Brazil: Minas Gerais, Ouro Preto, Tiradentes and Inhotim

1. Day 1: Arrive in Belo Horizonte

   Belo Horizonte airport to your hotel; Mercado Central and Pampulha

   • Dinner
   • Stay in Belo Horizonte
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Belo Horizonte, either Tancredo Neves International Airport at Confins (CNF) or the city airport at Pampulha, depending on your airline; the main international airport is well outside the centre, so we allow for a transfer of an hour or more, an estimate to be confirmed. A driver is proposed to meet you and take you to the hotel. If you arrive in time, your guide takes the group to the Mercado Central, a covered market of cheeses, cachaça, spices and snacks that is a good first taste of Minas cooking, and then to the Pampulha lake district to see Oscar Niemeyer's church of São Francisco de Assis from outside or inside, depending on opening hours. Market and church hours must be checked for your day. A welcome dinner is proposed nearby.

   Included

   • Pick-up at the Belo Horizonte airport
   • Mercado Central and Pampulha visit, if arrival time allows (opening hours to be checked)
   • Welcome briefing and dinner

   Free time: Free until the briefing

   

2. Day 2: Mariana and a gold mine, then Ouro Preto

   Belo Horizonte to Mariana and Ouro Preto by road

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Ouro Preto
   Day 2 details

   We drive from Belo Horizonte to the old gold towns, taking a road of roughly two to three hours to Mariana, an estimate not yet sourced. Mariana is the oldest of Minas Gerais's colonial towns, with baroque churches around its squares. Nearby we propose a gold-mine visit, descending into old workings where the history of the eighteenth-century gold rush is explained; which mine we use and whether it is open on the day are to be confirmed. The tourist steam train between Mariana and Ouro Preto is not running: passenger service stopped in 2020 and reports in October 2026 give a return date of 2027 or late 2028, so we use the road between the two towns. We reach Ouro Preto in the afternoon and walk its first steep streets before dinner, free.

   Included

   • Road transfer Belo Horizonte to Mariana and Ouro Preto
   • Mariana old-town walk
   • Gold-mine visit (mine and opening to be confirmed)

   Easier option: Ride between sights instead of walking the steep streets

   Free time: Free evening in Ouro Preto

   Activity: The Mariana to Ouro Preto train is not operating and is not part of the plan.

   

3. Day 3: Ouro Preto's baroque churches and Aleijadinho

   Ouro Preto on foot: the churches, squares and Aleijadinho's work

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Ouro Preto
   Day 3 details

   Ouro Preto is a hillside town of steep cobbled streets, white houses and a great many baroque churches, built on gold. With a local guide we spend the day on foot, visiting the main churches and squares, including those connected with Antônio Francisco Lisboa, called Aleijadinho, the sculptor and architect whose carvings mark many of the buildings, and the museum quarter around Praça Tiradentes. Opening hours differ by church, many close at midday, some charge small fees and a few close on Mondays, so the order is decided closer to the date. The streets are very steep and the cobbles are uneven, and the pace is slow. Lunch is free in a town known for Minas dishes. The afternoon is free for shops of soapstone and local craft. The evening is open.

   Included

   • Guided walk through Ouro Preto's churches and squares (entries to be confirmed)

   Optional experiences

   • Museum visit; a soapstone craft workshop

   Easier option: Take taxis uphill and walk only the downhill sections

   More active option: Walk up to viewpoints above the old town

   Free time: Free afternoon and evening

   

4. Day 4: A gold mine or museum and a free afternoon

   Ouro Preto and its surroundings: a mine, a viewpoint and free time

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Ouro Preto
   Day 4 details

   The programme is looser today. In the morning we visit an old gold mine in or near Ouro Preto, going underground with a guide to see the tunnels, the narrow passages and the traces of the mining that built the baroque town; if Day 2 already included a mine, today offers a different one or a museum instead. Whether a mine is open on a given day is to be confirmed. After lunch the afternoon is free to explore the shops, visit a church or museum we have not yet seen, or relax at a café, with suggestions from the guide for viewpoints and walks. Evening plans are free; Ouro Preto is a student town and has lively streets after dark. Packing tonight is simple, as tomorrow is a long drive to Tiradentes. Mines can be damp, steep and low.

