Give Montevideo three nights, because the capital rewards walking. Then pick a direction. East along the coast: Piriápolis, Punta del Este for the famous summer, Punta del Diablo and the Rocha beaches for no high-rises. West along the river: Colonia del Sacramento, Carmelo for the wineries, Salto for the hot springs. Inland: Tacuarembó and Minas for cattle country. November, December and March bring the warmth without the January crush.
2 Uruguay city guides
Fun fact
Uruguay hosted and won the first football World Cup, in 1930.
Stereotypes, sorted out
The realityThe accent is close and the asado is shared, and there it stops. Uruguay separated church and state in 1917, has had one of the region’s steadiest democracies since, and settles its arguments at the ballot box. Uruguayans notice the comparison, and they do not enjoy it.
The realityThe coast is the headline and the country behind it is the trip. Colonia del Sacramento is a UNESCO-listed old town walkable in an afternoon, Salto has thermal springs, Canelones and Carmelo pour Tannat at the cellar door, and Montevideo runs the longest Carnival in the world.
The realityPunta is one stretch of about 200 kilometres of Atlantic shoreline, and it is the loudest and most expensive one. Keep driving east into Rocha and the towers stop: La Paloma, La Pedrera, Cabo Polonio and Punta del Diablo are low-rise, sandy and, outside January, close to empty.
The realityUruguay is the most expensive country in South America to travel in, by a distance. Wages, taxes and imports put restaurant and hotel prices nearer southern Europe than Bolivia. In return, almost nothing is a scam and the tap water is drinkable everywhere.
The realityMore than nine in ten Uruguayans live in cities, around half in and around Montevideo. The gaucho is real, the estancias are working farms and cattle outnumber people three to one. But for almost everybody the cowboy is a weekend.
Cultural notes that actually help
- Mate is shared from one gourd in a circle, and the person who pours is in charge of it. Drink it down, hand it back, and do not stir the straw. Saying "gracias" when you take it means you are finished, so save the word.
- Lunch is the meal and dinner is late. Restaurants fill after nine, and an asado invitation for one o’clock means you will be at the table until five.
- Greet with one kiss on the right cheek, women and men alike, including on introduction. A handshake reads as formal or foreign.
- Tip about ten percent in restaurants. It is rarely on the bill and rarely expected in a bar or a taxi, where rounding up is enough.
- Cash is fading fast. Cards work almost everywhere, and non-resident tourists get VAT relief on hotel and restaurant bills paid with a foreign card, so pay with plastic on purpose.
- Sunday is closed. Shops, most restaurants outside the tourist streets and much of Montevideo shut, and the family lunch is where everyone is.
- January empties the cities and fills the coast. Montevideo in January is pleasant and slightly hollow, and Punta del Este runs at three times the price.
Famous Uruguayan faces
Luis Suárez
José Mujica
Eduardo Galeano
Jorge Drexler
Mario Benedetti
Diego Forlán
Natalia Oreiro
Edinson Cavani
Obdulio Varela
Óscar Tabárez
Federico Valverde
Carlos Gardel
Julio Sosa
Juan Carlos Onetti
Horacio Quiroga
Delmira Agustini
Idea Vilariño
Pedro Figari
Carlos Páez Vilaró
Juan Manuel Blanes
Eladio Dieste
Fede Álvarez
China Zorrilla
José Artigas
Tabaré Vázquez
Joaquín Torres García
Enzo Francescoli
Rubén Rada
Alfredo Zitarrosa
Jaime Roos
Juana de Ibarbourou
Rafael Viñoly
José Batlle y Ordóñez
Must-try Uruguayan food
Asado
Beef over wood coals, cooked slowly and eaten late. The Sunday fixture.
Chivito
The national sandwich: steak, ham, cheese, bacon, egg and salad, barely closing.
Corvina
The Atlantic coast’s everyday fish, grilled plain and eaten near where it landed.
Dulce de leche
In everything, on everything, and eaten from the jar when nobody is looking.
Alfajores
Two soft biscuits with dulce de leche between them, coated in chocolate or coconut.
Mate
Less a drink than a way of holding a conversation. The thermos comes too.
Pascualina
Chard and whole-egg pie, the picnic and lunchbox staple.
Empanadas
Baked more often than fried here, and the beef ones carry olive and egg.
Asado de tira
Short ribs cut across the bone, the cut most parrillas start the fire for.
Achuras
The offal course that opens an asado: sweetbreads, kidneys, chinchulines.
Morcilla dulce
Blood sausage made sweet with orange peel and walnut. Not what you expect.
Pamplona
Chicken or pork rolled around cheese, ham and peppers, then grilled whole.
Cordero al asador
Lamb splayed on an iron cross beside the fire. A countryside occasion, not a menu item.
Choripán
Grilled chorizo split into bread, eaten standing up beside the grill.
Pancho
The Uruguayan hot dog. The good stands have a queue and no seats.
Fainá
Chickpea flatbread baked in the pizza oven. Order it on top of the slice.
Capeletis a la Caruso
Filled pasta in a Montevideo-invented cream sauce of ham, mushroom and onion.
Milanesa
Breaded and fried, plain or napolitana under ham, tomato and cheese.
Ñoquis
Eaten on the 29th of the month, with a banknote under the plate for luck.
Mejillones a la provenzal
Mussels in garlic, parsley and oil. The standard coastal starter.
Chupín de pescado
Fish stewed with tomato, onion and potato, the fishing-town lunch.
Postre chajá
Sponge, meringue, cream and peaches, invented in Paysandú in 1927.
Bizcochos
The morning pastries, savoury and sweet, sold by the dozen and gone by ten.
Martín Fierro
Quince paste with fresh cheese, named after the gaucho poem.
Medio y medio
Half dry white, half sparkling, poured at Roldós in the Mercado del Puerto since 1886.
Tannat
The grape Uruguay made its own. Dark, tannic and built for the grill.
Grappamiel
Grappa cut with honey, drunk against a damp winter.
Torta frita
Fried dough eaten when it rains. That is the rule, and it is kept.
