Uruguay Travel Guide: When to Go, Budget, Itineraries

The capital holds nearly half the country's population along its 22 km Rambla promenade. Three nights are enough for the Ciudad Vieja and the Cabildo, dinner at the Mercado del Puerto and an evening in Pocitos. Montevideo's carnival, the longest in the world, runs about 40 days between January and February, with Llamadas parades through the Sur neighborhood and drum troupes marching late into the night.

Founded by the Portuguese in 1680, Colonia del Sacramento is UNESCO-listed for its irregular cobbled old town. Two nights cover the historic center and a day trip to the Carmelo vineyards, an hour's drive away. Further north, Fray Bentos holds an industrial museum inside the former Anglo meatpacking plant, and Paysandú and Salto line the river up to the 38°C thermal pools of Termas del Daymán, about fifteen minutes from downtown.

The country's most international beach resort, Punta del Este really comes alive from December to February, when accommodation prices double under the pressure of visitors from Buenos Aires and Brazil. The La Mano sculpture on Playa Brava and the Casapueblo house-studio at Punta Ballena can both be seen in a day. Outside season, from March to November, prices drop sharply, many venues close and the town returns to a quiet coastal pace.

With no fixed electricity grid or paved road, Cabo Polonio can only be reached by 4x4 truck from km 264 on Route 10, for a sea lion colony on the rocks and dunes that stretch to the horizon. Further east, Punta del Diablo and Santa Teresa national park, with its 18th-century fortifications, extend this largely undeveloped coast up to the Brazilian border crossing at Chuy.

Inland Uruguay is best seen from an estancia, working cattle ranches turned guesthouses where guests ride out with local gauchos and sleep in former manor houses. Tannat, a grape variety brought from southwest France in the 19th century, has become the country's signature red wine, especially around Canelones on Montevideo's doorstep. Set aside a few hours for a Sunday asado, a ritual not to be rushed, usually shared over a passed-around maté gourd.