Ouro Preto is a small town with very little to do, even though its pretty, if you happen to be in BH its nice for a 1-2 day trip but I wouldn't fly out to see it. I haven't been to BH but most ppl say its pretty boring just to visit though people who spent many months there like it, as there is quite a hot digital marketing / internet entrepenuer community there and low cost of living + good flight connections.
If "art, history, museums, food, beverage (coffee, cocktails, wine, beer, etc.), beaches, walking tours..." is your cup of tea I think you're going to the wrong part of the country, I suggest you check out the Costa do Cacao (cacao coast) in Bahia if you wanna see something new, start in Salvador spend 2-3 days there tons of museums, history, architecture and in my opinion Bahia has way better food than Sao Paolo/ Rio / South, though the Amazon (amazonas/para) region def takes the gold medal in best food in the country. Plus coffee and choclate artisan culture there. If you have time you can even swing to Lencois and Vale do Capao to check out some of the Brazilian highlands and get away from the head for 1-2 days.
You could then work your way down to some of the most beautiful beaches of Brazil such as Morro de Sao Paolo, Itacare (and nearby Illehus), and finish your trip in Porto Seguro area which also has a lot of history (it was where the Portuguese first landed in 1500). Nearby Porto Seguro is Arrial de Ajuda and the more hip Trancoso and more hippy Caraiva all easily doable by daytrip. I suggest stay in Arrial de Ajuda as Porto Seguro itself can be a bit party atmosphere (a bit like Brazilian Cancun lets say). From Porto Seguro you have direct flights to Rio or SP to wrap things up. You could pickup an automatic SUV car in Salvador airport return it in Porto Seguro airport for maybe $200US for a week
Porto Alegre is in my opinion far closer to Argentina/Uruguay in culture then the rest of Brazil but if thats what your looking for go for it, its not particularly known for being a tourist destination with most people preferring Uruguay or Argentina to get a taste of gaucho culture. Of course if your in that are and like beaches, the beaches just north and south of Florianopolis are gorgeous too (although Floripa's beaches itself in the island proper are a bit underwhelming for all the hype)
Last edited by PointsPanda; Sep 16, 2020 at 12:10 pm