One Endless Beach

Montevideo, the capital, reached its peak about a century ago, and that can be appreciated in its leading architecture style. The main buildings from that period are wonderfully kept, and walking around the town center is a feast to the eyes. Beyond that, the city offers 14km of good beaches alongside the Plate River. Here it is so wide that the Argentinean shore cannot be seen.

Colonia del Sacramento is closer to Argentina, just next to the encounter of the Uruguay River with the Plate River. It is a colonial city with a mixed heritage. It was founded by the Portuguese, but it was conquered later by the Spaniards. Its hybrid streets will tell you the whole story. Punta del Este is the place were the Plate River meets the Atlantic Ocean. You can walk between hot, sweet water beaches and cold, salty water ones. Paysandu, the second largest city, provides access to northeastern Argentina and to the Iguazu Waterfalls.

Quick Tips:

Due to the nearby ocean, winters are cold and humid, with surprisingly strong winds, and the summers are very humid as well, thus transforming such a visit into a quite damp experience. Punta del Este is one of South America’s more glamorous resorts, and thus it is a bad idea to visit it at its peak season. In January and February, it is crowded with rich Argentineans, Brazilians, and Chileans. Hence, if you want to fully enjoy your visit to the country or to Punta, the spring and autumn should be your choices.

Hotels and guesthouses offer meaningful discounts if you are staying for more than a day – ask when checking in. Fishing is a popular pastime along the coasts, and the country offers excellent facilities for fans. Shortly before Carnival in Rio, there is a smaller and less known one in Montevideo that offers a fascinating mix of tango and candombe.

Best Way To Get Around:

Uruguay is a small country. Long-distance buses seldom travel more than 6 hours, and there are no highways connecting the main cities. Every trip is done on secondary roads, albeit all of them paved, which carefully avoid the low hills of the Uruguayan countryside. The trains were discontinued and buses are the main method of transport. Small aircrafts connect the main cities, but the distances are so short anyway that they are not economical. Due to its drop-like shape, you can travel from almost every main city to the others directly. There is no need to return to the capital while crossing from one area to the other. The tickets are relatively cheap, and you can buy return tickets that offer a discount. Within Montevideo, the best way to travel is by bus, and since there is an excellent network and they are usually quite empty, a sitting place is assured. If leaving to Argentina, then it is a good idea to do that from Colonia. Beyond the obvious bonus of visiting the city, there is a fast connection across the river with the "Buquebus" to Buenos Aires. See the Colonia entry for details.

Chuy, or Chui as it is named on its Brazilian side, is the perfect example of a friendly border. The border between the countries passes through the middle of an avenue. The Uruguayan side is called Avenida Brasil and the other one is expectedly called Avenida Uruguay, and you can move freely among the sides. Chuy hosts a small casino, attracting mainly Brazilian tourists; Uruguay is a regional gambling centre with casinos in all of its main tourist locations.

Since the town is usually considered only as a crossing point, few stop here for more than the necessary, thus accommodations are very limited. I can recommend the Nuevo Hotel Plaza, Av. Artigas corner Arachanes, by the Plaza de Independencia. This cute place is at the very center of the town and offers cosy rooms for around $10 a single, including a basic breakfast. Credit cards are accepted only for charges $15 and higher. You can pay in dollars, but it is better to exchange into the local currency at one of the many exchanging locals by the border, as the rates are fair.

If you are arriving from Brazil, you may be surprised by the electric sockets: in Uruguay, they have three round holes set in a straight row. I was more than surprised to find that my Nepali adaptor fitted almost perfectly.

In the culinary sense, this place is hot and offers the best of both worlds: immense cuts of meat on the southern side of the line and feijoada, cozido, and all the other Brazilian hits just a few meters north from there. The immigrations are placed at the exit of the town on each side of the limit, and if you do not need a special visa, you should not bother going there, as all the buses leaving the town make a short stop there for a passport-stamping rite. As with most travels among a country’s main cities, the capital, Montevideo, is half a day away, and buses headed there leave at all hours. If you have the time, it is recommended to break the trip at the town of Rocha, from where you can take a local bus to La Paloma, 28km south from there. La Paloma is a tiny Punta del Este for locals searching for beaches facing the ocean, but not attracted to the overwhelming crowds of its big sister.

About 400km northeast from Montevideo, Melo is at the centre of the long border between Uruguay and Brazil, and thus it gained its name as a transport hub for the interior. Before crossing there through the Rivera, Acegua, or Rio Branco passes, you most probably will cross the town.

There is a Brazilian consulate at Aparicio Saravia 711, but if you do not need a special visa for that country, then it is perfectly good to approach any border crossing and get your passport stamped there. This means that when comparing it with other cities in the Uruguayan interior, Melo is surprisingly well developed. The best bus terminus in the north is here, and it has supermarkets, Internet, and even a skyscraper with more than 10 floors.

The Brazilian proximity can be felt in the local cuisine: Bauru sandwiches are sold everywhere. They are made from a fried, thin piece of meat, which is put inside a big bun with ham, cheese, egg, mayonnaise, and a paste of sweet corn and peas. A good place for tasting it is the Carrito Bulevar 2 at Plaza Constitucion, the central plaza in the town.

The Iglesia Catedral dominates the plaza and is considered a national monument, and radio and television stations fill the remaining space. A few blocks to the northwest there is a beautiful park build around a small stream called Arroyo Conventos, worth an afternoon picnic.

