Uruguay

[lillielangtry]

Anyone been other than the day trip to Colonia from Buenos Aires (which I've also done)?

I am in the early stages of planning a trip to Argentina and I fancy adding in Uruguay. I bought the only guidebook available in a large book shop yesterday - a Footprint. It's 130 pages long and 20 of those are about Buenos Aires! So yeah, it's a little country without many obvious attractions. That is not really putting me off. I'm sure I can spend a few days in Montevideo and maybe on a ranch or something. But if anyone has personal experiences, that would be great!

[sophie]

I don't have personal experiences but one of Anthony bourdain's shows was about that area a couple of years ago.

[tinaja]

All I know is that I would love to go!

[shilgia]

I would love to go, too. Though a coworker who went a couple of years ago said it was kind of monotonous. He spent something like a week there and said it was too long and in hindsight he would have preferred spending more time in some of the neighboring countries where there's more to do. Lots of cows, apparently.

[lillielangtry]

Good to know, shilgia. I haven't yet decided whether to spend a week or so travelling through the country. If I decide it's really not worth it, I'll probably just take the ferry to Montevideo and spend a few days there before returning to Buenos Aires.

[tzarine]

went from montevideo to colonia
loved colonia, stayed @ a little inn, explored the town

loved montevideo, good food, cool architecture, ate chivitos
stayed w a couple who ran a bnb & made this great cake. drank mate

[tucano]

Ha, I came in here to say I did the daytrip to Colonia and loved it too. I remember Colonia being pretty pricey but that's probably as it was so popular and touristy.

If you scroll to the end of the post linked below there are about 10 links to articles they wrote about Uruguay.
www.alongdustyroads.com/posts/2016/2/10/what-we-spent-in-uruguay-budget-travel-costs-expenses

[lillielangtry]

Cheers!

I've now also been contacted on Twitter by someone pointing out that a British woman who lives in Uruguay has recently written a guide book, which I might check out. Sounds like it will have more detail than the major brands.

[lillielangtry]

PS I did the Colonia day trip in 2004 and really liked it too. Might do it again.

[riverhorse]

My Argie friends went to Punte del Este every summer for their beach holidays. It's a fairly glitzy (supposedly) resort place, kind of the Riviera of the River Plate. (Although looking at some photos on Google it looks more Costa del Sol than Riviera. Might still be worth checking out though)

[lillielangtry]

Yeah, obviously come January anyone who is anyone from Argentina decamps to Punte del Este! I don't think it sounds that interesting if you're not looking for a beach holiday, plus it's supposed to be pricey.

[tzarine]

it can be expensive
they have a conrad there which is cheaper than the one in the maldives or tokyo

[lillielangtry]

I've booked flights to and from Buenos Aires and will have about a week to play with before starting the Argentina part of the trip. I'm now thinking I might just go to Montevideo and do some day trips from there, but not sure yet.

[snowwhite]

Yeah, I did Colonia and enjoyed it, back about 10 years ago...

My mother's advice on hearing I was going to Buenos Aires was to warn me against Copacabana Beach. Hmmmm.

[rikita]

i only did that mentioned daytrip, too - and it rained the whole time. it looked like a pretty town, but after an hour of walking around in the rain, i decided to just find a cafe and wait there until it is time to get back on the boat ...

[tzarine]

lillie

colonia was worth an overnight, but montevideo has many charms like this bookstore:http://www.coffeesphere.com/mas-puro-verso-bookstore/

this mercado:http://www.mercadodelpuerto.com/
strolling the malecon

have a great trip

[lillielangtry]

Oh, rikita, what a shame - weather was great when I was there.

Thanks for the tips, tzarine!

[sprite]

we planned a day trip to colonia. but we were enjoying BBAA too much! so Uruguay and Paraguay are on the list for 'next time.'