Uruguay Itinerary: Our 1 Week Uruguay Road Trip

Want to explore Uruguay?

This detailed Uruguay travel itinerary will tell you everything you need to know to plan your road trip.

We spent 7 nights exploring Uruguay’s most popular destinations: Colonia del Sacramento, Montevideo, and Punta del Este.

A friend of mine was going to be in the Punta del Este area for the entire month of July and invited us to visit. That’s the sort of invitation I never say no to.

This itinerary goes over everything we did in great detail, but I also include alternatives and add-ons (basically what else I would have done and seen if I didn’t have to also keep my two small children happy).

Uruguay Road Trip 101

Uruguay is a small country. The main destinations all hug the coast, whether it be the coast of the Rio de la Plata or the Atlantic Ocean.

I recommend spending at least one week in Uruguay. This is just enough time to see the main destinations and how much time we spent there but you would never regret a little more time.

How to get to Uruguay

If your main destination is Uruguay (versus coming from Argentina as we did), then fly into the capital city Montevideo. There is also a small airport in Punta del Este with regional flights from Argentina and Brazil.

Many travelers visit Argentina and Uruguay on the same itinerary. If that’s you then you can get to Uruguay easily by ferry from Buenos Aires. Buquebus and Colonia Express are the two main ferry companies.

To follow this Uruguay itinerary, book a ferry to Colonia del Sacramento to start your trip.

🚘Before you hit the road read my guide to driving in Uruguay. It has everything you need to know to avoid headaches with the law, toll booths, and more. Clicking the link will open the article in a new tab to read after you finish this itinerary.

How to get around Uruguay: Rental Car or Bus

I highly recommend a road trip.

Uruguay’s highways are easy to drive and distances between each destination are minimal. And once you leave reach the coast you will be grateful to have a car to get around to different sites and beachside villages.

Check rental car rates here and if you can, rent a manual transmission to save money. Automatics will cost twice or even up to four times the price.

If you really don’t want to drive, then you can get around by bus between cities. Check bus routes and prices on Urubus.

If you want to rent a car but need to save a little money, you can combine the two. Take the bus from Colonia to Montevideo. Rent your car in Montevideo to drive to and around the coast (where you most need it).

Our 1 Week in Uruguay Itinerary

Now that we’ve gotten those pesky but important logistics out of the way, let’s get on to the fun part – the actual trip.

We took the ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento for one night, then spent two nights in Montevideo, then ended the trip with four nights in La Barra (outside Punta del Este).

There are a few things I would do differently (especially without kids), but overall I really enjoyed our trip and do think the route was perfect. I mention these possible changes/additions at the end of the itinerary.

Our Uruguay Route Map

Here is the route we took (plus the addition of Cabo Polonio and Punta del Diablo) mapped out on a map. I also pinned all of the sites and museums I mention throughout the post.

1 night in Colonia del Sacramento

Colonia del Sacramento is one of the most popular day trips from Buenos Aires but I think there’s nothing better than staying overnight in a day trip destination.

It lets you see how it the city really feels after the throngs of tourists have gone back home for the night. The sunsets in Colonia are spectacular, enjoy it with a drink or two at Charco Bistro without having to rush back to the ferry.

Colonia del Sacramento is a small town and it doesn’t take a lot of time to see.

Sure, there are a few museums and a bullring on the outskirts of town. But the main attraction is the doing nothing of it all – the wandering of the old town’s cobblestone streets, perusing the shops, and enjoying a glass of Uruguayan Tannat in one of the village’s many cozy restaurants, like in El Buen Suspiro.

If you’re coming from bustling Buenos Aires, then Colonia’s slow pace will be a welcome change of pace.

Our afternoon in Colonia was cold, windy, and rainy. We did brave the elements for a short wander through town before going back to our hotel to watch the World Cup final.

If you have better weather and no World Cup finals to watch, then I recommend sunset drinks at Charco Bistro to end your day in Colonia. For more information on how to fill your day up until this point read my destination guide to Colonia del Sacramento.

