Travel to Brazil

Belo Horizonte

Belo Horizonte, a Portuguese name meaning "beautiful horizon", is the third largest metropolitan area in Brazil. You'll find this city at about 2/3 of the way from Brasilia to Rio. It is the capital of Minas Gerais state. The name means Beautiful Horizon. The city of Belo Horizonte was completely built on a plan corresponding to that of Washington D.C., with a very long highway circling the whole city. It is considered to be one of the cities with the best quality of life in Latin America. Belo Horizonte was founded in 1897 and is Brazil’s third largest city with a population of some 2.5 million inhabitants and over 5.1 million inhabitants in metropolitan area. The city is also a leading cultural center, with more than three universities, a historical museum, numerous libraries, and sports stadiums. Belo is built on several hills and completely surrounded by mountains. The constant rising and falling of the streets sometimes makes navigation a bit tricky, but the wide avenues lined with trees are always easy guidelines. Unfortunately, the growth of the population has been bigger than anticipated 100 years ago. So there's a lot of poorly built architecture and slums, but also still some excellent colonial buildings.

Contemporary art exhibitions

This beautiful building in concrete and glass that houses the Museu de Arte Moderna (Modern Arts Museum), is the main centre for contemporary art in Rio. The permanent collection now has more than 4,000 pieces from Brazilian artists, including the Gilberto Chateaubriant collection, the most important contemporary Brazilian art collection in the country. There are various temporary exhibits of well-known artists from other countries as well, plus an art cinema and a restaurant.

Vista Chinesa

One of the best panoramic views of Rio is at the topmost of one of the roads that connect Jardim Botânico to the Parque Nacional & Floresta da Tijuca, known as the Vista Chinesa. From this Chinese-style folly you can enjoy the Corcovado, Sugar Loaf, Ipanema, Leblon and the Guanabara Bay, all the way to Niterói. The road is an attraction itself, winding through centenary trees and offering some amazing views on the way.