I don’t know what I’d been expecting but I guess the idea of traveling to Uruguay was somehow more exotic than the reality. I had been very curious to see what it would be like, and having only read positive reviews, I was quite casual about visiting. So casual, in fact, that once our plane from Buenos Aires had landed, I realised that I didn’t have any local currency on me.
While we waited in the customs line at the airport, using our passports as support for filling in yet another country’s customs questionnaire with bizarre and seemingly irrelevant questions (as always), I was feeling a bit uneasy not having any money to even buy a bottle of water. We’d had lots of trouble finding ATM’s that worked in Argentina and normally I’m very well prepared for every possible scenario. (So much so, that my husband has given me the unfortunate nickname Nervous Nelly!)
Luckily that uneasiness didn’t last for long. The hassle-free customs queue at the Punta del Este airport advanced at super speed and the next thing I knew, we had our luggage and were being advised by very friendly airport staff to wait until reaching town to exchange money, since the rates would be better in Punta del Este than at the airport. We could pay the taxi in US dollars or Argentine pesos.
Advancing towards the taxi line (there was really no alternative transportation) we saw an ATM which foreigners, like us, were using and decided anyway to try if it would accept our international credit cards. It didn’t. We paid the taxi an overpriced fare in US dollars and later on in town we were able to easily exchange money for a good rate.
(Tip: Always have cash on you!)
Punta del Este
Punta del Este and the other nearby beach towns are where many Argentineans go on holiday – to relax and to be seen. Traveling there from Buenos Aires is fairly easy and general price levels in Uruguay are slightly lower than in Argentina.
Punta del Este was modern, tidy and seemed to live by seasons. When we arrived, summer season hadn’t quite kicked off yet and we saw small repairs and renovations being made everywhere.
At first glance, Punta del Este reminded me of basically any beach destination catering to tourists that I’d ever visited anywhere in the world. It was the kind of place that’s entirely pleasant, but doesn’t knock your socks off. Easy going, convenient, with sweet dulce de leche (caramel-filled) pastries and lovely, sticky Freddo ice cream…
We spent time walking around and sitting by the small, windy beach Playa El Emir, favored by local surfers, and watching the waves. Locals sipped shared mate drinks under beach umbrellas and suntanned lifeguards patrolled the beach, leaving their drying wetsuits to hang on the lifeguard hut’s rails. The weather wasn’t very warm yet but the beaches were coming alive.
Another beach, Playa Mansa, was a bit calmer. It was located on the opposite side of the land strip. The fun thing about Punta del Este is that you can enjoy two types of beaches – windy with waves and serenely swimmable – both on the same day!
Punta del Este is a narrow peninsula; the town is quite small and completely walkable, though you might be more comfortable on a bike. Many hotels offer bike rentals. We rode our bikes up to the nearby beach town of La Barra for lunch one day – a nice, leisurely ride on good pavements and beachside gravel roads (20 km there and back, following the shore).
On the way, we saw more surfers and some expensive-looking vacation condos. We also stopped for a moment to stare at some dead seal babies which had been washed ashore for some reason.
Apparently, there are (were?) some very trendy beach areas over there, along the coast, with Ibiza style clubbing or something similar. The Punta del Este of today isn’t like that. The nightlife crowd was somewhere else and we weren’t looking for them.
– In December 2014, my husband and I visited Uruguay for a week, starting with the popular beach destination Punta del Este, where we arrived by plane from Buenos Aires, Argentina. We traveled on to Montevideo by bus and from there to the Unesco World Heritage site Colonia del Sacramento. From Colonia, we then took the ferry back to Buenos Aires. Montevideo and Colonia posts coming soon –
26 replies on “First Stop in Uruguay”
Such colorful photos! Uruguay looks like an amazing place to visit… Love your blog, looking forward to following.
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Thanks for visiting, commenting, following! 🙂 Uruguay is definitely worth a visit!
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Some very useful advice for visitors to Uruguay – and lovely photos. I like the sound of your bike ride and, regarding the beaches, I’ll take the ‘serenely swimmable’. Punta del Este does look a great place to visit.
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I prefer calm beaches too – I love swimming and waves make it too hard 😉
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I love the moody photos. We were in Uruguay in December of 2012 (I just had to check; I actually thought it was more recent!), but we did not get to Punta del Este. We spent most of our time in Colonia del Sacramento and then also took the ferry to Buenos Aires. Looking forward to your future posts!
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Colonia del Sacramento was just made for photo sessions, wasn’t it? I was also surprised how dated it sounded when I wrote this was in Dec 2014 – seems like 2014 is old news already! Oh well 😉
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This is another place on my list! Nice photos.
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Thanks! Hope you get a chance to visit, Uruguay is an interesting place!
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I hope so too!
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I can feel the warmth of the place from these photos 🙂
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Happy to hear that 🙂
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nice mood and tones 🙂
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Thanks! 😉
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Lovely post, as always! You gave me the feel of an airport, beach and a new city, all while I am just sitting comfortably in my living room :-)..thanks!
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Hahah! Happy to hear that – it’s all I can hope to do 😀
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Oh I also easily getting nervous when not having local money on the arrival..ATM will be our first choice or money changer..usually we’d preferred ATM 🙂
Punta del Este looks so beautiful..I am looking forward to your next posts about Uruguay 🙂 One of my fave authors was from there – Eduardo Galeano.
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Maybe I should try one of his books, I’m always looking for new stuff to read! Thanks Indah! 🙂
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swimming-pool balcony?!? oh YES!!! 😉
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I wouldn’t mind having one either! 🙂 There was even a guy cleaning them all, so you don’t even have to do that yourself… nice life, eh?!
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I stress when I don’t have local money, too. It’s always such a ripoff to change money at the airport. A beach town sounds like a pleasant way to ease into Uruguay.
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It was 😉
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Never made it to Uruguay when I visited South America, but I hope to return soon to go to the beaches of Punta del Este and Cabo Polonio. They seem a bit quieter than Punta del Este….Did you make it there?
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No, we only had a week in the country and didn’t feel like rushing, so we just hung out in Punta del Este for a few days and visited La Barra once. If you go, I’d love to learn what it was like 🙂
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[…] First Stop in Uruguay […]
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Swimming pool balcony sounds so fabulous! The beach town looks cute. I prefer swimmable calm seas much more, so it’s nice that you had both options there, on the same day! I am going to find your post on Montevideo now 😀
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Thanks, Pooja! 😊 I wouldn’t mind a swimming pool balcony either, hehee!!! 😉
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