This is the tenth on a series of videos produced by the Brazilian tourism authorities. They all have a common theme: those states that will host 2014 World Cup games. During the coming weeks we will present all those videos here in the blog. They are shortish videos, with conventional but beautiful images of the states and its main destinations. Today’s video is devoted to the state of Minas Gerais.

Minas Gerais:

We have plenty of information on the state of Minas Gerais here at the Brazil Travel Blog, with destination cards for Belo Horizonte, the Cidades Históricas, Inhotim, Mariana and Ouro Preto.

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Google’s long-awaited Street View imagery of Brazil is finally here. For months, Google’s fleet drove throughout the streets of Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and a substantial number of towns in the metropolitan area of the mentioned cities taking thousands of photographs and documenting visually what Brazil looks like from ground level. Google’s cameras also photographed cities on the São Paulo coast (Santos, Praia Grande, Guarujá) and the Historical Cities of Minas Gerais (Congonhas, Mariana, Tiradentes, Diamantina, São João Del Rei and Ouro Preto).

To use Street View you need to access Google Maps, view any of the three cities mentioned above and drag the “yellow man” (on top of the zoom tool, left-hand side of the map) to see the outline of the steets with Street View coverage appear in blue colour. Drop the man and off you go, start visiting the city from a different perpective.

Street View has many uses. And obvious one is to check the location of a hotel or see the external appearance of tourist sight.

Here’s a few images of known tourist sights of the three cities mentioned above. Do you recognize them?

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Street View in Belo Horizonte

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Street View in the Historical Cities of Minas Gerais

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Street View in Río de Janeiro

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Street View in São Paulo

And to end this blog post, a surprise at the São Paulo sambadrome. Enter the venue and you’ll find yourself in the middle of a carnival parade! Smashing!

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Mariana is a small and quaint Cidade Histórica a few miles off Ouro Preto. It makes for a perfect half-day trip from the latter.

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1. HOW TO GET THERE:

By bus.

• from Belo Horizonte: bus company Pássaro Verde runs two daily direct buses to Mariana (at unearthly hours). Schedules and fares available at its website. The trip lasts 1 hour and 45 minutes.
• if you find yourself in Ouro Preto, take a local bus to Mariana.

By train. The Trem da Vale is a tourist train linking Ouro Preto and Mariana. You can check schedules and prices at its website. If you want to save some money, you can go to Mariana by train and return to Ouro Preto by bus.

By car. You can reach Mariana from Belo Horizonte, São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. Extreme caution is required as roads in the state of Minas Gerais are notorious for its alarming accident rates.

By plane. There is no airport in Mariana. The nearest airports are Confins and Pampulha in Belo Horizonte.

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2. WHEN TO GO:

It rains quite a lot in Mariana from November to March. Between April and October rainfall is scarce. June, July and August can see the temperatures drop to 10 degrees at night, warm clothing is recommended.

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3. CAREFUL WITH:

Coolish temperatures in winter. Local food is as delicious as it is caloric.

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4. WE LIKE THE MOST:

The exceptional collection of baroque colonial architecture. The local food delicacies.

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5. WE LIKE THE LEAST:

Outside the historic centre Mariana is chaotic.

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6. FAVOURITE PLACES:

Minas Gerais square with the beautiful churches of São Francisco de Assis and Nossa Senhora do Carmo. The church of São Pedro dos Clérigos.

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7. PIECE OF ADVICE:

• half a day is enough to visit the most important churches in Mariana. You can walk or drive your car.
• the places mentioned under 6. are unmissable. From the Minas Gerais square, follow the street going up till you reach the church of São Pedro dos Clérigos.
• of a lesser interest is the Catedral Basílica da Sé ou de Nossa Senhora da Assunção.

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8. HEALTH:

No vaccines are needed for Mariana. The rural areas of Minas Gerais recorded recent cases of yellow fever. Though not essential nor required, take the shot if you want some peace of mind (10 facts about yellow fever in Brazil).

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9. LINKS:

Mariana.org is the official Mariana tourism page.

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10. WEATHER FORECAST:

The weather in Mariana for the next ten days

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11. CLIMATE:
Average temperatures and rainfall in Mariana.

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12. GOOGLE MAPS:
Mariana in Google Maps.

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13. PHOTO ALBUM:

Mariana photo album.

