How to Get Around Uruguay

Long-distance buses are excellent and are how the country moves. Frequent, comfortable, punctual and cheap, they run from the Tres Cruces terminal in Montevideo to everywhere. Montevideo to Punta del Este takes about two hours, to Colonia about two and a half. There is no meaningful passenger rail.

Renting a car is easy and the roads are good by regional standards. It is worth it for the Rocha coast and the interior, where buses are infrequent, and unnecessary in Montevideo. Most main routes have tolls.

The ferry from Buenos Aires is how a great many visitors arrive: Buquebus and Colonia Express cross the Río de la Plata to Colonia del Sacramento in about an hour and a quarter, or direct to Montevideo in around two and a half. Immigration for both countries is done in one place before boarding.

In Montevideo, city buses are cheap and cover everything; ride-hailing apps work and are inexpensive. The Rambla runs 22 kilometres along the waterfront and is the most pleasant way to cross the city on foot or by bike.

Domestic flights barely exist and are not needed — nowhere is more than about seven hours from anywhere.