Things to do in Uruguay

16 places worth the trip in Uruguay, grouped by what they are. Every guide explains what to see, the best time to go and the practical details, checked against official sources. Best time to visit Uruguay: Nov–Apr.

Nature (3)
Beaches (3)
Landmarks (2)
Cities (2)
Food (2)
Heritage (1)
National parks (1)
Wildlife (1)
Viewpoints (1)

Nature in Uruguay

The brick-and-white Cabo Polonio lighthouse seen beyond a wire fence and tall dry coastal grasses under a blue sky

Rocha Department

Cabo Polonio

A small village on a rocky cape inside Cabo Polonio National Park, reached only across the dunes in off-road vehicles or on foot. It has no streets, mains electricity or running water, and a colony of sea lions lives on the rocks below its lighthouse.

Palm-dotted ravine of Quebrada de los Cuervos, Treinta y Tres

Treinta y Tres Department

Quebrada de los Cuervos

A gorge carved by the Yerbal Chico stream through the hills of eastern Uruguay, about 45 kilometres from the city of Treinta y Tres. Its sheltered, humid microclimate supports dense woodland and rich birdlife, and it lies at the heart of a protected landscape in the national protected areas system.

Water slides at the Acuamanía park in Termas del Daymán, Salto

Salto Department

Termas del Daymán, Salto

A thermal resort about 10 kilometres from the city of Salto, beside the Daymán River, where water rises at 46°C from 2,000 metres down in the Guaraní Aquifer. A municipal thermal park, the Acuamanía water park and hotels with their own pools make it one of Uruguay's leading destinations all year round.

Beaches in Uruguay

High-rise apartment towers lining a sandy beach in Punta del Este, seen across calm green sea water under a blue sky with white clouds

Maldonado Department

Punta del Este

A seaside city on a peninsula in Maldonado Department, about 140 kilometres east of Montevideo, that grew from a small town into a resort for the Latin American and international jet set. Its coast is split between the sheltered Mansa side on the Río de la Plata and the open Brava side on the Atlantic.

Aerial view of the José Ignacio headland with its lighthouse, low houses and a sandy beach, waves breaking on the rocks

Municipio de Garzón, Maldonado Department

José Ignacio

A former fishing village on a short peninsula about 30 kilometres east of Punta del Este, with a lighthouse at its rocky tip and beaches on either side. Lying between the José Ignacio and Garzón lagoons, it has become a discreet summer retreat with well-regarded restaurants.

Aerial view of a rocky point and sandy cove with the low houses of the village spreading along the coast

Rocha Department

Punta del Diablo

A former fishing village on Uruguay's northern Atlantic coast, set around rocky points with beaches on either side. Small cabins, hostels and restaurants line its sandy streets, fishing boats still go out each morning, and Santa Teresa National Park begins just to the north.

Landmarks in Uruguay

Curving whitewashed walls and arched windows of Casapueblo behind a tall pine and a blue pool on a sunny day

Punta Ballena, Maldonado Department

Casapueblo

A rambling white building on the headland of Punta Ballena, about 13 kilometres from Punta del Este, that the Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró shaped by hand over several decades. It was his home and workshop and now holds a museum of his work, a café and a hotel, with terraces that face the sunset over the water.

Neoclassical portico of Teatro Solís, Montevideo

Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo

Teatro Solís

The Teatro Solís, beside Plaza Independencia on the edge of Montevideo's old town, is the city's oldest and most important theatre. It opened in 1856 with Verdi's Ernani and reopened in 2004 after a major restoration, and it hosts opera, concerts, drama and dance as well as guided tours.

Cities in Uruguay

The Montevideo skyline and curving coastal Rambla beside the Río de la Plata on a sunny day, with a rainbow-coloured cloud in the blue sky

Montevideo Department

Montevideo's Ciudad Vieja

The Ciudad Vieja is the historic core of Montevideo, a peninsula at the mouth of the harbour where the Spanish built a walled city in the eighteenth century. Today it mixes colonial buildings, Art Deco and Neoclassical façades, museums, cafés and the pedestrian Sarandí street.

