As others have said already said: Ouro Preto inhabitants must be pretty fit to walk around the inner town. Sure the town has its flatter part but you won't get anywhere on foot unless you are prepared to hike up and down. The cobble roads aren't even that great for long walks. The other downside for me was that I actually drove here. A bus would be better because you can just get off from Belo Horizonte and then do your sightseeing, return when ready. It took me a good 20 minutes to find a parking space that didn't seem illegal. While some just parked at the bus stop and resident plaques aren't always kept in line I was sure the spot (down the hill) was actually legal. So with that out of way I first had to hike up to start looking around. The central square (pictured) is clearly a good spot to start. Unfortunately there was some renovation going on at the churches and they looked covered up. No big deal because there is plenty of stuff to see and I feel the scenery around town is another highlight.

The other downside I had, as you can see from the picture, is that the weather wasn't playing nice. It was grey and dark so the scenery wasn't as wonderful as I was hoping for. It's still nice and the drive to and from the town is already a highlight. Thus the main thing I saw was the colonial architecture around town which is hard to miss. In the end I just walked a few rounds, had a quickie lunch and returned to my rental car (without a ticket, yay!).