Pirenópolis, Chapada dos Veadeiros & Salto do Itiquira Excursions from Brasília

Because Brasília sits surrounded by the ancient mountains and plateaus of Goiás state, renting a car at Brasília Airport (BSB) or booking a guided excursion lets you pair twentieth-century modernist architecture with eighteenth-century gold-rush cobblestone towns and some of South America's most spectacular quartz-crystal waterfalls.

1. Pirenópolis: 1727 Colonial Gold Town & 80 Waterfalls (150 km West)

Just 150 kilometres west of Brasília (a scenic 2-hour drive via highway BR-060 and BR-414), Pirenópolis was founded on 7 October 1727 by Portuguese gold prospectors at the foot of the Serra dos Pireneus. Designated a National Historic Ensemble by IPHAN in 1990, the town is a charming contrast to Brasília's wide concrete avenues:

• Historic Centre: Stroll streets paved with glittering local silver-and-pink quartzite (pedra de Pirenópolis) past the 1728 Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora do Rosário, the 1899 Teatro de Pirenópolis, and the wooden bridge over the Rio das Almas lined with riverside restaurants and silver jewellery workshops.
• Waterfalls & Pico dos Pireneus: Within 15 to 30 minutes of the town square, well-maintained nature reserves offer boardwalk access to crystal-clear waterfalls such as Cachoeira do Abade (with its 22-metre cascade and suspended forest bridges), Cachoeira do Rosário, and the eight monastery pools of Cachoeiras dos Dragões, topped by sunset views from the 1,385-metre rocky summit of Pico dos Pireneus.

2. Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (230 km North)

Located 230 kilometres north of Brasília (3 hours by road via BR-020 and GO-118 to the gateway towns of Alto Paraíso de Goiás and Vila de São Jorge), the 240,611-hectare Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Veadeiros was inscribed as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 2001. Perched on a 1.8-billion-year-old quartz-crystal plateau, it is best visited on a 2- to 4-day trip during the May to September dry season:

• National Park Trails: Hike the 11-kilometre trail from São Jorge to the monumental 120-metre twin cascades of Saltos do Rio Preto and the swimming canyon of Carrossel and Corredeiras, or explore the deep quartz gorges of Cânion II and Cariocas.
• Vale da Lua, Couros & Santa Bárbara: Outside the park gates, walk across the sculpted grey rock cauldrons of Vale da Lua, marvel at the tiered cascades of Cataratas dos Couros, and visit the electric-turquoise limestone pool of Cachoeira Santa Bárbara in the historic Kalunga quilombola community of Cavalcante; check the official ICMBio Chapada dos Veadeiros portal for trail opening times.

3. Salto do Itiquira (115 km Northeast: Easiest Half-Day Trip)

If you only have half a day, drive 90 minutes northeast via BR-020 past Formosa to the municipal park of Salto do Itiquira, where a paved, accessible forest path leads straight to the base of a 168-metre free-falling waterfall, one of the highest accessible single-drop cascades in Brazil.