View from a hillside over Piriápolis, its curving beach and seafront buildings, with wooded hills behind

Maldonado Department

Piriápolis

A seaside resort about 100 kilometres east of Montevideo, founded in 1890 by the entrepreneur Francisco Piria and modelled on the great European resorts of the Belle Époque. Hills, woods and beaches surround its waterfront Rambla de los Argentinos and the grand Argentino Hotel.

Food in Uruguay

A bunch of green grapes hanging among vine leaves in sunlight

Colonia Department

Carmelo and its wineries

Carmelo is a small town on the Arroyo de las Vacas near the Río de la Plata, founded by Uruguay's national hero José Artigas in 1816. The surrounding countryside is wine country, with wineries that belong to Colonia's wine route, and the town is known for its hand-operated swing bridge.

Façade and entrance of Mercado del Puerto in Montevideo's Ciudad Vieja

Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo

Mercado del Puerto

The Mercado del Puerto is a cast-iron market hall opened in 1868 opposite Montevideo's port. It no longer sells produce: its stalls became grill restaurants serving Uruguayan asado, and it is one of the city's best-known places to eat and meet.

Heritage in Uruguay

The white lighthouse of Colonia del Sacramento rising above low historic buildings and cypress trees, framed by autumn branches under a blue sky

Colonia Department

Colonia del Sacramento

Colonia del Sacramento was founded by the Portuguese in 1680 on a peninsula in the Río de la Plata, opposite Buenos Aires, and changed hands between Portugal and Spain many times. Its small walled Barrio Histórico, with irregular cobbled lanes and low colonial houses, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.

National parks in Uruguay

Aerial view of the star-shaped stone fortress on a green hill, with woodland, a road and flat wetlands stretching behind

Rocha Department

Santa Teresa National Park and Fortress

A park of around 3,000 hectares on the Atlantic coast between Punta del Diablo and La Coronilla, planted with some two million trees and managed by Uruguay's army. It combines the restored colonial Fortaleza de Santa Teresa with greenhouses and a rose garden, a wildlife refuge, a large campsite and twelve kilometres of beaches.

Wildlife in Uruguay

Isla de Lobos lighthouse above the rocky shoreline off Punta del Este

Off Punta del Este, Maldonado Department

Isla de Lobos

A small rocky island about 8 kilometres off the coast of Punta del Este that holds the largest colony of sea lions and fur seals in the Western Hemisphere. Since 2024 it has been the core of Uruguay's first fully oceanic national park, and it is seen from the water on boat trips from the port.

Viewpoints in Uruguay

The Montevideo skyline silhouetted across a calm bay under an orange sunset sky, with bare trees in the foreground

Montevideo Department

Rambla of Montevideo

The Rambla is the coastal avenue and promenade that follows Montevideo's shoreline on the Río de la Plata, linking the old town with a string of city beaches. Montevideans use it every day to walk, run, cycle, fish and watch the sunset, and it has been declared a National Historic Monument.

Uruguay holiday packages

The white lighthouse of Colonia del Sacramento rising above low historic buildings and cypress trees, framed by autumn branches under a blue sky

CultureBeach

Uruguay · 7 nights4★ Boutique

Montevideo, Colonia & Punta del Este

Colonia old town
Tannat winery lunch
Casapueblo sunset

Includes accommodation · daily breakfast · private transfers · guided sightseeing

Indicative from

$2,258 pp

The Montevideo skyline and curving coastal Rambla beside the Río de la Plata on a sunny day, with a rainbow-coloured cloud in the blue sky

BeachNature

Uruguay · 7 nights4★ Boutique

Uruguay’s Atlantic Coast

José Ignacio beaches
Cabo Polonio sea lions
Santa Teresa fortress

Includes accommodation · daily breakfast · private transfers · cabo polonio 4x4 transfer

Indicative from

$2,378 pp

Uruguay travel overview Plan a Uruguay trip

Uruguay travel guides