company the hospitals and clinics covered beforehand.
If you have any allergies or known health problems, it is wise to learn some Portuguese words to describe it as it is very likely most of the hospital staff won’t speak English except for more qualified MDs, nurses and social workers.
Although you might not see any initial difference, nurses are divided into college nurses, technical nurses and auxiliary nurses. You are more likely to find an English speaker amongst the college nurses, they are called Enfermeira or Enfermeiro and usually act as sector supervisors in a hospital.
Belo Horizonte can get very hot during summer, so avoid staying out in the sun for too long, specially between 10am and 3pm. Even though it is not on the coast, sunscreen is advisable, especially if you have light skin.
Public restrooms can be found at malls and public buildings. A small fee may apply. Also, bars and restaurants are required by law to have a restroom available to its customers, but even if you are not buying anything, just ask nicely and they will let you use it.
Smoking in Belo Horizonte is banned from closed buildings. This includes malls, restaurants, bars - except if you are sitting outside, clubs, public buildings, airports and others.
Smoking has been increasingly regarded as a bad habit and even on the sidewalk people might get annoyed by it, so it is best to smoke privately or away from non smokers.
When crossing the street, watch for motorcycles, which can appear out of nowhere and sometimes ignore stop signs. At some intersections with divided streets, you can cross only one side at once.
Minas has both the military police or policia militar who are the enforcers of the law at street level, however not linked to the Brazilian Military and the civilian police or policia civil who conduct further investigations like the British CID.
Note, though, that most officers don't even have a knowledge of basic English. The uniform of the Minas Gerais state military police is brown.
The emergency number by which you can reach the military police is 190.
The city has its own police, the Municipal Guard, the uniform is blue and officers are found in parks, near monuments, schools, hospitals.
The city has seen a recent surge on crime related to drugs. It is wise to avoid walking alone at night or carrying expensive electronics such as cameras, notebooks, iPods or jewelry. It is not uncommon to be mugged at traffic lights or walking during the day or night.
Despite Brazil's huge ethnic diversity, tourists can be easily identified by bad guys as people who carry electronics carelessly and seem to be always wondering where are they going. Be discreet.
If someone mugs you, don't react. Your life is worth more than a hundred dollars.
MP Games, Rua dos Inconfidentes 868, between Pernambuco and Paraiba, Savassi. You can bring your laptop. 3 R$/h.
There are many LAN Houses and Cyber Cafes throughout the city, even inside Shopping Malls, so checking your e-mails or browsing the internet won't be a problem. Rates go from R$2 to R$5 per hour.
The area code for Belo Horizonte is 31. The code for Telemar, the phone company that runs most of the phone booths in the city, is also 31. So to call Belo from outside using Telemar, you dial 031 31 and the desired number, for example: from Sao Paulo to Belo, dial 03131 xxxx-xxxx.
But to make a local call, you don't have to dial 31 at all, just the eight digits. Sometimes, it depends, because there are many other cities surrounding Belo, with the same area code, so you might be dialing the long distance code, using 31.
Dialing from or to Ouro Preto, to or from Belo, you need to dial 03131 xxxx-xxxx. There are other long distance companies codes available, which can be used to make calls, such as Embratel (21), Intelig (23), which provides long distance calls with suitable rates, to or from Brazil, and to other countries.
Belo Horizonte has a good network of hospitals. The main hospital area of the city is located downtown, close to the Municipal Park, where it is possible to find lots of healthcare institutions such as hospitals, clinics, and laboratories.
Other Public hospitals in Belo Horizonte
Hospital das Clínicas da UFMG - Av.Professor Alfredo Balena, 110 - Santa Efigênia.
Hospital de Pronto-Socorro JOAO XXIII - Av.Professor Alfredo Balena, 400 - Centro.
Hospital Odilon Behrens - Rua Formiga, 50 – Sao Cristovao.
Hospital Risoleta Tolentino Neves - Rua das Gabirobas, 01 - Bairro Laranjeiras.
Private hospitals in Belo Horizonte
Hospital Felicio Rocho - Av.do Contorno, 9.530 - Barro Preto.
Hospital Lifecenter - Av. do Contorno, 4747 - Serra.
Hospital Mater Dei - Rua Gonçalves Dias, 2700 - Santo Agostinho.
Hospital Socor - Rua Tupis, 1578 - Centro.
Hospital Vera Cruz - Av. Barbacena, 653 - Barro Preto.
Santa Casa Hospital - Av. Francisco Sales, 1.111 - Santa Efigenia.
Drug stores in Belo Horizonte
DROGAMAJ LTDA - Free Delivery thru the city.
Araujo Drugstore
Onofre Drugstore
Pacheco Drugstore
Droga Raia
Free rescue and ambulance service in Belo Horizonte
This can be requested by a free call to one of two institutions: SAMU, the acronym for the health emergency service - Phone: 192 or Fire Department - Phone: 193.
Belo Horizonte is an entryway to many of the the country's most important colonial towns:
- Congonhas
- Diamantina
- Ouro Preto
- Sao Joao del Rey
- Tiradentes
Belo Horizonte is an entryway to the following other sights:
- Inhotim
Tourism Observer
