Under $100: Belo Horizonte

You’ve got a big day ahead of you and they do say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so let’s start there. While Brazil may not have the best coffee in the world, it certainly claims to have fantastic coffee and it does. Casa Bonomi knows what do with those beans with a great staff of baristas and bakers to provide you with a number of offerings to accompany your coffee. The smoked salmon is my suggestion to start your day.

Following breakfast, head to Praça da Liberdade for some people watching in a delightful park before heading out to the numerous museums located within a short walk from the park itself. The Memorial Minas Gerais Vale is certainly worth the visit; the 31 rooms spread out between three floors offer a wonderful artsy experience of what the region has to offer with a number of multimedia exhibits and even a cachaça bar.

Lunch is a no brainer. You need to head to the Central Market, where you’ll get the opportunity to visit more than 400 vendors, cafes and butecos. A number of the vendors are happy to present you with samples, but for truly traditional Brazilian food, just mill about with the other thousands of patrons there for lunch from dozens of tiny places. Expect to eat standing and enjoy it; follow your eyes and nose and you’ll be just fine.

Following lunch, just stroll around the center of town and choose from the various museums in the neighborhood as well as art galleries, as Belo Horizonte is a delightful place to explore without a fixed destination and it’s full of surprises.

I’ve kept the day on the cheap as dinner is going to sap your $100 budget pretty quickly as Glouton (yes, glutton) is a must visit for refined Brazilian food in a beautiful setting. This is tradition meets gastronomy; just save a few bucks for microbeers at Der Famous, which has a great selection of music and lively clientele.