Ouro Preto is famous for its architecture and history. This small town in the Brazilian mountains is very well preserved and has an interesting history. While not very famous amongst foreigners, many Brazilians I met during my travels recommended it to me. So of course I had to visit the place myself. While there are many interesting places in Ouro Preto, the old town is only small. You can fit all the highlights – and a little more – in as little as 2 days with this perfect 2-day Ouro Preto itinerary.
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Table of Contents - What to do in Ouro Preto – The perfect 2-day itinerary
What is Ouro Preto
Ouro Preto is a small town with great historical significance located in the state of Minas Gerais. It’s about 8 hours from Rio de Janeiro by bus or 2-2.5 hours from Belo Horizonte, the capital of the Minas Gerais state.
Ouro Preto was founded at the end of the 17th century, during the Brazilian gold rush. While there were more mining towns in the area, Ouro Preto was the main town. It was even the most populous city in Latin America and the capital of Minas Gerais for many years. So it probably comes as no surprise that the old town of Ouro Preto has a lot of history related to gold mining, religion, architecture, and slavery worth exploring.
Where to stay in Ouro Preto
All the attractions of Ouro Preto are in the old town, so that is the best place to stay. You’ll notice there are many “Republicas” offering rooms for rent, which are student houses. There is a big university in the modern town of Ouro Preto and many students live in shared houses and want to make some extra money renting out one or more rooms.
This is generally the cheapest accommodation but of course not a suitable option for everyone. There are many other options like pousadas, hostels, and hotels for those looking for a more traditional type of accommodation.
Getting around Ouro Preto
The old town is small and you can walk between all the sights. Do keep in mind that getting from place to place might take longer than expected since everything is up and down. Ouro Preto was built in the mountains where the gold was found and the term “flat” is unknown to this town.
For bigger distances, or to get to your accommodation from the bus terminal, you can take a bus. They don’t appear on Google Maps, but Moovit has the correct busses.
The perfect 2-day itinerary for Ouro Preto
These two days of the itinerary are quite full, so I recommend arriving a day earlier. Then you will be sure you have enough time to fully enjoy the places on this itinerary without having to rush through it.
If you are arriving by night bus, you will have enough time, but it is quite an exhausting itinerary in that case. So do keep that in mind if you’re planning to do so.
Day 0 - Arriving
Try to arrive in the afternoon or evening before starting the itinerary, so you can have an early start tomorrow after a good rest. It’ll be a long day. But an awesome one.
Most day trippers will be gone late afternoon as well, so you can just drop your stuff in the accommodation and go for a stroll in the late afternoon. If you arrive earlier and want to do something else, you can visit one of the places mentioned in the “Other things to do in Ouro Preto” section at the bottom of this article.
Day 1 - Exploring the old town
Start your day with a self-guided city walk with this audioguide. Unfortunately, there are no free walking tours in Ouro Preto (at the time of writing at least), but this is a pretty good alternative. I recommend starting your tour early, like 7-8 am. At this time the town is still nice and quiet and better for pictures. There is a very nice bakery where you can stop for coffee and pão de queijo for breakfast close to the Nossa Señora de Rosario church, which is one of the stops during the audio guide.
The tour ends close to the street where most of the mines are located, so it is the perfect time to visit a mine. There are a few you can choose from. I opted for the Chico Rei Mine since the story in the audio tour intrigued me. The entrance fee ( 70 Rs) was a little more expensive than the Palacio Velho mine for example (60 Rs), but the guide spoke Spanish and I could go as soon as he finished the previous tour. Since I was alone, I could do the tour in Spanish, which was very helpful. While I have a pretty good understanding of Portuguese, I think I wouldn’t have understood everything.
You’re probably quite tired after walking around town all morning, so you can head back to the hotel for a rest before continuing. If you don’t want to go to your accommodation, go straight to the Horto dos Contos. This is a great place to rest as well. Horto dos Contos used to be a botanical garden during the colonization. It still hosts a lot of different plants and trees, a small channel, and even a waterfall. The garden doesn’t only attract people, but also animals – especially birds and butterflies – but also mico monkeys. I didn’t see any monkeys during my visit, but I did hear them!
In the afternoon you could visit the Nossa Señora de Rosario Church, which opens at 13.30. Of the churches mentioned in the audio guide, this is the only one that can be visited for free. Churches are generally open until about 17.00, so you can visit some others as well if you’re interested.
While sunsets aren’t the best in this town, if you do want to see one, I recommend either the viewpoint at the observatory or the Igreja de São Francisco de Paula. The observatory viewpoint is a nice place to enjoy the views over this beautiful town regardless, also during the day.
Day 2: Andorinhas park
Andorinhas Park is a natural area not far from town. We decided to walk there but if I were to do it again, I would take the bus to São Sebastião. It’s a steep climb up and the cobblestones can get quite annoying to walk on as well. Bring a packed lunch or plenty of snacks so you can enjoy as much time as possible here. There are public toilets and a picnic spot close to the entrance of the park which you will pass on your way there from São Sebastião.
There are several water holes and three waterfalls you can visit in this area. The first waterfall is Cachoeira Andorinhas, which is hidden in a cave. To get here, follow the yellow arrows to the viewpoint over the immense green valley and then to the waterfall. When you think you’ve arrived, but don’t see a waterfall, look for the yellow arrow pointing to the cave and you’ll find it.
The next one is Cachoeira Pelados. There are two waterfalls here, there is a small one next to it. The area is really small, but it’s the best waterfall to go for a swim.
The last waterfall is Cachoeira Véu-da-Noiva. You can’t see the waterfall from the end of the trail, since it ends at the top of it. But the water holes are a great place to relax for a while until it’s time for you to head back to town.
Other things to do in Ouro Preto
If you want to spend some more time in this pretty little town in the Brazilian mountains, there are enough other things to do here to fill another day or two. You can spend some more time in town visiting other churches and museums.
If you prefer exploring nature, you can visit Cachoeira da Geladeira. This waterfall is quite close to town and to a bus stop. Another popular place to visit close to Ouro Preto is Poço Folinhos. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit this place anymore, since we had to take the bus to Cuiabá and the Pantanal a day earlier than planned.
This was What to do in Ouro Preto – The perfect 2-day itinerary
If you’re looking for more places popular with locals, but off the beaten track for foreigners, check out Ilha do Mel. This very pretty and tranquil island is not far from more popular places like Floripa, Ubatuba, and Ilha Grande.
