Belo Horizonte

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Belo Horizonte is Brazil's fourth-largest city 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.

	belo horizonte Travel Guide : 1 Understand 2 Get in 2.1 By bus 2.2 By plane 3 Get around 4 By bus 5 See 6 Eat 7 Drink 8 Sleep 8.1 Budget 8.2 Mid-range 9 Stay healthy 10 Stay safe 11 Get out

Understand

Just edged out by Salvador for the title of third-largest city in Brazil, Belo Horizonte (or simpy "BH" to locals) is little over a century old. 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's location, relatively close to Rio and São Paulo, helped turn it into a major industrial center.

• Belotur (http://www.belohorizonte.mg.gov.br/) - Belo Horizonte's tourist authority

Get in

By bus

BH is a major national hub for bus travel. The rodoviária is at the northern end of town at the end of Av. Afonso Pena. Approximate travel times from other capitals:

• Brasília - 10 hours
• Rio de Janeiro - 7 hours
• São Paulo -

By plane

BH is served by two airports:

• Confins (Aeroporto Internacional Tancredo Neves) - Rua Ocidente, 100 - Tel: (31) 3462-4078 (Fax: 3462-5577). Receives a few international flights and most domestic flights. It's located about 40 km from the city center. It is connected to the downtown area by Conexão Aeroporto (http://www.expressounir.com.br/) express buses (R$ 12) and taxis.
• Pampulha (Aeroporto Carlos Drummond de Andrade). For some domestic flights, especially within the state of Minas Gerais. 9km from the city center.

Get around

By bus

See

• Pampulha - This 1940's neighborhood has some of the highlights of Brazil modern archicture, including the São 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.
• Praça da Liberdade - A beautiful palm tree-lined square, sidelined by interesting buildings from the 19th century, including the seat of the State Government, and a curvaceous (yes, you can use this word to describe an Oscar Niemeyer building) edifice from the 60s.
• Museum of Arts and Crafts - Praça Rui Barbosa, Centro. (31) 3248-8600 (info@mao.org.br). Tu, Thu, Fri noon to 7pm. We, noon to 9pm. Sa, Su, 11am to 5 pm. Groups: Daily, from 9am-noon. The Museu de Artes e Ofícios 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.

Eat

For a good sample of traditional mineiro food, try one the two Dona Lucinha restaurants in town. There is one near the Liberdade Square:

• Dona Lucinha II - Rua Sergipe, 811 - (31) 3261-5930 (dl2@uol.com.br). Mo-Fri 12-3pm and 8pm-midnight. Sat 12-5pm and 8pm-midnight. Sun 12-5pm. R$ 19-27.

Drink

People from BH are famous for their love of bars. The central Savassi neighborhood (Sergipe, Antônio de Albuquerque and Pernambuco streets) has dozens of them.

Sleep

Major high-rise hotels are generally on Av. Afonso Pena, while mid-range and budget accommodations are clustered around the train station.

Budget

• Albergue da Juventude Chalé Mineiro - Rua Santa Luzia, 288 - Santa Efigênia (From Rodoviaria take bus 9801 (Saudade-Santa Cruz), at Rua dos Caetés, or the subway to the Santa Tereza station). (31) 3467-1576 (chalemineiro@ig.com.br) 1 (http://www.chalemineirohostel.com.br/). This hostel is a member of Hostelling International and has a nice swimming pool for its guests. Prices from R$ 15.

Mid-range

• Le Flamboyant - Rua Rio Grande do Norte, 1007. Phone (31) 3261-5233 (fax (31) 3261-7370)2 (http://www.clan.com.br/hoteis/le_flamboyant.html). Good value for money. The 80s décor 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.

Stay healthy

Stay safe

Get out

Belo Horizonte is an entryway to many of the the country's most important colonial towns:

• Congonhas
• Diamantina
• Ouro Preto
• São João del Rey
• Tiradentes

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