Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
FUTEBOL IN BELO HORIZONTE
Belo Horizonte's main football stadium, with a capacity of 64,000, and one of the venues for the
World Cup 2014, is the
Mineirão
(
T
31 3499 1100,
W
minasarena.com.br), the “Giant of
Pampulha”, located in Av Antônio Abrahão Caram, Pampulha (the #2004 bus passes by the
stadium). One of the better teams in Série A,
Atlético Mineiro
(known as “Gallo”, after their
mascot, a rooster), play here (they won South America's Copa Liberdores in 2012/13), and
they're worth catching if you're in Belo Horizonte during a home game. Local derbies, especially
against
Cruzeiro
(the “Foxes”), also a top Série A team (they were champions in 2013), are torrid
and very entertaining affairs (if you attend, prepare to learn a lot of Brazilian swear words).
Tickets are around R$15 for the
arquibancada
(stands), rising to R$60 for better seats.
You can also pay homage at the Mineirão's
Museu Brasileiro do Futebol
, Av Antônio
Abrahão Caram 1001 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 9am-1pm; free).
2
abolished gambling four years later and not until 1957 was the building inaugurated as
an art museum. Aficionados of contemporary and Modernist Brazilian art will enjoy
the changing exhibitions inside, the galleries and main auditorium linked by ramps,
though it's really the building that makes a visit worthwhile (you can sip coffee at the
café and enjoy the lake views at the back).
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
BELO HORIZONTE AND AROUND
Ferro Vitória a Minas, which is the connection with Vitória
(daily 7.30am; 13hr; R$58;
T
0800 285 7000), returning at
7am. The train was given a trendy makeover in 2015 (it's
operated by Vale, the second-largest mining company in
the world). You can buy tickets at the station or online
(
W
tremdepassageiros.vale.com; the Vitória station is
“Cariacica”).
BY PLANE
Belo Horizonte has two airports: Aeroporto Internacional
Tancredo Neves (
T
31 3689 2700), usually referred to as
Confins, the name of the nearby town; and Pampulha
(
T
31 3490 2001), 9km from the centre, only handling
domestic flights. Pampulha is connected to Confins and
the centre (30min) by regular buses (4am-11.45pm;
R$8.90), while Confins is 38km north of Belo Horizonte
and, due to the weight of tra
c, the journey into town can
take over an hour.
To the city centre from Confins
City buses run at
15-30min intervals (24hr) to the main rodoviária in the
centre (R$8.90 express or R$7.25 regular local service;
W
conexaoaeroporto.com.br) while posher excecutivo
buses (every 15-30min, 24hr; R$19.70) drop you in the city
centre at Av Alvares Cabral 387, near the corner of Rua da
Bahia. Taxis to the city centre from Confins cost around
R$100-120 on the meter, depending on tra
c; the usual
alternative of fixed-rate taxis is also available from desks in
the terminals.
BY BUS
The huge rodoviária (
T
31 3271 3000) is on Praça Rio
Branco, an easy walk from the commercial centre of the
city, and offers direct bus services throughout Minas Gerais
and to most significant destinations in the country. Note
that a new bus terminal is slated to open sometime in 2014
in the far less convenient northern suburb of San Gabriel
(though it will be connected to the metro system) - taxis
from here into the centre will be around R$30-40.
Destinations
Brasília (4 daily; 12-13hr); Campo Grande (7
daily; 22-24hr); Congonhas (hourly; 2hr); Cuiabá (2 daily;
25-29hr); Diamantina (6 daily; 6hr); Goiânia (5 daily;
13-14hr); Mariana (hourly 5.30am-midnight; 2hr); Ouro
Preto (hourly 6am-11pm; 2hr); Rio (20 daily; 6hr 30min);
Salvador (2 daily; 23-25hr); São João del Rei (7-8 daily;
3hr 30min); São Lourenço (2 daily; 6hr); São Paulo (hourly;
8hr); Vitória (16 daily; 8-9hr).
BY TRAIN
The train station (
T
31 3279 4366) is on Praça da Estação.
Apart from the local
metrô
commuter line, there's now only
one passenger service out of Belo Horizonte, the Estrada de
GETTING AROUND
BY BUS
The city's bus system (
W
bhtrans.pbh.gov.br) works along
the same lines as elsewhere in Brazil (pay as you enter), but
it is colour-coded: blue buses run up and down the main
avenidas
within the city centre (R$2.65); yellow buses have
circular routes (R$1.90); green buses are “express”, stopping
only at selected points (R$2.65-2.80); and red buses are
radial, connecting outlying suburbs and
favelas
with the
centre (R$2.80-4.50). Virtually all routes include a stretch
along Av Afonso Pena, which is usually the most convenient
place to catch a bus if you are staying in the centre.
Bus routes
Yellow SCO2: from the rodoviária to Praça
