A big friendly friendly city in Inland Brazil. Known for good food from Minas Gerais region, modern architecture and art.
You could easily pop in and out of this city in 2 days and felt you saw all the highlights. But if you stayed longer, there’d be plenty of everyday niceties and nearby towns and attractions to make it worthwhile.
Where to stay:
- Savassi – the prime area to be for foreigners or first-timers. It’s lively. The action is here. The nightlife is here. Everything.
Hostels:
- BR Hostel – great location with great reviews. Friendly folks, staying in a mix of dorms and privates. Community spaces are friendly and cozy, nice upstairs terrace with balcony, quiet co-working space as well. Internet works reliably throughout entire hostel. Beds are solid heavy metal frame that doesn’t make too much noise or movement. Friendly helpful staff. It’s the only one I tried.
- Nuh Hostel
- Rota BH Hostel
- Eden Hostel
- Rock and Hostel
Neighborhoods & Walking areas:
- Savassi – mainly Praça da Savassi (square). Many awesome restaurants and bars all around here.
Activities to do:
- Mercado Velho
- Mercado Central
- Buildings & architecture –
- Parks, gardens, green spaces –
- Beaches, bridges, water-points –
- Arts & museums
- Inhotim** – considered the largest open-air musuem in the world. With a great collection and very beautiful grounds. Some locals may even say you should go here instead of other nearby towns, as this musuem is more unique. And you should go before some land damage destroys it.
- Sunset views –
Restaurants & Cafes:
- Dona Conceicao – nice buffet chain restaurant. I don’t know why some of them have horrible reviews. The one I went to at the Patio Shopping mall was super good!
- Dona Ivone Butiquim – nice local bar in Savassi with good food. Great as a lunch option. Has outdoor seating.
- Nashy Sushi – fancy sushi place! Pricey for Brazilians. Great sushi, great sushi. Beware, there are 3 locations (2 of them open, 1 closed). And both get super full after 18:00, so make a reservation especially if you have a big group!
- Eugenheiros Sushi – poke sushi. Good sushi and better price for local Brazilians.
- Madero – fancy steakhouse chain. Has everything from steak to pasta, etc. But known for their burgers (which are often promoted as “the best burger in Brazil”). It’s not the absolute best burger but it’s still very good and you won’t be disappointed.
- Jeronimo – fast food chicken burger restaurant version by the same owner of Madero.
- Da Boca – nice restaurant bar with outdoor seating. Many other similar options nearby as well.
Bars & Clubs:
- Forno da Saudade – popular local bar and pizza joint on the hill. Good beer, good pizza, and good service. But why this place gets crazy packed is because it has a huge outdoor space where you can sit on the tables or around the concrete steps overlooking the city below. It can be fun and casual, or even romantic. Certain days (especially weekends) can be too packed that it just feels like a huge Brazilian-style outdoor party.
- Redentor Bar – go here at night to see the crowds.
- It’s Surreal Savassi – nice big popular bar.
- Estacao – is it a bar, a club? It seemed like club vibes when I walked by.
- Praca da Savassi – this area would have tons of bars as well.
- Carnaval – is really awesome in BH. I enjoyed it here very much. It was small back around 2015 but today is one of the larger ones in Brazil. Endless blocos to choose from. If you like electronic, I hear Carnaland is great.
Miscellaneous tips:
- General travel tips for Brazil.
- Centro de Treinamento BDI – great boxing local boxing gym. Good size and friendly vibe with many nice students. Group classes and privates as well. The owner and his girlfriend speak great english.
- Pe Descalco – dance studio chain. I went to some really nice forro classes here. Helpful instructors, many of them speak good english. Very crowded and lots of friendly young folks.
- 7&8 Escola de Danca – another dance studio teaching many styles.
- Gyms
- Belo Horizonte has many awesome gyms.
- Rockclimbing – I went to the Rokaz Escalada chain. The Buritis one has a big open space for bouldering, and the Savassi one has less bouldering space but also has rope-climbing. I preferred Buritis because it was less crowded and I like bouldering more anyway.
- Fitness gyms – you’ll notice many right around the area where Rokaz Buritis is.
Nearby towns:
- Ouro Preto** – I think most guides and most tourists will recommend this as the major highlight nearby town. Small, cute, and charmy…also close by.
- Tiradentes** – all the locals say this one is the most recommended, and their personal favorite. Only thing is it’s farther than Ouro Preto.
Unfiltered notes: