Nicknamed Beagá by its residents (spelled and pronounced as letters B and H in Portuguese), Belo Horizonte was modern from the moment it was conceived back at the end of the 19th century. It was, in fact, the first ever planned city in the country.

It was in the city of Belo Horizonte that Famous architect Oscar Niemeyer implemented one of his first major projects, Pampulha Modern Ensemble, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Ensemble includes Pampulha Church (formerly the Saint Francis of Assisi Church), the Yacht Tennis Club (formerly the Golf Yacht Club), the Center of Reference in Urbanism (formerly a restaurant and dance hall), and the Pampulha Art Museum (formerly a casino). Belo Horizonte is also home to one of his last projects, Presidente Tancredo Neves Administrative City, built in 2010.

The local cuisine in Minas Gerais is an attraction in itself. Everyone must try tropeiro beans (prepared with bacon, sausage, collard greens, eggs and cassava flour), torresmo (super crunchy fried pork rinds), and cachaça (a hugely popular distilled spirit made from sugar cane juice). You can find all of that and more exquisite food at the city’s Central Market.

Whatever you plan to do, don’t miss out on the traditional Minas cheese, white cheese that has been handmade in local farms since the 18th century. It is so popular all over the country that it has recently been added to the Brazilian Intangible Cultural Heritage List by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN).

A great local tour is the Liberty Square Cultural Circuit (Praça da Liberdade), on which you can visit the Minas Gerais Memorial, Liberty Palace (Palácio da Liberdade), the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center, and the Museum of Mines and Metal.

Belo Horizonte is also an excellent starting point for those who want to visit the historic cities in Minas Gerais, such as Ouro Preto, Diamantina, Mariana, Tiradentes, and São João Del Rei. Not so far away, visitors will also find Brumadinho, home to Inhotim Institute, a huge open-air museum that contains one of most expressive contemporary art collections in the world.