This is gaucho country. Not your ‘we pose for pesos’ types, but your real-deal ‘we tuck our baggy pants into our boots and slap on a beret just to go to the local store’ crew. It’s also the alleged birthplace of tango legend Carlos Gardel.
The land west of Montevideo is in many ways the ‘real’ Uruguay – little river towns separated by large expanses of pampas and wheat fields. It’s far off the tourist trail, mostly, except for the region’s superstar, Colonia del Sacramento, whose charms attract visitors from all over the world.
A super-mellow little town with a lush central square, Carmelo’s streets slope down to its carefully restored waterfront. From here, boats leave for the most interesting (and cheapest) of the Argentine border crossings – a two-hour ride through the delta to the Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre.
Take some winding, cobbled streets, add an intriguing history and put them on a gorgeous point overlooking the Río de la Plata. What do you get? A major tourist attraction.
This is Uruguay’s playground (and also, to an extent, Brazil’s, Chile’s, Mexico’s, Spain’s etc) – a long stretch of beaches all the way from Montevideo to the Brazilian border offering something for everyone – surfers, party animals, nature freaks and family groups.
Land must be cheap in Fray Bentos – the whole town is dotted with big, leafy plazas. Most travelers are here on their way either to or from Uruguay, but if you’ve got a few hours to kill between buses, the town boasts a fascinating museum that’s well worth checking out.
This town is a surfer’s dream – out on a point, if there’s no swell on the left, it’ll be coming in on the right. Weekends in summer, the town often hosts free concerts down on the beach, making accommodation bookings essential.
Maldonado used to be the place to stay if you wanted to avoid the outrageous prices in nearby Punta del Este. But then the Maldonado hoteliers cottoned on and jacked up all their prices. There are a couple of interesting museums in town, but Punta’s burgeoning hostel scene makes it a much better budget choice these days.
The shady, cobblestoned streets of Mercedes are enchanting (unless your taxi has no suspension, in which case they’re total kidney-crunchers). The riverfront is largely undeveloped, but there are plenty of grassy spots to laze around on between dips.
Uruguay’s capital and by far its largest city, Montevideo is a vibrant, eclectic place with a rich cultural life. Stretching nearly 20km from east to west, the city wears many faces, from its industrial port to the exclusive residential suburb of Carrasco near the airport. In the historic downtown business district, art deco and neoclassical buildings jostle for space alongside grimy, worn-out skyscrapersthat appear airlifted from Havana or Ceausescu’s Romania, while across town the shopping malls and modern high-rises of beach communities like Punta Carretas and Pocitos bear more resemblance to Miami or Copacabana.