🛏️Where to stay in Colonia del Sacramento:

• $ – Hostel/Budget – Viajero Hostels are a great chain of hostels in the region, if you’re younger and want a hostel with social activities in the heart of old town, this is the best.
• $$$ – Boutique Hotel: Posada de la Flor is a beautiful bed and breakfast hotel in a historic home. Guests rave about the comfort and the beautiful inner courtyard.
• $$ – Hostel Colibri – I chose Hostel Colibri based on the 3 B’s (Bueno, Bonito, & Barato – good, pretty, and cheap). It was affordable at around $60 US a night and included a surprisingly good breakfast buffet. Staff was very friendly and the location was great, just a couple blocks from the historic gate to Colonia’s old town. My only complaint is the beds weren’t the most comfortable, they were very worn and sagged in the middle but it was only for one night (if I was 20 and not 40 maybe my back wouldn’t have even noticed the difference).

2 Nights in Montevideo

The drive from Colonia del Sacramento to Montevideo is an easy, two hour drive. The scenery is mostly countryside and rolling green hills.

While it takes two hours if you drive straight through, you could easily spend longer if you make a few pit stops. We didn’t have the time but I saw many tempting stops along the way.

Uruguay has designated this stretch of highway as a scenic drive to promote tourism in this region. You can stop at small town Nueva Helvecia (Uruguay’s Colonia Suiza), visit cheese farms or the farm shops along the highway to pick up regional products (many French, German, and Swiss immigrants settled here, so you can expect good things from the cheese).

We only had about a day and a half in Montevideo. If I could have, I would have added 1-2 days more days here. If possible, visit on a Sunday morning to be able to shop at the famous Sunday market (the Feria de Tristán Narvaja).

🛏️ Where to stay in Montevideo: We rented this three bedroom apartment in a historic art deco palace in the Centro, a short walk from Ciudad Vieja. It was perfect for us since we spent almost all of our time in the old town. If you’d prefer a hotel then Alma Historica is a gorgeous boutique hotel.

After checking into our apartment we immediately met up with our tour guide from Wine Explorers. One thing I knew I wanted from this trip was to learn more about Uruguay’s wine so visiting a winery here was a priority of mine despite having such limited time in the city.

We spent the afternoon at Bodega Carrau, one of Uruguay’s oldest wineries. The Carrau family has been making wine for 10 generations and has had a massive impact on Uruguay’s wine industry.

We were at the winery for a couple of hours and tried five different wines. I highly recommend booking a tour with Wine Explorers to coordinate logistics and getting around (Uruguay is zero tolerance with driving under the influence).

Our kids were exhausted after a long day on the road and the (boring, if you ask them) winery so we gifted them an early, relaxing night at the apartment.

If they hadn’t been weighing me down (I’m joking), I’d have gone out to Bar Fun Fun, a historic bar and tango institution founded in 1895. Next time, I guess!

📸WALKING TOUR: We didn’t take a walking tour in Montevideo and I regret it, so do as I say and not as I do and book this walking tour of historic Montevideo to learn about Uruguay’s history. As we were exploring old town I quickly realized how little I knew and wished I had more context to everything we were seeing.

For our first and only full day in Montevideo (and third day of this Uruguay itinerary) we explored Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo’s historic old town.

As I mention above, we did not take a walking tour like this and I regret it. I know so little about Uruguay’s history despite living so close, I wish I had taken the chance to learn more.

But despite not taking a tour and despite the day’s relentless light rain, we did manage to see quite a bit on foot.

