Araxá

Araxá (pronounce: arachá ) means ‘plateau’ in the Amerindian language Tupi-Guarani. The city of Araxá is named after the Araxás, an Amerindian tribe that lived on the plateau. However, the major tourist attractions are located in a valley called Barreiro which means ‘clay pit’. Barreiro has many mineral springs and these springs made Araxá a famous spa. This area was an active volcano more than 80 million years ago. Although this volcano has not been active for millions of years, the springs of this area are still rich in volcanic minerals.

Araxá is located in the Triângulo Mineiro. This region is an eastern bulge of Minas Gerais between the states of São Paulo and Goiás.

Attractions
Barreiro
Barreiro is a lush park around a beautiful lake. It is popular to rent a bicycle and cycle around the lake. Around the Barreiro are mountains with charming green slopes. The most important attractions are the Grande Hotel and the thermal complex.

The Grande Hotel was opened in 1944. It is an impressive building because of its magnitude and style. Palace is the right word to describe this building: it covers more than 3 ha (8 acres) and it is finely decorated with Carrara marble, fresco’s en beautiful furniture.

The thermal complex is linked to the Grande Hotel. There are several baths including some with water that is slightly radioactive by nature.

Hotel Radio is the first hotel that was constructed on this spot. It has hosted many important guests including the aviation pioneer Santos-Dumont. At nowadays, the Hotel Radio is a ruin that is integrated in the romantic design of the park around the Grande Hotel.

Dona Beija Museum
A nineteenth century building in the city centre houses the Museo Dona Beija. This museum gives an interesting impression of the art and the daily life of the Brazil hinterland in the nineteenth century.

Venue : Praça Coronel Adolfo 98, Araxá MG
Time : Wednesday to Monday, 11-17h

Horizonte Perdido
Horizonte Perdido (‘lost horizon’) is the name of a mountain were paragliding and hang gliding are practiced. It is located at a distance of 25 km (15 miles) of Araxá.

Route : take the MG 248 over Tapira.

Getting there?
Fly
Araxá has an airport at about 4 km of the city centre. It is only used for domestic flights, for example from São Paulo or Belo Horizonte.

Bus
Many cities in the Southeast of Brazil have direct bus connections to Araxá (e.g. Rio, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte). If there are no direct connections, you could travel over Uberaba or Uberlândia.

Car
From Belo Horizonte: 380 km via the BR 262 and the BR-381 motorways

From São Paulo: 520 km via the SP-348 motorway

From Rio: 820 km via the BR-116 motorway

From Brasília: 610 km via the DF-003 motorway