There are several hotels in the town, and I recommend the Hotel Principado de Asturias, at 668 Dr. Luis A. De Herrera Street, just 5 blocks from the terminal. Spotless single rooms with hot water and private bathrooms are available there for around $5. Cattycorner is the Confiteria Washington, one of the two coffee shops I found in town. For breakfast it offers torrejas, which are French toasts sprinkled with sugar. The terminal has another coffee shop called Sarita, which sells Yemas de Melo: spherical sweets made of egg yolk and sugar, with a raisin on the top and coated by yellow cellophane. The terminal offers connections to most of the main cities, including the selling and validation of return tickets.

Paysandu is the country’s second-largest city and a good place to sample the Uruguayan Littoral. A few days in this relaxed town will ensure a proper recover after a long trip: quiet beaches, good food, and easygoing people are the answer to most problems. The town originally was a Jesuit outpost of the Yapeyu mission in Corrientes, Argentina, but maybe the only actual hint of the presence of these cattle herders in the past is the relatively large industry of leather processing.

The town’s main axis and commercial centre is the Avenida 18 de Julio, which runs perpendicular to the river and edges the southern side of the central Plaza Constitucion. An afternoon coffee by the beautiful plaza is the perfect setup for a productive writing session. The riverfront is mostly parks, but 2km north from the centre is the Balneario Municipal, the main and most beautiful beach in town. Next to it is the Museo de la Tradicion. In the town centre there are two other worthwhile museums: the Museo Salesiano at 18 de Julio and Montecaseros and the Museo Historico at Zorrilla and Sarandi.

Being at the heart of the agricultural interior, Paysandu is an excellent place to check out the Uruguayan products, and Uruguay being a big producer of meats, it means huge steaks. Restaurant Don Diego, at 19 de Abril 917, is an excellent place for a parrillada.

Hotels here are more expensive than in other secondary cities and approach the prices of those in Montevideo. Hotel Artigas, at Baltasar Brum 943, offers basic rooms with a private bathroom for around $12.

The Puente Internacional General Jose Gervasio Artigas connects the city with the town of Colon in Argentina. There is an Argentinean consulate at Leandro Gomez 1034, but if you do not need a special visa for that country, then it is acceptable to approach the bridge and get your passport stamped there. Local buses do the way for around $1. Montevideo is just half a day away by bus, and tickets are available at the terminal at Montecaseros and Artigas, south from Plaza Constitucion.

Colonia was founded in 1680 by the Portuguese, who needed a port along the Rio de la Plata. The capture of the city in 1762 by the Spaniards lead to its hybrid look: the streets are not arranged in the typical grid of most cities along the river, but follow the irregular shape typical of the Portuguese towns, despite that most of the whitewashed houses in the old quarter are built in the typical Spaniard Colonial style. The old quarter is superbly maintained and, together with the commercial quarter, is located just next to the pier leading to Argentina. The small, modern town spans for a few kilometres along the coast to the north. The old quarter highlights include the Puerta de Campo, which is the original Portuguese gate to the city built in 1745, the Portuguese Museum by the Plaza Mayor, and the Spaniard Museum on San Jose Road, just next to the old pier. The museums are open from noon till 6pm. But the true highlights are the streets themselves, which take you effortlessly a couple of centuries back into an era long forgotten elsewhere. The fact that there are no cars in the narrow, cobbled streets of the Old Quarter, strongly contribute to that magical feeling. The main point of interest of the new town is the Real de San Carlos, a quasi-destroyed huge bull ring that was never used.

Traveling:
A bus to Montevideo costs some 140URP and takes almost 3 hours. The buses leave at 5am (Monday), 6:20am, 9:30am, 12pm (except Sunday), 2pm (except Sunday), 4pm, 8pm, and 10pm. In the opposite direction, the timetable is similar, with departures half a hour later.

The Buquebus (it’s a hydrofoil!) fast line to Buenos Aires costs 720URP and leaves at 9:15am, 5:30pm, and 9pm, and the trip takes about 1 hour. The slow line costs 420URP, takes almost 3 hours, and leaves at 4:30am and 7:30pm. The Buquebus has a good cafeteria, which helps to comfortably pass the trip. Hence, eating a heavy meal before the departure is not recommended. The prices aboard are only slightly higher than those on the coast.

At the same counter where the Buquebus tickets are sold, by the pier, you can buy tickets for the Lancha Carmelo. Using this option, you travel first 85km to the north by bus and then cross the narrower Uruguay River with a speed boat to Tigre in Argentina. From there you can continue to Buenos Aires by bus or train (this is the only public train still in use in Argentina). This option is cheaper, with a 261URP one-way ticket or 437URP for a return ticket. It leaves daily at 2:30pm, and the only drawback is the landing place in Argentina, which is considered somewhat dangerous.

Very conveniently, the Uruguayan and Argentinean immigration are placed on the Buquebus departing hall, so you get both stamps on the same spot.

Tips:
By the new pier there are many motorcycles for rent, and a day rental costs $4. In the same place there are many touts offering rooms in guesthouses next to the Old Quarter. Most rooms cost $5 per night, and there is no extra cost for the touts work: the same price will be offered if you arrive without them. A typical basic room costs $5 per night. As with all Uruguayan coasts, Colonia is quite a windy place, so you should bring adequate clothing.