The Sustainable Tours of Belo Horizonte

Local City Tours is where we feature our Travel Massive chapter locations in a new light. It is a weekly news feature where our chapter leaders and Travel Massive insiders share local tips about their #TravelMassive city. If you’re thinking of taking a trip to Belo Horizonte, then here’s what chapter leader Severin Malte has to recommend.

First, a little about Severin himself. Severin was born in Cologne, Germany. In the last 8 years he has worked in several states and regions of Brazil. At the moment he is running his own incoming company in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. We are focused on events, cultural tourism and ecotourism.

Local Tour 1: Cultural Institute Inhotim

This tour is run by KOPA Tourismo. INHOTIM has a little bit of Jurassic Park, Disneyland, the Biennal of Venice and Alice in Wonderland. It is rated on Trip Advisor within the 10 best museums worldwide. The botanical garden cultivates 4,300 different species of plants and holds a catalogue of over 1,500 sorts of palm trees. There are over 20 galleries with conductors and specialized guides that you can hire. You can also hire an internal transportation service. The institute is a non-profit organization, and employs mostly young people of the poor ambit of the city Brumadinho. It preserves large areas of Atlantic rainforest in an area that is mostly known for forest clearing of the big mining companies. A lot of wild animals that had disappeared have already come back to the region.

Local Tour 2: Carranca, Ouro Preto and Tiradentes

In Carrancas and in the historical cities KOPA Tourismo works with local guides from within the community. This is to help provide a better income for the natives of the region. Carrancas is a natural paradise, so all the tours have limited numbers of visitors. Similarly, we can explore Ouro Preto and Tiradentes which offer beautiful views of local villages and help support the local communities.

Local Tour 3: Belo Horizonte City Tour

KOPA Tourismo various tours of the Belo Horizonte city including by bike and walking. Belo Horizonte is known for the safety, the architecture and the huge amount of bars and restaurants. In the last years the city has won the UNESCO prize for the Latin American City with the best living quality. Due to our large avenues with huge tropical trees and the mountains right next to city, we have a perfect climate all year long. We offer the option to donate the costs of the CO2-emissions of your tour to a local NGO that works with reforestation.

The Local City Tours features are part of a monthly series that profiles unique and exciting cities that are a part of the Travel Massive community. If you would like to see your sustainable city tours featured, visit Travel Massive.