montevideo backpacking

Montevideo is the capital of Uruguay. I spent 4 days here but would happily not have come at all. There isn't much to do. The only reason I came was Australia played against Uruguay in November 2005 in a Football World Cup Qualifier. Australia lost this leg (1st leg) 0-1 so everyone was happy. Hence no violence. But there were plenty of riot police around us during the game and escorting us out of the stadium so no safety concerns at all. Might have been a different story if Australia drew or won. But well done Montevideo police for making us feel safe.

If it weren’t for the soccer, I wouldn’t have bothered going to Montevideo.  But it’s up to you to decide.

Montevideo airport to the city

The cheapest way to get to Montevideo from the airport is by bus. The bus is appoximately a 40 minute trip and you’ll get to check out a bit of the city on the way. Make sure you have some sort of map with you so you can see where you are. It’s ok to look at the street names as you enter the city and start ticking them off your map as you go. The city is quite compact so you’ll be able to walk to your destination from wherever you are dropped off, or decide to get off.

Montevideo to Buenos Aires

The quickest way to get to/from Buenos Aires and Montevideo is the bus/ferry combination. You ticket to Buenos Aires comprises of a bus ride to Colonia and then a ferry ride to Buenos Aires. A slower boat will take approximately 6 hours in total. You can pay extra for a faster boat which would be 4 hours in total. When I took made the trek, the faster boat was cancelled and people had to take the slower boat despite paying for the faster one. You might find it worth it to spend a bit of extra time in Colonia on your way to Buenos Aires.

If you're taking a bus to Buenos Aires, buses travel via Gualeguaychu and are slower (about 8 hours). You’re better to take the bus and ferry combination.

Where to stay – Red Hostel

Red Hostel is a good option when you are staying in Montevideo. Good communal atmosphere to meet people. It is also relatively clean so you won’t need to worry about cleanliness. The location of the hostel is good but Montevideo is small so anywhere is within walking distance. It isn’t far from the drinking areas however the walk can feel quite long after a night out. It also has free internet which is handy.

I did find the showers at Red Hostel quite annoying. You need to make sure you’re one of the first ones out as the line can get quite long. And the water pressure isn’t that great!

Eating in Montevideo – visit Mercado del Puerto

Make sure you visit Mercado del Puerto and have some steak here – sorry if you’re vegetarian but you’ve probably found out that South America doesn’t specialise in vegetarian cuisine! Mercado del Puerto has plenty of choice of restaurants each with their large grills (parillas). It’s a meat eater’s delight. I could eat here many days on end - maybe that's why I enjoyed the food in South America so much (actually, I just love food).

Things to see

Check out Plaza Independencia. The statute makes this the only real site to check out in Montevideo. Here, you can head underground to check out the coffin of José Gervasio Artigas. It’s quite eerie inside and rather spooky. But something to check out nonetheless. At least it wasn't like Chariman Mao's tomb in Tiananmen square, Beijing where guards are forcing you through and you don't get a good look. You can spend as long as you want looking at Artigas' coffin.

Besides this, just take a walk around the city and the old town to get a feel of Montevideo. Just try to relax with all the litter and stray dogs around.

Drinking

Head towards Bartholomew Mitre in the old district. Over here, there are many bars/pubs right next door to each other so you will be bound to find something which you’ll like or at least put up with. This seems to be the happening part of Montevideo and where we ended up drinking each night when we head out.

Jafatravel.com visited Montevideo in November 2005

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