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RELATED POSTS:
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Our collection of photos taken on our recent trip to Manaus can be seen at our Flickr album Belo Horizonte. Here’s a small selection:

You will see the city from the heights and also feel the presence of Oscar Nieyemer.

Images of the beautiful church of São Francisco de Assis at the Pampulha, an early Niemeyer work that brought him into conflict with the catholic church.

A few fascinating discoveries at the Mercado Municipal.

Excellent examples of classic and modern architecture.

Capybaras inside the city.

And a place of devotion for many Belo Horizonte citizens, the Mineirão stadium.

And quite a few more things.

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RELATED POSTS:
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Of all the major Brazilian cities Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, is probably the one that gets less attention from international tourism. One of the reasons for this is its location, far awar from the beaches or other tourist centers such as the Amazon or the Pantanal. But Belo Horizonte makes for an excellent base to visit the Historical Cities of Minas Gerais and the highly recommended Inhotim museum.

Before we continue, it’s worth pointing out that locals (and many Brazilians from other cities too) refer to Belo Horizonte both by “bé-agá” (the result of reading the initials B H in Portuguese) and “Beló”.

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1. HOW TO GET THERE:

Confins international airport, on the outskirts of Belo Horizonte, receives many flights from other Brazilian capitals as well as a handulf of international flights. Pampulha airport, within the city limits, receives a small number of flights run by airlines operating small aircraft. To get from Confins to the center of BH there are two regular bus services: an Executivo service, costing R$16,90, and a Conventional service, costing R$7,35. Both services are adapted to transport passengers and their baggages. More details at Expresso Unir.

You can also reach Belo Horizonte by bus, both from Rio de Janeiro and from São Paulo. From Rio, companies Cometa and Util run services to BH. From São Paulo, companies Cometa and Gontijo.

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2. WHEN TO GO:

Rainfall in Belo Horizonte is concentrated during the summer months, from November to March, when torrential rain is not rare. From May to September rainfall is scarce. Belo Horizonte can be visited all year round.

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3. CAREFUL WITH:

Renting a car to move around town, it is not a good idea.

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4. WE LIKE THE MOST:

In spite of its 2 1/2 million inhabitants (many more when you consider its metropolitan area), Belo Horizonte feels like a smaller city, quite different from megalopolis like Rio or São Paulo.

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5. WE LIKE THE LEAST:

Unplanned urban development, particularly on the outskirts. Never-ending concrete. Reckless driving.

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6. FAVOURITE PLACES:

Lagoa da Pampulha and its surrounding area; Mangabeiras viewpoint; the Municipal Market

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7. PIECE OF ADVICE:

• the Lagoa da Pampulha, in the north west of the city, it one of the most beautiful places in Belo Horizonte. Around the winding shore of the lagoon the beautiful church dedicated to São Francisco de Assis is found. It is an early work by renowned Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. Bus 2004, running through avenida Afonso Pena in the centre of town, will take you there.
• stadium Governador Magalhães Pinto, better known as Mineirão, is home to Cruzeiro and Atlético Mineiro football teams. It is also located in the Pampulha area. There are daily guided visits (R$6) from 8am till 17am except on those days when there is a match at the stadium. More details at Mineirão.
• Belo Horizonte is known as the Brazilian capital of the botecos, the bars. It is said to have the highest per capita number of bars in the entire Brazil. Excellent places for a beer and a snack are the bars at the Mercado Municipal and the Savassi, Lourdes and Funcionários neighbourhoods.
• a morning spent at the Mercado Municipal stalls is a true feast for the senses.
• if you have your own car, drive up to the Parque das Mangabeiras and get to the Mirante do Mangabeiras. There is a spectacular view of Belo Horizonte from there.
• if you have a day to spare, make sure you visit the Inhotim museum. At Inhotim museum we gave details on how to get there.

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9. ACCOMMODATION:

You can search for accommodation in Belo Horizonte through our Hotels Combined search engine, a unique free tool that searches multiple hotel reservation websites simultaneously to help you find the lowest rate instantly. It eliminates the need to search major websites one by one in order to compare prices and availability. An amazing time and money saver!

The results open on a new page.

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10. HEALTH:

You don’t need any vaccines if you are planning to visit Belo Horizonte. However, cases of yellow fever are regularly reported on the rural areas of Minas Gerais, so if you are thinking of getting out of town, it might be a good idea to get the shot.

