Start on the peninsula: La Mano at Parada 1, the sea lions at the working port, the 1860 lighthouse. Then drive. Casapueblo sits 13 km west at Punta Ballena, La Barra's bouncing bridge is over the river to the east, and José Ignacio, 40 km on, is where the region eats. Three days covers it, four with a winery.
Punta del Este is a narrow peninsula where the Río de la Plata meets the Atlantic, and the coast either side of it is the trip. West is flat water and sunsets, east is surf and a concrete hand in the sand, and the road out to José Ignacio is where the good cooking went.
Five concrete fingers breaking the sand at Parada 1, carved in six days by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal for an open-air sculpture meeting in February 1982. He meant them as a drowning warning on a beach with real surf. Come early, before the queue for the photograph forms.
Carlos Páez Vilaró built this white cascade into the Punta Ballena cliff as his own summer house and workshop, without a straight line in it, and it grew into a museum, gallery and hotel. The terrace is where people gather for the sunset. It is 13 km west of the peninsula, so drive.
The working port is the peninsula's best free hour. Fishing boats unload alongside the yachts, there is a small fish market, and sea lions haul out on the rocks below waiting for the scraps that go in the water. Lo de Tere and Guappa look straight onto it.
The rock eight kilometres offshore carries one of the region's largest sea lion colonies, and the boats out of the port spend around forty minutes circling it. Landing is not allowed: it is a protected reserve, so you watch from the water. The crossing is exposed, so take the sea seriously.
Forty kilometres east, a lighthouse village of sand streets and no traffic lights that quietly became the region's best eating. Parador La Huella has been on the beach since 2001 and books out weeks ahead in January. Come for lunch, stay for the walk out to the point.
The winery that put Maldonado on the wine map, and Wine Enthusiast's New World Winery of the Year in 2019. Tastings, vineyard tours by e-bike or horse-drawn carriage, and a restaurant built around open fire. Book the tasting and the table together through the winery.
Fifteen minutes out of the port and you are on a pine-covered island two and a half kilometres offshore, with two swimming beaches, forest paths and the ruins of an 18th-century Spanish gun battery. It is listed national historic heritage, and the water is the calmest in the bay.
The wavy bridge over the Maldonado river, opened in 1965 and designed by Leonel Viera, a builder with no training in engineering or architecture. Cross it at the limit and your stomach lifts twice. A second, identical span was added alongside in 1999 to take the traffic.
A 192-hectare hillside forest above Punta Ballena, most of which was handed to Maldonado in December 1979 and opened to the public. Around six kilometres of easy trails, free to walk, with a visitor centre that gives out the map and runs guided walks through the day.
The white tower with the red and white banded dome has marked the tip of the peninsula since March 1860. There are 144 steps inside it and the light sits 44 metres above the sea. The plaza around it is the quietest corner of the old town, minutes from either beach.
One of Uruguay's highest hills, with a summit cross and a native fauna reserve.
International galleries take over a Punta del Este venue for four days.
The Rolex South Atlantic circuit crosses the river, then races around Isla Gorriti.
Free talks, films and exhibitions about the sea, run by the municipality since 2001.
Free entry, and over forty films that have not reached Uruguayan cinemas.
Two free evenings of parades and troupes on the municipal esplanade.
Uruguay's Easter week holiday, and the last busy weekend of the season.
A full marathon, a half, and 10 km and 5 km runs along the coast road.
Uruguay's festival of film by women, drawing titles from dozens of countries.
Also called Laguna del Sauce, about 20 km northwest of the peninsula. COT and Copsa buses reach town in 30 to 40 minutes; taxis wait outside.
Uruguay's main gateway, 133 km west outside Montevideo. Direct coaches run to Punta del Este in roughly two hours on a good motorway.
COT and Copsa's Línea Este work the coast road from Montevideo through Piriápolis, Maldonado, Punta del Este, La Barra and José Ignacio.
Buquebus crosses the Río de la Plata to Colonia or Montevideo with a coach on from there, and runs a longer direct service to Punta del Este.
The national sandwich: churrasco, ham, cheese, egg and olives, with chips.
Grilled fish off the port boats, the coast's answer to all that beef.
Milk and sugar cooked down to caramel, and put into more or less everything.
Two soft biscuits with dulce de leche between them, often coated in chocolate.
Beef, chorizo and morcilla cooked slowly over wood embers, never over gas.
Fried squid rings, the default order at every beach parador on this coast.
A breaded cutlet, ordered a caballo when you want a fried egg on top.
Half dry white, half sparkling, poured cold as the aperitif before lunch.
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