Here’s how we spent our day walking Ciudad Vieja, in order:

• Plaza Independencia to see Artigas’ Mauseleum and Palacio Salvo. The Teatro Solis is also here, if you want to book a tour there.
• Museo Andes 1972, we skipped this museum to avoid scaring our young children from ever boarding a plane again but without kids I would make this museum about the horrific Andes plane crash a priority.
• Cafe Brasilero: We stopped for a coffee and hot chocolate at this historic cafe, operating since 1877. Alternatively, one block away you can get a coffee at La Farmacia, a cafe in a beautifully restored pharmacy.
• Lunch at the Mercado del Puerto: This market is full of restaurants to try traditional Uruguayan asado. We ate at Puerto Marino, on the exterior of the market. It had the most affordable and complete menu. More popular stands inside the market include Cabaña Veronica or Estancia del Puerto (where Anthony Bourdain ate).
• Casa Natal de Artigas: Artigas is a national hero and considered the father of Uruguay. We enjoyed the small museum where his childhood home once stood. There are interactive exhibits available in Spanish, English, and Portuguese to learn about Uruguayan history.
• Museo del Gaucho y La Moneda: Housed in the central bank, the space itself is epic. And if you love rural culture and gauchos, this is a MUST. It really goes into the history of gauchos and their culture (it was my favorite part of the day). Entrance is free, ask for the scavenger hunt/game if you have small kids.
• Plaza Zabala: After two museums, we owed our kids a playground so we went straight here after the gaucho museum. Even if you don’t need a playground I’d go for a rest, it’s a beautiful plaza!
• Museo de Artes Decorativas: A free museum in Palacio Talanco on Plaza Zabala, it maintains almost all of its original opulent decor.

We had spent the entire day walking in the cold, misty rain, so by this point (around mid-afternoon) all of us were done. We hailed a taxi and went home for hot showers and a rest.

With better weather perhaps we’d have kept going. I would have loved a visit to Teatro Solis, for example.

We ate in but a tango dinner show like this would a great way to end the day and see tango on this side of the river (because it’s not just a Buenos Aires dance).

That was the end of our time here but a second full day in Montevideo would be ideal. One day in a city is never enough.

If I’d had a second day I would have loved a day along the Rambla. You could walk or even rent bikes. You can visit the neighborhood of Pocitos, Parque Rodo, and see the sunset from Punta Carretas.

4 Nights in Punta del Este

The reason we planned this trip was to visit and stay with a friend who was spending all of July in La Barra (outside of Punta del Este). So we spent four nights with her, exploring the area from this homebase.

If you’re going with kids then I 100% recommend everything we did. If you’re going without kids, then I’d do it a little differently (stay to the end for those recommendations).

How we spent 4 nights on Uruguay’s Coast:

Day 4 – Drive from Montevideo to La Barra: The drive is only 2 hours. We made two pit stops – La Aguila (a house on a beachside cliff in the shape of an eagle) and a brick church, La Iglesia de Cristo Obrero (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The church was incredible and was the big highlight. If the weather is sunny and warm for you then expect to want to spend more time around the beach underneath La Aguila.

Arriving to La Barra we made a two hour strategic pit stop at El Jagüel Park, a park full of playgrounds. Without kids I would have made a grown up pitstop to a winery instead. Tomatos, tomahtos.

Day 5 – Jose Ignacio, Winery, & Casapueblo: This was our only sunny day so we took full advantage. We spent the morning on the beach in Jose Ignacio, an luxury, upscale beach village.

There’s a lighthouse and if you want to go to the top then bring pesos in cash for your ticket (it’s allowed for age 8 and up only). The kids played in the sand all morning and then we had a picnic on the beach for lunch.

After lunch, we drove to Alto de la Ballena, the oldest winery in the Punta del Este region. This winery visit was also organized by Wine Explorers. The view from their tasting decks for spring and summer is spectacular. We visited in winter so we enjoyed our tasting inside by the tanks (also a very unique experience).

The wines were very incredible and I enjoyed tasting varieties here that I never find in Argentina (like crisp Albariño or Uruguay’s flagship grape, Tannat).

After our winery visit, we drove back down to the coast for the famous sunset ritual at Casapueblo. This iconic museum and hotel was built by hand by Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró. He built by intuition, without plans, basing his design on the round nests of the hornero bird.