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11. LINKS:

Belotur is the official tourism website for the city of Belo Horizonte. It has a version in English.

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12. WEATHER FORECAST:

The weather in Belo Horizonte for the next 10 days.

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13. CLIMATE:

Average temperatures and rainfall in Belo Horizonte at the weather channel.

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14. GOOGLE MAPS:

Location of Belo Horizonte in Google Maps.

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15. PHOTO ALBUM:

Belo Horizonte photo album (click on the link to go to the album)

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RELATED POSTS:
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The Instituto Inhotim is located in the town of Brumadinho, 60 km from Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais. I’d rather not use the term museum to refer to it as it does not do any justice to everything Inhotim has to offer. It contains a fantastic collection of contemporary art set in the middle of a stretch of Atlantic rainforest. The art collection lives side by side with the landscaping project of people like Roberto Burle Marx. At Inhotim the contemplation of art and the contemplation of nature go hand in hand.

Inhotim is a private non-profit organization set up in 2005 by a Brazilian entrepeneur. To host each work of art and installations a specific building was constructed. The art collection includes works by Brazilian and international artistas, from the 60′s to the present time. Between one building and another the visitor will find the wonderful botanic collections of the institute.

Inhotim and Belo Horizonte are not in most travellers’s itineraries and for that reason I dare not suggest that visiting Inhotim is a must. But if you find yourself in Belo Horizonte or visiting the Historical Cities of Minas Gerais (Ouro Preto, Mariana, Congonhas, Tiradentes, São João del Rei) I’d definitely make an effort to spend one day at Inhotim.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Address: Inhotim, Brumadinho, Minas Gerais.
Website: Inhotim. It’s got an English version.
Opening times: Thursdays and Fridays, from 9h30 till 16h30. Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays from 9h30 to 17h30.
Admission: R$15.
How to get to Inhotim: if you have your own means of transportation, follow the map provided at the Institute’s website. Saturdays and Sundays there is a bus running from Belo Horizonte bus station (platform F2) to Inhotim. Departs from Belo Horizonte at 9am and returns from Inhotim at 4pm.
Facilities: there are snack shops and two restaurants.
Piece of advice: as most of the visit to Inhotim is done outdoors, it is best avoided on a rainy day.
Photo album: my Inhotim photos at Flicrk.
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Exceptionally, this review covers not just one destination but several of them, in the vicinity of Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais. We are talking about the Cidades Históricas (Historical Cities). The best well-known are Ouro Preto (Unesco World Heritage Site, we have a blog post devoted to it: destination: Ouro Preto), Mariana (we also have a blog post: destination: Mariana), São João del Rei, Tiradentes, Congonhas and Sabará. The other jewel on the crown is Diamantina, far away from the others, which I will not cover here as I haven’t visited it yet.

WE LIKE THE MOST: the outstanding collection of colonial baroque art, the crafts, the food

WE LIKE THE LEAST: the alarming deterioration of the artistic heritage with the utter connivance of the authorities. Unesco have repeteadly expressed their concern with the state of Ouro Preto

HOW TO GET THERE: The Cidades Históricas can only be reached by road. You will need to you use a rented car, the public transport system, or embark on a one-day trip from Belo Horizonte.

CAREFUL WITH: it gets very cold on the mountain region during the Brazilian winter; the “comida mineira” (food from the region), as delicious as it is caloric; the notorious roads in the region, with one of the hightest accident rates for the whole of Brazil

FAVOURITE PLACES: Congonhas, the church of Nossa Senhora de Ó in Sabará, the steam train between Tiradentes and São João del Rei, Tiradentes, Mariana

PIECE OF ADVICE:

• there is plenty to see in Ouro Preto, you will easily fill a day visiting the town; Mariana is nearby, a couple of hours to visit the village will be enough
• São João del Rei and Tiradentes can be visited on the same trip, there is a steam train linking both places

LINKS: Associação das Cidades Históricas de Minas Gerais, Cidades Históricas de Minas, Ouro Preto, São João del Rei, Tiradentes, Conheça Minas pela Internet

WEATHER FORECAST: The weather in Ouro Preto for the next 10 days

GOOGLE MAPS: Cidades Históricas

PHOTOS: Cidades Históricas

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