Usiminas Airport serves the southeast Brazilian city of Ipatinga, found about six miles west. Usiminas is a large Brazilian steel company that owns the airport, and the city of Ipatinga makes up a portion of Brazil's Vale do Aco (‘Steel Valley') metropolitan region. The airport itself stands between thickly wooded hills on a cleared flat plain, next to the winding Doce and an area of industrial plants. Visitors who hire a car at Usiminas Airport can easily drive straight to the city centre along the BR-458 highway, reaching the centre in about quarter of an hour.
If you hire a car at Ipatinga Airport, the city's modern roads system will allow you to reach the city's best attractions in good time and convenience. Highlights of Ipatinga include the arts centre named, once more, after steel giant Usiminas. Ipanema Park is one of the biggest recreation spaces in the whole of Brazil and has enviable sports facilities and quirky science exhibits. Elsewhere, you can find Faisão Waterpark which offers a number of fun waterslides, and plentiful shopping opportunities at the Vale do Arco mall. Hire car drivers can also visit other parts of the ‘steel valley', like Coronel Fabriciano, which has a landmark modern cathedral, and Timoteo, which has a picturesque cultural centre.
