Updated January, 2018
In this post: cows vs. people, yerba mate, and Uruguay travel resources from general information about life on the island to list of hospitals to utilities and everything in between.
Uruguay, hmm?… Ask a random person to show it on a map. I bet you would have some fun. Wait, you might have even “better” luck with Montevideo, the country’s capital.
Uruguay remains one of the best kept secrets of modern travel. Brazilians and Argentinians discovered it a long time ago. For decades, it happened to be their top summer (ahem, winter (we are talking South America here, right?) destination.
Regardless of the season, it stays in the shadow of bigger neighbors to the rest of the world for no reason. Let’s break this tradition, shall we? What makes this notoriously flat country worth a visit? Anecdotally, cows outnumber people two-to-one in Uruguay, which is famous for its high quality beef. The national drink, Yerba Mate, is an herbal infusion traditionally drunk from gourds through silver straws. Uruguay was the first country in the modern era to legalize cannabis in December 2013. Even the hardest to please architecture buff would be impressed with art nouveau and art deco masterpieces of Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital. Incidentally, it is also the home of one of the longest esplanades in the world. The Rambla of Montevideo (La Rambla de Montevideo) is over 22 km long promenade stretching along the coastal line of the Uruguayan capital. Last but not least, the street art is astonishing there.
Read about our experience
We spent 3 months in Uruguay. We lived in Montevideo and fell in love with this beautiful city. Here we have a few helpful links to make your visit to this South American country less stressful. BTW, if you know any other useful resources, drop us a note or comment below. We will review and add them here too. Happy travels!
General Information about Uruguay and Visa Info
- Visa policy of Uruguay – from Wikipedia
- Uruguay Info – from US Department of State, includes entry/exit info
- Travel advice and advisories for Uruguay – from Government of Canada, includes entry/exit requirements
- Foreign travel advice: Uruguay – from GOV.UK, includes entry/exit requirements
- Uruguay Info – from Australian Government, includes entry/exit requirements
- Uruguay – from Wikipedia
- Uruguay Facts and Culture – from Country Reports
- Uruguay – from CIA’s the World Factbook
- Presidencia del Uruguay – in Spanish
- Uruguay Sitio oficial – in Spanish
- Uruguay Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores – in Spanish
- Vivir y Visitar Uruguay – from Uruguay Relaciones Exteriores, in Spanish
- Consumer Protection Agency of Uruguay – in Spanish
- Intendencia de Montevideo – in Spanish
- Culture of Uruguay
- UruguayNow – English-language travel guide dedicated to Uruguay (looks like it hasn’t been updated since 2011)
- Total Uruguay – Uruguay Expat Info
- Nine things you probably never knew about Uruguay – from Guardian. Note: marijuana is legal in Uruguay now
- Interesting Facts About Uruguay – Fun Facts Uruguay
- Exploring Uruguay – blog about living in Uruguay dated back to 2009-10, so some info could be outdated
- Guru’Guay – all you need to know about Uruguay and Montevideo, a blog by Karen Higgs. Also, Karen wrote Guru’Guay Guide to Montevideo, a 134-pages downloadable PDF. Unlike her website, the guide is not free. It costs $10. NOTE: Traveling Bytes is not affiliated nor has the financial interest in distributing this publication.
