Historical Brazil

Board an overnight flight from the UK to São Paulo.

Note: There are no direct flights from the UK to Salvador and one of the quickest and most direct routes is via São Paulo. British Airways currently have a daily overnight service between London Heathrow and São Paulo. There is also the option of flying with TAP (Air Portugal) from the UK to Lisbon and then from Lisbon to Salvador. There are also connecting flights with Iberia & LATAM via Madrid, KLM via Amsterdam and Air France via Paris to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where you can board a connecting flight to Salvador.

On arrival in São Paulo you will need to pick-up your luggage and check-in for your morning flight to Salvador. 

In Salvador you will be met and taken to your hotel which is located at the heart of the city’s UNESCO-listed historical centre, surrounded by some of the finest colonial architecture in the Americas.

You’ll spend the next two days taking in the cultural highlights of this rich and vibrant city, a fascinating blend of colonial and African influences. A tour will show you the famous Bonfim church and the Monserrat district with its thriving market, the perfect opportunity to pick up a souvenir or two. 

Stay: Three nights at Villa Bahia – Bed & breakfast

From Salvador you will fly to Belo Horizonte, Brazil’s sixth-largest city and the capital of Minais Gerais state.

Surrounded by mountains, the city’s known for the vast Mineirão Stadium. Built in 1965, the stadium also houses the Brazilian Football Museum. Nearby are Lake Pampulha and the Pampulha Architectural Complex, home to the wavy-topped Church of St. Francis of Assisi, designed by Brazil’s modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer.

You will be taken on a guided tour of the city, visiting the neighbourhood of Mangabeiras, which has wonderful panoramic views of the city. Here you’ll understand how the city got its name, as Belo Horizonte means ‘Beautiful Horizon’ in Portuguese.

You will pass by the Liberdade Square and finish your tour in the Pampulha Lake district, where the first works of art by architect Oscar Niemeyer can be found and landscape projects by Burle Marx and paintings by Portinari. This district is looked upon as an early example of contemporary architecture in Brazil, which reached its pinnacle in Brasilia. 

Stay: Two nights at the Bourbon Belo Horizonte – Bed & breakfast

From Belo Horizonte you will be driven two hours south to the colonial gem of Ouro Preto, stopping along the way at the Inhotim museum.

Declared a World Heritage Site in 1980, Ouro Preto is a vision of cobbled streets, beautiful colonial mansions and baroque churches. Over the next two days you’ll visit the São Francisco de Assis, Matriz do Pilar and Matriz de Antonio Dias churches, and then in the afternoon you’ll drive 30 minutes to Mariana – the first official city of Minas Gerais – to see its Passagem gold mine. 

Staying in an elegant colonial-style hotel in the historic centre of Ouro Preto, you have a privileged location next to the Rosario Church and other top attractions. 

Stay: Two nights at the Solar do Rosário – Bed & breakfast

From Ouro Preto it is a three-hour drive to Tiradentes. The town itself is incredibly picturesque, with quaint churches, cobbled lanes and mountains rising in the distance. You’ll have a walking tour through the town, followed by a visit to the historic district of São João Del Reys.

Then, you can soak up the natural beauty of the region by wandering along long hiking trails, going on horse-riding excursions and trips to artisans’ villages.

Stay: Two nights at the Solar da Ponte – Bed & breakfast

From Tiradentes you will be driven four hours back to Belo Horizonte and board a flight to São Paulo, where you will be met and transferred to the coast.

Your final stop on this colonial route through Brazil, is the picturesque fishing town of Paraty. With car-free streets, an exquisite historic centre, graceful old buildings and tree-line avenues, it’s a place where time seems to stand still.

Your hotel occupies a colonial mansion in the downtown area and takes comfort to the next level with reading nooks – complete with armchairs and lamps – fitted in every room. A blissful end to a fabulous holiday. 

Stay: Three nights at Casa Turquesa – Bed & breakfast

On your final day in Brazil you will return to São Paulo international airport and board your overnight flight back to the UK, arriving the following afternoon.