15 minutes before sunset every night they conduct a “Ceremonia del sol” where they play a recording of the artist reading a poem. It is the thing to do here and so you can expect a crowd. It’s recommended to arrive an hour before sunset to get a good spot.

I balked at the crowd and immediately left to watch the sunset from the rocks next to Casapueblo. We returned to the museum after sunset (the multitudes immediately left after the ritual) and explored in peace. I’d love to go back another day, mid afternoon, with no crowds, and enjoy a glass of wine on the deck.

Day 6 – El Jagüel Park and Tambo Lapataia: Since the previous day had been very busy and mostly with activities for the grown ups, we made day 6 all about the kids.

We spent the entire morning back in El Jagüel, the kids could have spent every single day here if we’re honest.

After a lunch back at the house we drove out to Tambo Lapataia, a dairy farm open for tourism. Entrance is free with both free and paid activities available. Lapataia is famous for their natural dulce de leche, which you can buy in the gift shop or try in their restaurant on their decadent pancakes.

We paid a visit to all of the resident animals, including a curious cow, bunnies and the goats. The kids spent ages on the playground, particularly the zipline swings. We ended our afternoon with the kids bottle feeding the goats. I highly recommend spending an afternoon at Tambo Lapataia, we all loved it!

Day 7 – Punta del Este, La Mano statue, sea lions at the port, and a Chivito

For our last full day here we explored Punta del Este. After a late start to the morning we got to the famous La Mano statue, the fingers bursting out the sand. Be patient if you want a photo without anyone else in it.

After taking our photos with the fingers we drove to the port to see the sea lions. There is a fresh fish market here and the sea lions swim behind it to snack on all the cast offs. We spent a while gawking at the animals and picked up fresh caught corvina to grill for dinner later.

For more to do, there were tour companies here offering boat excursions for things like whale watching, Gorriti Island, and La Isla de Lobos.

After the port, we were starving and the only solution was chivito, Uruguay’s famous sandwich that includes everything but the kitchen sink. We went to the Punta del Este location of Bar Arocena, a Montevideo original that fed Anthony Bourdain. If he ate there, you know it’s good and it didn’t disappoint.

After lunch we drove back to La Barra to play at the base of the famous wavy bridge and then make sandcastles on the beach before going home to grill our day’s catch.

It was a wonderful end to our week in Uruguay.

Uruguay itinerary Alternatives: Cabo Polonio & Punta del Diablo

There is much more to Uruguay’s coast than what we explored. If (read: when) we go to back, I would drive north of Punta del Este to explore the more rugged and relaxed beach villages of Cabo Polonio and Punta del Diablo.

Punta del Este is expensive and posh, it reminded me of Marbella in southern Spain. Punta del Diablo is, by contrast, a hippie village. Think hostels and sandy streets.

Cabo Polonio is even more remote and a car free haven, with sandy streets and sand dunes. You leave your car at the entrance and ride a 4×4 into town. It is completely off-grid, relying on solar panels, wind turbines and generators.

Some visit these towns as a day trip from Punta del Este but I don’t recommend it. Go for a 2 to 3 days to do these villages the relaxing justice they deserve.

Where to stay? Carmela Suites in Cabo Polonio is the perfect beachside bed & breakfast that is much more comfortable than the villages many hostels (yet still affordable).

The end of our Uruguay Trip

We ended our Uruguay itinerary by driving all the way back to Colonia del Sacramento to catch our ferry home.

You can take the ferry back from Colonia or Montevideo. For our dates, it cost double to return from Montevideo so I chose cheaper Colonia despite the longer drive.

I thought the 4 hour drive would be easy with the kids (they’ve done much worse). I was wrong. They were NOT IN THE MOOD.

You can also fly onwards to your next destination from Montevideo. Either way, this is the end of the road and a wonderful holiday in Uruguay.

I think this tiny but mighty country is severely underappreciated. It truly has a lot to offer, especially those looking for a laid back holiday thanks to Uruguay’s slow pace.