Here you'll find everything you need to know to plan a weekend (or weekday) trip to Montevideo, Uruguay.
Background:
Montevideo was one of 4 excursions we planned during our 5-week stay in Buenos Aires. The trip spanned Thursday (2/1/2024) to Saturday (2/3/2024), and we found this to be the perfect amount of time to experience and explore Montevideo.
About:
Montevideo is the capital and largest city in Uruguay, with more than 1.3 million people calling this their home - that's 1 in every 3 Uruguayans living within the city limits! Several Europeans (particularly from Spain & Italy) immigrated to the city in the early 20th century. This influx in immigration has shaped the dialect of Spanish (a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese, & Italian) and the city entirely. Although Montevideo has had a rocky past with social and political violence, it is now considered one of the safest and ranked as having the highest quality of life of any Latin American city.
Getting to Montevideo:
Like our other excursions, we arranged our travel and stay in advance. We purchased roundtrip tickets through Colonia Express during a Black Friday sale they were running in November 2023. They cost approximately 98 USD per person and included an hour-long ferry to Colonia del Sacramento and about a 3-hour bus from Colonia to the Tres Cruces station in Montevideo.
Overall, the trips to and from Montevideo were comfortable and efficient. You do go through an abbreviated customs procedure on either end, but the process is relatively painless and doesn't take an extensive amount of time. For example, our ferry left Buenos Aires at 8:30 a.m. and we arrived at the port a little after 7:00 a.m. with plenty of time to spare. The most important thing to note is that boarding closes about 30 minutes prior to departure. The return trip was similar but in reverse. You board the bus from the Tres Cruces station in Montevideo and transfer to the ferry back to Buenos Aires.
There is also an option to take a ferry directly to and from Montevideo without a bus connection; however, this was a much pricier option when we were booking hence why we did not opt for it.
For our trip in particular, the journey back to Buenos Aires across the Río de la Plata Bay was not so pleasant. This was due to a storm that was coming through the region, which made the water very choppy. People were running to the bathroom because of the motion sickness. Of course, there was nothing we could do to change anything since we had to get back. We just wanted to place this out there in the event someone else experiences this so there are no surprises.
Our Stay:
We booked our stay at a studio apartment in Punta Carretas through Airbnb. The place itself is great - recently renovated and full of amenities, including a 24-hour doorman, pool, laundry, and gym.
In terms of location, we found Punta Carretas to be a great spot. It's near the coast and was a short Uber away from the western parts of the city we explored. In all honesty, however, you could stay in other areas like Centro, Cordon, etc., and be just fine. We were told (and hence recommend) to avoid areas closer to the southern coast like Palermo and Barrio Sur.
Exploring Montevideo (Day 1):
After arriving in Montevideo at about 1:00 p.m., we spent some time getting settled and exploring the beach neighborhoods in our vicinity. We walked along the De Los Pocitos Beach boardwalk and made it to the iconic Montevideo sign. Afterward, we made our way to the Montevideo Shopping Center.
Before arriving to Montevideo, we knew we wanted to experience the city's Carnival offerings, specifically a Carnival show. Initially, we planned to do this on day 2. A friend of ours who recently stayed in Montevideo advised us to purchase tickets in advance through Abitab - a Western Union-like business ubiquitous in Montevideo. We stopped by one and learned that there was no show running during our day 2. In a frenzy, we purchased the only available tickets in the back section of the venue (Teatro de Verano) for about 400 UYU (about 10.50 USD) per person. Tickets closer to the stage go for 800 UYU (about 21 USD) per person, but our seats still provided us with a great view of the show. Note that you do have to pay for the tickets in cash. The shows run from 8:30 p.m. to past midnight and consist of various groups performing for 45-minute segments with breaks in between. The venue is outdoors and there are vendors selling food, snacks, and beverages outside. Overall, it was a great experience, and, while not at the level of performances you might find in Rio or Sao Paulo, it was still very much Carnaval on display.
Tired and hungry, we departed after 2 shows at about 11:00 p.m. and made our way to Pinche Calaca for dinner. This was an authentic Mexican restaurant with very tasty food and drinks. Apart from portion sizes being a little on the smaller side, we highly recommend this spot.
Day 1 in Montevideo
Exploring Montevideo (Day 2):
We spent most of our full day exploring the old city, which was very manageable walking. We began the day at Cafe La Farmacia, a historic pharmacy turned cafe, which we highly recommend. The coffee, pastry, and food offerings were delicious. In addition to our lattes, we enjoyed avocado toast and banana bread - both superb.
We then made our way to the following spots (relatively in order):
Mercado del Puetro
Port Market
Museo del Carnaval (a small museum showcasing Carnival history; tickets were 150 UYU or about 4 USD per person)
Montevideo Metropolitan Cathedral
Gateway of the Citadel
Plaza Independencia
Museo del Gaucho and Currency (did not actually enter)
Libreria Puro Verso
Along the way, we grabbed food from small spots that simply looked yummy and they did not let us down. We also peaked into gift shops and stores that caught our eye.
We ended the day with dinner at Fundamento Pizza (you can judge us for this). The pizza, however, was very tasty (even by our snobby Chicago standards). Afterward, we made our way to Lucciano's near our Airbnb for some bomb gelato.
Day 2 in Montevideo
Exploring Montevideo (Day 3):
On our final day in the city, we started at (surprise) a vibey bookstore cafe called Escaramuza. Like La Farmacia, the coffee and food were delicious and we highly recommend it to sit back and enjoy the company on their private patio. We then spent some time in the iconic Mercado Ferrando food and grocery hall before catching a quick glimpse of the Obelisk of Montevideo on our way back to the Tres Cruces station.
Day 3 in Montevideo
Overall Thoughts and Impressions:
Overall, Montevideo was a great experience and we would definitely recommend making the trip if your itinerary allows. Since it was so close to Buenos Aires, we knew that we had to find a way to squeeze it into our itinerary. The only drawback was the overall higher prices compared to Buenos Aires. Although prices were not as steep as those of the U.S., things were often double what we'd pay in Argentina (although Argentina's economy is currently in turmoil, but we suspect this to be the case at baseline). In some ways, this might be the trade-off given that Uruguay is one of the safest countries to visit in South America. In fact, Montevideo is home to many Central and South American immigrants because of this. In our opinion, the food scene had a bit of an edge over Buenos Aires, but we'll admit this is likely a subjective observation and you could probably argue the reverse just as well.
Itinerary Budget Breakdown (per person):
Roundtrip ticket to Montevideo: 98 USD
Stay (2 nights): 77 USD (154/2)
Carnival Show Ticket: 10.5 USD
Carnival Museum: 4 USD
SIM Card: 7.68 USD
Total = 197.18 USD (note that this does not include food and drink)
*Estimated Variable Costs (consisting of Ubers, meals, drinks, & souvenirs: 165.50 USD (331/2))
Carnival performance
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