The Rambla of Montevideo (La Rambla de Montevideo) is over 22 km long promenade stretching along the coastal line of the Uruguayan capital.
Any time of a day it is full of activity: jogging, biking, dog walking, fishing, sunbathing, you name it. After a month in Montevideo, it became one of my favorite places in the city and a winner when we have a spare hour to break from daily business routine. Inevitably, we end up on the water braving either blazing sun or chilly wind. By now, I think we know every crack and missing tile of its pavement within 5 km from our home.
One day we decided that it was time to go further. The only way to enjoy it was by riding a bicycle. Conveniently, just a couple blocks from our place there is a bike rental service called Orange Bike. I wrote here that Montevideo visitors unless they live in some hostels, have only one way of securing a bicycle ride – renting from Orange Bike. At least, this is the only way I am aware of. The situation with up-to-date online resources about Montevideo for English-speaking visitors hasn’t improved much in the past few years and still hovers at “feeling lucky” level.
As luck would have it, the day we chose for a ride was the first real preview of the upcoming fall. Gray skies, strong wind, and high tide made the Rambla an unwelcoming place. This “minor” inconvenience was not going to hamper our plans, so we simply extended the rent to 24 hours to make two rides: on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday morning.
Saturday afternoon: windy, cloudy, high tide, only the bravest ventured onto the Rambla.
The best way to describe Saturday ride is it was wet and chilly. Almost immediately, I was showered by a rogue wave. Not enjoying it, we left the Rambla and for couple kilometers rode at a safe distance from the water until the coastline curved.
I was not in the mood of getting another salty shower and stayed at the safe distance at the expense of sacrificing the video.
The uneventful ride brought us to Punta Carretas. On a good day, it must be fishermen paradise.
On a nasty day though the place belonged to cats. Wisely, they occupied the windless slope and since we did not have any fish or other cat-approved snacks, completely ignored us.
Back on the Rambla, the scene had brightened up with splashes of pink. It was the 5K Run dedicated to the fight against breast cancer (2015 5K Contra el cáncer de mama).
Sunday morning: cloudy to almost clear skies, pleasantly warm, the Rambla was coming back to life.
It was a perfect morning for the bicycle ride. Sun was just picking through clouds and was not in the mood to burn my skin, water calmed down and wind was almost nonexistent.
Another running event was taking place along the water. Luckily for us, the road was closed for traffic, but bicyclists were allowed to ride along with runners.
Eventually, we got as far as Malvin beach (Playa Malvin).
The roundtrip from Ciudad Vieja to Playa Malvin and back was about 20 km. It was fun and easy ride. It did get boring in a while so I would not recommend taking it more than once.
The Rambla is divided into many differently named sections. Ordered from west to wast, the stretches of the Rambla are: Baltasar Brum, Edison, South America, Franklin D. Roosevelt, 25 August 1825, Monteverde, France, Great Britain, Republic Argentina, President Wilson, Mahatma Gandhi, Republic of Peru, Armenia, Republic of Chile, O’Higgins, Coimbra, Republic of Mexico, Costanera and Tomás Berreta.
La Rambla might not only be a good trip with the bike. We visited Montevideo in October and walked a big part of La Rambla. It is a really walk friendly road with a great view out towards the water. I do agree with you that it could get a bit boring after some time, but a walk during one of those days that you are looking forward to relax some from the city itself, then it is perfect. 🙂
Thank you for stopping by, Jasper. Of course, you are right – Rambla is great for walking too. In fact, walking there by the end of the day for an hour became our routine while we stayed in Montevideo. We were living next to Plaza Zabala, so it was so close.
So you *were* deep in Ciudad Vieja! I’m here for ten days, was trying to find some info on lavanderiasand found your site. I was hoping you were still here so that I could hang out with someone else and not monopolize all of my host’s time, or become a burden to him.
I’m staying on Plaza Matriz and today I walked down Sarandí to Misiones and then down to La Rambla. From there I walked around to, and out, the Escollero. Nice walk, but windy as hell – and a little sketchy. At points I was afraid I was going to run into some addicts, but they were all harmless fishers.
Great to hear from you, Michael. Sorry to disappoint – we were in Montevideo last spring (just realized how long it’s been since that time by now 🙁 ). Hope you are having a good time there. I agree some parts of Ciudad Vieja might seem a bit sketchy, but, in my experience, locals were generally friendly regardless of their ways of life. We lived on Plaza Zabala not far from where you are staying. I felt pretty comfortable walking alone during daytime; past midnight (or even when it was dark but not really late yet) was a different matter. We did witness rather bold purse snatching on Rambla on a crowded Saturday afternoon. In this regard, Montevideo is no different than any other city in the world. However, it has so much understated charm and character that you forget all other shortcomings. Just exercise some common sense and enjoy the city. Cheers!
Montevideo is rarely depicted on travel sites, yet it has some lovely architecture…
Gosh, what a pack of cats! 😀 Love that photo!
Hitchcock would love it too! :)))
These were very smart cats. They completely ignored us, but when a fisherman started to pack his stuff, they flocked to his side to inspect what he was leaving behind.
This would have been awesome to do when I was in Uruguay! I was only there for a day trip, so I went to Colonia. I love biking when I travel!
If you ever have a chance, come and spend some time in Montevideo. It is such a lovely city with so many different things to see and to do.
Though it was a cloudy and windy day the view must have been spectacular along this coastal stretch in Uruguay! I love biking and the water. It’s relaxing and great exercise no matter where you are in the world!
The Rambla in Montevideo is really amazing, we walked there for a long time, and enjoyed an amazing sunset there from the lighthouse in your picture! Loved so much this city!
Montevideo is one of my favorites too :).
it seems like a perfect spot for a walk
The Rambla was definitely one of our favorite places to go to in Montevideo. This post has me reminiscing big time. Great photos.
Thank you :). Absolutely agree: the Rambla is my favorite too.
I wish we had known about Orange Bike when we cycled the Rambla. We got free bikes from our hotel and they were a really pretty yellow and about the most uncomfortable bikes I have ever been on. It’s a great ride though!
Cool pictures! Love places where you can cycle 🙂
wow, looks great and love the photos, thanks
Trevor Barre
http://www.liveeachadventure.com/
Thanks Trevor! It was definitely worth getting wet to experience a different side of Montevideo.