Banking and Finance
- List of banks in Uruguay – from Wikipedia. The list of commercial banks in Uruguay
- Banco República – state-owned
- Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay – state-owned
- Banco Hipotecario del Uruguay – state-owned
- Banco Bandes Uruguay – private
- Banco Itaú Uruguay – private
- Scotiabank
- Discount Bank (Latin America) – private
- Banco Santander – private
- Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Uruguay – private
- HSBC Bank (Uruguay) – private
- Banque Heritage (Uruguay) – private
- Citibank N.A. Sucursal Uruguay – private
- Banco de la Nación Argentina – private
- Carrasco Airport Bureau de Change & ATM Machines
Telecommunications
- Prepaid SIM cards in Uruguay
- Uruguay Prepaid Plans from APNCharger.org
- ANTEL – Uruguay’s government-owned telecommunications company
- Movistar Uruguay
- Claro Uruguay
Medical and Health
- Medical Emergency Information for Uruguay – from South America Living
- Uruguay Healthcare and the “Mutualista”
- Healthcare in Uruguay – from International Living
- Destination: Uruguay – from Travel Medicine
- British Hospital – most expats go there
Transportation
- Montevideo tránsito y transporte – from Intendencia de Montevideo
- Guía Online de los Ómnibus y Calles de Montevideo – in Spanish
- Carrasco Airport website
- Taxi at Carrasco Airport – authorized transfer
- Carrasco International Airport Private Transfer
- Airport Transfer
- Getting a vehicle through customs and out of port in Montevideo, Uruguay – by dare2go
Shopping, Markets and such…
- Ferias – info about ferias (roughly translated as flea market or fair)
- List of farmers markets
- Ferias vecinales de Montevideo – circa 2014
- Farmers markets days and hours of operation
- MAM (Mercado Agricola de Montevideo)
- Feria de Tristán Narvaja
- Tienda Inglesa
- Ta-Ta
- Punta Carretas
- Montevideo Shopping Centre (Pocitos)
- Mercado de los Artesanos
- Tres Cruces Shopping Terminal
- Shopping in Montevideo – general overview from UruguayNow.com
Food, Restaurants and such…
- PedidosYa – online food ordering (in Spanish)
- SalirAComer – Guía de Restaurantes del Uruguay en Internet
- Restorando – Restaurants in Montevideo: book your table online for free
- RestaurantMontevideo.com – find out the best restaurants at Montevideo
Tintorerías (Dryclean)
Online News, Media and such…
- El Pais
- Caras & Caretas – weekly magazine
- MercoPress – Uruguayan News in English (South Atlantic News Agency)
Tourism
- The Official Portal of Tourism Board of Montevideo (El Conglomerado de Turismo de Montevideo)
- Book Uruguay tours, attractions, and activities online at GetYourRide
- WelcomeUruguay.com – Touristic Information about Uruguay
- Montevideo, Uruguay Travel Guide – from South America Living
- When is the best time to visit Uruguay? – from Guru’Guay
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Thank you for the valuable information!
You are welcome 🙂
If you read Spanish, I found this website very informative. It answered a lot of the questions I had: http://www.mimontevideo.com/
Thank you, Bruce 🙂
Hi Elena, thanks again for the link. Just wanted to let you and anyone interested know that The Guru’Guay Guide to Montevideo is now available in paperback from Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1530104165/ All the best — Karen
Hi Elena, thanks so much for including Guru’Guay in your list! Just as some background I decided to create Guru’Guay because I was tired of seeing the writers of the big travel guides glide through Uruguay for literally just a few days. After fifteen years of living here and working in the tourism industry for the last five, I thought, SOMEONE has to step up 🙂
I am glad you found it helpful while you were here. I’m not sure if you’ll want to include my new Guide to Montevideo for tablets and PCs which just came out this month as it is not free. However it has over 130 pages of info for just ten dollars. My website is free, so when people buy the guide, they are supporting the site too – SOMETHING needs to pay the bills, right?? 🙂 Anyway, thanks for a very thorough list!
Hi Karen, I apologize for a long delay with reply. I was on the road and had to minimize my online presence. Thank you very much for your kind words :). I included a link to your new guide to our list of resources (with appropriate disclaimer). Cheers, Elena.
Thanks, Elena! I hope people find it useful. All the very best, Karen
Awesome list of resources … will make good use of it when I get over that way!
Thanks Adam,
Even more coming soon 🙂
I don’t know if this qualifies as an added resource, our post: http://dare2go.com/getting-a-vehicle-through-customs-and-out-of-port-in-montevideo-uruguay/ – this would be of interest to most people who bring their own vehicle into Uruguay (as hundreds of travelers do every year, Grimaldi ships vehicles from Europe to Montevideo). Another interesting link for this group of travelers is http://wikioverland.org/Uruguay
Hi Juergen, great to hear from you! Thanks for sharing – adding both links to the list. Cheers!