   Included

   • Guided visit to a gold mine (mine to be confirmed)

   Optional experiences

   • Museum visits; a walk to a viewpoint

   Easier option: Visit a museum or café rather than going underground

   More active option: Walk to a viewpoint above the town

   Free time: Free afternoon and evening

   Activity: Mines are low and damp; not suitable for everyone.

   

5. Day 5: Road to Tiradentes

   Ouro Preto to Tiradentes by road

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Tiradentes
   Day 5 details

   We leave Ouro Preto after breakfast for Tiradentes, a drive we estimate at roughly three hours, depending on the road and stops, not yet sourced. On the way there may be time to stop at a historic town such as Congonhas, if the schedule allows. Tiradentes is a small colonial town of stone streets, flowering gardens and baroque churches set at the foot of a mountain range, quieter and prettier than larger towns, and a base for restaurants serving Minas cooking. We arrive in the afternoon and walk the old centre with the guide, including the Matriz de Santo Antônio church, whose opening hours are to be confirmed. The evening is free. We explain the plan for tomorrow's steam train, which operates on specific days only and depends on the travel date.

   Included

   • Road transfer Ouro Preto to Tiradentes
   • Guided walk in Tiradentes

   Free time: Free evening in Tiradentes

6. Day 6: The steam train and Minas cooking

   Tiradentes to São João del-Rei by steam train and back; a Minas cooking evening

   • By train
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Tiradentes
   Day 6 details

   The Maria Fumaça steam train runs between Tiradentes and São João del-Rei. A newspaper report of 1 October 2026 says a new operator, ABPF, took over from VLI, and that on Fridays and Saturdays trains leave São João del-Rei at 10:00 and 14:00 and Tiradentes at 11:30 and 15:30, with only the morning departures on Sundays. That reported timetable is not confirmed for your travel date. We propose Friday or Saturday for this day so the following Inhotim visit falls on a weekend; if the train is not running, we would agree a road-transfer alternative before quoting. We ride to São João del-Rei, walk its centre and ride back. In the evening we propose a Minas cooking experience or dinner, to be arranged, with dishes such as pão de queijo and tutu.

   Included

   • Steam train Tiradentes to São João del-Rei and back, on a running day (to be confirmed)
   • São João del-Rei walk
   • Minas cooking evening

   Optional experiences

   • Free time in Tiradentes's boutiques

   Easier option: Take the train only one way and return by taxi

   Free time: Free time in Tiradentes before dinner

   Activity: We propose putting this day on a Friday or Saturday, subject to date-specific schedules.

   

7. Day 7: Inhotim and the way out

   Tiradentes to Inhotim in Brumadinho by road, then to Belo Horizonte

   • Breakfast
   Day 7 details

   We leave Tiradentes in the morning for Inhotim, the large art park and botanical garden near Brumadinho, a drive we estimate at about three hours (not sourced). Inhotim's official hours list Wednesday to Friday 09:30 to 16:30 and weekends and holidays 09:30 to 17:30, with Tuesday opening 09:30 to 16:30 in January and July. Monday opening is not listed. We check the actual visit date before quoting; the stop is offered only on an open day. A visit of a few hours sees only part of a park of many galleries and gardens. We then transfer to the Belo Horizonte airport (Confins or Pampulha, depending on the airline). Whether Inhotim fits at all depends on the actual flight window: it needs a flight late enough to leave the park and reach the airport in time, and an early or midday flight means going straight to the airport with no Inhotim visit. Agree the flight time with us before you book. The trip ends at the airport.

   Included

   • Road transfer Tiradentes to the Belo Horizonte airport
   • Inhotim visit only if the date and flight window allow (entry to be confirmed)

   Free time: Depends on flight time

   Activity: Inhotim is conditional on weekday opening and the flight time; it is not promised.

Wildlife and weather: Dry-season days are mild to warm, with cool nights in the hills and the chance of short rain at either end of the season. Fog can sit on the hills in the morning.

• Belo Horizonte1 night
• Ouro Preto3 nights
• Tiradentes2 nights