Ouro Preto
Brazil
The gold-rush capital of Minas Gerais, a baroque town built across hills too steep for it
Photo by Matheus Oliveira on Unsplash
Photos by Jade Marchand, Jade Marchand, Aidan Formigoni and Luiz Felipe S. C. on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Brazil
April to September (the dry winter; nights at altitude drop to single figures)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 370mm in Dec
Where it is
20.39°S, 43.50°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Stay at least two nights: the day-trippers from Belo Horizonte leave at five, and the churches need two days without hurrying
- See São Francisco de Assis first thing, before the coach groups, and look up
- Walk between the churches with a map of the gradients rather than the distances — a five-minute line on the map can be a fifteen-minute climb
- Go down the Mina da Passagem on the way to Mariana, and do the two towns together
- Come for Holy Week if you can book well ahead, when the streets are carpeted in coloured sawdust for the processions
- Buy soapstone at Largo de Coimbra, opposite São Francisco, and haggle a little
Ouro Preto travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Brazil
Good valueBrazil runs on cards and on Pix, the instant bank transfer, but Pix needs a Brazilian account, so as a visitor you are on cards and a little cash. Cards are taken in restaurants, pousadas and most churches’ ticket desks; keep small notes for the soapstone stalls at Largo de Coimbra and for the bus to Mariana. Change money in Belo Horizonte rather than here.
ATMs & cards
Use Banco do Brasil, Bradesco or Itaú machines inside their branches near Praça Tiradentes, in banking hours. Many Brazilian machines limit or refuse foreign cards in the evening, so withdraw in the day, decline the conversion, and never accept help at the machine.
Avoid these
- standalone machines in shops and pharmacies
- any withdrawal after dark
Use these instead
- Banco do Brasil
- Bradesco
- Itaú
Use machines inside branches, in daylight. Many Brazilian ATMs restrict foreign cards in the evening, and nobody legitimate will offer to help you at one.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Brazil
SafeA calm town by Brazilian standards, and the risks are mostly physical: the hills, the wet stone, and the steps down into churches in poor light. In the rainy summer the cobbles are properly slippery and the old mines and slopes around town have had landslides, so stay on the paths. Carnival fills the town with students and the usual pickpockets come with them. Late at night the lanes empty quickly; take a taxi back up the hill rather than walking it alone.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Praça Tiradentes
- Rua Direita
- Largo de Coimbra
- Antônio Dias — and the lanes round the church
Worth more attention
- Ladeira de Santa Efigênia — one of the steepest streets in town, and the stone is like glass when it is wet
- the old town in the rainy summer — polished cobbles, sudden downpours and hillsides that have slipped; stay on the paved routes
- Carnival, which fills the town with students and brings pickpockets with them
- Walking back up through empty lanes late at night, when a taxi from the square is a few reais
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Brazil visa rules
No visa neededup to 90 days
Other passports
e-Visa requiredup to 90 days$80
Brazil reintroduced visas for these three nationalities. It is an e-visa applied for online.
Visa required in advance
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Brazil
Good but costlyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Yellow fever — recommended for most of Brazil including the area around Rio
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
Getting treated
Public emergency care (SUS) is free to everyone including foreigners, but is crowded and slow. Private hospitals in Rio and São Paulo are excellent and expect insurance or payment up front.
Dengue, zika and chikungunya are all present and mosquito-borne — repellent matters. Yellow fever vaccination should be given at least 10 days before arrival.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodComida mineira, which is the reason Brazilians drive here as much as the churches: tutu de feijão, feijão tropeiro, frango com quiabo, torresmo, and pão de queijo with everything. Lunch by the kilo is the value meal. Finish with doce de leite and queijo Minas, which is the classic pairing, and a cachaça from the state that takes them seriously.
Travel tipsNightlife
A university town, so there is an evening: bars and live music for students, busiest on Thursdays and Fridays in term and at Carnival.
- Rua Direita — the bars and restaurants running down from Praça Tiradentes
- Praça Tiradentes — where the evening starts
- Rua São José — the restaurants and bars below the square
Closing: Most bars by about one; later on a term-time Friday and much later at Carnival.
Carnival here is the students’ repúblicas throwing open their houses, and the town is booked out months ahead.
Getting around
Limited- UberWorks here
- 99Works here
- inDriveWorks here
- BoltNot here
99 the Brazilian one, often cheaper
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than a taxi and, in the big cities, the default for everybody.
Some favela and periphery addresses will not be accepted by drivers at night; that is a driver safety decision, not a fare one.
Time zone and your working day
America/Sao Paulo — 1 hour ahead of you
7 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–16:00 your time, 10:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 08:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 08:00–16:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Brazil, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Portuguese (Brazilian)
- HelloOi / Oláoy / o-LA
- PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
- Thank youObrigado / Obrigadao-bree-GA-doo / -da
- Yes / NoSim / Nãoseeng / nowng
4 more phrases
- Excuse meCom licençakong lee-SEN-sa
- How much is it?Quanto custa?KWAN-too KOOS-ta
- The bill, pleaseA conta, por favora KON-ta
- Cheers!Saúde!sa-OO-djee
Softer and more open than European Portuguese, and the de sounds like "dje".
Travel tipsReligion
Catholic and Evangelical
The largest Catholic population in the world, with a fast-growing Evangelical share and Afro-Brazilian traditions such as Candomblé and Umbanda practised alongside.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Greet with a kiss on each cheek between women, or a woman and a man; a handshake between men
- Expect physical closeness in conversation — standing back reads as cold
- Arrive late to social invitations; on time is genuinely early
- Learn a few words of Portuguese, and never open in Spanish
Don't
- Do not make the OK sign with finger and thumb — it is obscene here
- Do not walk with a phone visible in the street
- Do not wear obvious jewellery or watches on the beach or in the city
- Do not call Brazilians Hispanic or assume they speak Spanish
Where to stay in Ouro Preto
No Holistay rentals in Ouro Preto yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Ouro Preto on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Belo Horizonte Confins CNF
2h 15mfrom the airport· 97 km as the crow flies
About 2h 15m by road; by public transport it is the airport bus into Belo Horizonte, then the bus to Ouro Preto from the rodoviária, which is nearer four hours.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
