History and Charm Galore!

We knew beforehand that spending three days (two and a half to be precise) in this charming city wasn’t going to be enough, but we organized our itinerary pretty well and were able to visit all the major attractions and still have plenty of time to rest, relax in the spa of our hotel, read, and take unhurried walks.

There are mandatory places to visit in Colonia. First of all, nobody would want to skip the Historic Quarter, and after you visit it you know why. After all, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, very well deserved! Colorful images, cobblestone streets, ancient streetlamps, and the special atmosphere of the city made me love this place. One of my favorite spots was La Calle de los Suspiros (Street of Sighs). There are a couple of popular stories about how it earned the name. Some people believe that it was because slaves sentenced to death walked down the street to the place they were going to be executed. For others, it was because of the sounds of the wind that blows from the River Plate. The Bullring and the rambla completed my top three list.

Quick Tips:

There are lots of museums and art galleries. If you are going to be in town for a couple of days (or even for one day- many tourists that go to Buenos Aires take a ferry and make a 1-day trip to Colonia), choose which ones you want to visit, the Portuguese Museum, the Spanish Museum, the Native Museum, etc. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to visit them.

We stayed at Hotel Bahia Playa, which I highly recommend. To learn more about our experience and why we are so glad we chose it, take a look at my review of the hotel.

Best Way To Get Around:

Unless you have your own car, it’s recommended to rent a car, a golf cart, a motorbike, or even a bike. Almost everything is in walking distance, but the Bullring for example is around 4kms from the city center. There are bus services from Montevideo, and if you are coming from Buenos Aires you will need to take a ferry. In only 50 minutes you will land in this historic and charming city!

From the very first moment we knew we had chosen the best hotel to stay at. Many people would say that it’s better to stay at a “Posada” close to the Historic Quarter, but what we liked about Hotel Bahia Playa was the peace of the place. It’s located at the rambla in front of the river. You can have breakfast with a beautiful view, then go for a walk along the rambla, or have fun at the pools. The hotel has a beautiful park, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, Jacuzzi, sauna, game room, and a gym.

In spite of the 100% occupation of the hotel, we seldom saw other guests or hear noises. The only time was when we had breakfast. The restaurant was full, but both days we manage to get a table by the window. Is there a better way to start your day than having breakfast with a great view of the river on a sunny day? I can’t think of any.

There are three types of rooms: standard, superior, and special. For a reasonable rate of $70 we booked a superior room. It was a nice room overlooking the garden with cable TV, air-conditioning, mini bar, and a comfortable private bathroom with hairdryer. The special rooms are considerably bigger and they have a balcony. Some of the superior rooms have a balcony overlooking the park too, but unfortunately they weren’t available ones when we called to book.

It’s highly recommended to have a car if you stay here since it’s quite far from the city center, around 25 blocks. There are several companies in Colonia that rent cars, scooters, golf carts, and bikes. We rented a scooter, which allowed us to come and go to the different places we wanted to visit, so being far from the center wasn’t an inconvenience.

Service was flawless. I had never seen more attentive staff at any hotel I have stayed. They always made their best to give you what you needed and always with a smile. Check out is at 11am, but if you have lunch at the hotel’s restaurant, you can keep your room until 7pm. Not only didn’t we have to pay late check out, but also we had a delicious lunch. Hotel Bahia Playa: Very Highly Recommended!

There are three reasons why I’m writing a review about this restaurant. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t be able to write a lot about a restaurant like “El Palacio”, other than saying that they have good pizza. Well, that is reason number 1: excellent pizza!

Secondly, it was the only place we found open in Colonia at around 2am. I know it was very late, but being a Friday night we couldn’t believe that there weren’t restaurants, pubs, bars, etc. open. We didn’t want to end up with our hotel’s room service, so finding this small pizzeria was like winning the lottery.

And last but not least, we loved the placemat: an entertaining piece of reading to enjoy while waiting for the food. It stated saying that there was a story told by the elders in Colonia, a myth perhaps that said that Colonia del Sacramento had always been a city where you had to wait. It started in the time of the conquerors, when the cook in charge of the first celebration meal impressed by the luxurious vegetation, aromas, and colors took so long to come back with the ingredients and prepare the meal that the diners were tempted to initiate a street row. The last paragraph read: We don’t know if you believe the story…but it entertained you while our cook prepared a delicious diner for you. Very original.