Varginha: Nature, Parks and ET Culture

Varginha combines leafy parks with a distinctive museum and ET culture. If you want to include nature and city exploring in your travel plans, you’ll find a variety of options: paths and lakeshores in the parks, historical collections at the Museu Municipal, and an immersive projection at the planetarium. This mix makes Varginha a destination where you can easily vary your interests from day to day.

Parks for lakeside strolls, woodland walks and exercise

Parque Centenário covers 175,600 m². Its landscape includes a small natural forest and a central lake fed by three springs. Paved paths invite you to walk or cycle; there is also a children’s playground and an outdoor gym. This means you can find several ways to exercise and spend time in one park, without having to commit to just one activity.

Parque Novo Horizonte offers a different natural setting. Its native forest is home to numerous birds and small wild animals. A walking path runs around the park’s lake. If you’d like to include a peaceful walk in your Varginha stay, you can make this path a nature experience of its own, focusing on the woodland and lakeside scenery.

It’s important to note the visitor status of Parque Natural Municipal São Francisco de Assis: the park is closed to visitors. Its primary purpose is to preserve ecologically significant natural ecosystems. Its designated aims also include environmental education, nature-based recreation and ecotourism. These aims describe the park’s purpose; it is not currently open for visits.

ET experiences and Varginha’s history

Memorial do ET opened on November 9, 2022, and is scheduled to welcome visitors daily from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The memorial is also home to Planetário do Memorial do ET, where an immersive 360-degree projection offers insights into the universe, astronomy and space exploration. It’s a distinct cultural experience for anyone interested in space. To explore the ET theme in the context of Varginha, you can also consider its local cultural significance: “O Caso do E.T. e a Identidade Varginhense” was registered as Varginha’s intangible cultural heritage on June 5, 2023.

The cityscape has unusual stories to tell, too. Nave do ET is a water tank suspended in the air, built by COPASA in 2003 in Praça Marechal Floriano. Theatro Municipal Capitólio opened in 1927; its eclectic decorative elements are attributed to Alexandre Valatti. The new Estação Ferroviária building was inaugurated in June 1934. These different dates and buildings offer several ways to explore the city’s history, without having to limit your stay to a single theme.

Museu Municipal de Varginha was established as Casa de Cultura on April 26, 2000, to bring together documents and the history of Princesa do Sul. Today, its collection includes more than 7,000 historical objects donated spontaneously. The museum also offers workshops, vocational training courses, talks on heritage education, and themed exhibitions. If you’re particularly interested in local history, you can make a museum visit a focus of its own alongside the parks or the ET theme.

Getting there and other destinations

For air travel, Aeroporto de Varginha — Major Brigadeiro Trompowsky — is a useful point of reference: it is 5 kilometers from the city center. Commercial, domestic and private flights depart from there. When choosing a vacation rental, consider whether your trip will focus mainly on the city’s cultural offerings, visits to the parks, or a combination of these interests.

If you’d like to continue your search beyond Varginha, explore our destination pages for São Domingos do Prata, Mato Verde, Brumadinho, Capitólio, Fronteira, Lassance, Joanésia and Piranguçu.

For the broader travel overview: Minas Gerais.