Tiradentes
Brazil
A small, flat-ish colonial town under a ridge, kept almost entirely for eating well
Photo by Diego Carneiro on Unsplash
Photos by Thiago Vale and Roberto Huczek on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Brazil
April to September (the dry winter, when the cobbles are dry and the nights are cool)
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 290mm in Jan
Where it is
21.11°S, 44.18°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Come midweek if you can: at weekends the town fills from Belo Horizonte and Rio and prices rise to match
- Take the steam train one way to São João del-Rei and spend the afternoon there before coming back
- Book one long dinner at a proper restaurant — it is the reason most people stay overnight
- Walk up to the Matriz de Santo Antônio in the late afternoon, for the church and the view of the ridge
- Drive to Bichinho for the furniture and craft workshops
- Walk on the Serra de São José in the cool of the morning
Tiradentes travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Brazil
Mid-rangeCards are taken almost everywhere — the restaurants and pousadas here are used to visitors from São Paulo and Rio. Pix needs a Brazilian account, so as a visitor you are on cards and a little cash for the craft stalls in Bichinho and the horse-drawn carriages.
ATMs & cards
A town this size has only a handful of machines; São João del-Rei, fifteen minutes away, has the full set of banks. Bring enough from Belo Horizonte or the airport, withdraw in daylight, and decline the conversion.
Avoid these
- standalone machines in shops
- any withdrawal after dark
Use these instead
- Banco do Brasil
- Bradesco
- Itaú
São João del-Rei, fifteen minutes away, has the branches. Withdraw there or before you arrive, in daylight.
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
SafeVery calm, and the risks are the small physical ones: uneven stone streets, poorly lit lanes at night, and the slippery paving when it rains. On the Serra de São José, start early, take water, and do not go up in a storm. The weekend crowds bring no particular crime with them.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (5 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the stone streets after rain — the old paving is uneven and slick, and many lanes are barely lit at night
- Serra de São José — exposed and hot by midday, and no place to be in a storm
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 goodThis is the point of Tiradentes: for a town of a few thousand it has an unusual number of serious restaurants, alongside the wood-stove comida mineira — feijão tropeiro, frango com quiabo, leitão — that the region does at its best. Book dinner at weekends. The food festival late in the dry winter fills every room in town.
Travel tipsGetting 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 Tiradentes
No Holistay rentals in Tiradentes 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 Tiradentes 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
3h 30mfrom the airport· 165 km as the crow flies
About 3h 30m by road; there is no direct bus, so it is a bus from Belo Horizonte to São João del-Rei and then the local one, five hours or more.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
