A trip to Uruguay, one of South America’s undiscovered travel gems, will offer surprisingly varied options for travellers seeking an authentic holiday experience. Nestled between Brazil, Argentina and its rugged Atlantic Ocean coast, Uruguay features a large number of beautiful sandy beaches and colonies of seals. It is also home to rolling hills and vast, wide-open spaces in the countryside as well as friendly people, great food and tango. Any trip to Uruguay is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a holiday you will not forget.
The capital, Montevideo, should definitely be included in your trip to Uruguay. It is vibrant and features some beautiful French and Italian colonial buildings. Lively markets, excellent museums, a vibrant street life and good beaches add to the attractions. Take time to visit the nearby vineyards and wineries. Most are small and friendly, the owners often showing you around themselves.
Locals also have a fervent passion for tango. The most famous singer of all time, Carlos Gardel, is claimed as a Uruguayan and has a very interesting museum dedicated to him. And for wine and barbecues – say it quietly, but this country can more than rival the more well-known Argentinian varieties for top quality delicious steak and excellent wines.
Colonia (full name Colonia del Sacramento) is a World Heritage Site. Any trip to Uruguay should include Colonia. It is a popular day trip and easily accessed from Buenos Aires in Argentina. A fast ferry will take you across the Rio de la Plata, from Buenos Aires to Colonia, in under an hour. This makes for an excellent day trip. Colonia has a beautiful historic town centre with many buildings dating from the 17th century. There are beautiful flower-filled squares, tree-lined cobbled streets, colonial Portuguese and Spanish architecture plus a fabulous array of craft stores and cafes.
Spend a day wandering the narrow winding picturesque city streets and don’t miss the city gate and wooden drawbridge, the lighthouse and convent ruins of the 17th-century convent of San Francisco, the Portuguese museum, the Municipal building, Casa del Virrey, and the old bullring (Plaza de Toro).
The coast of Uruguay has lovely beaches and warms seas, which the locals flock to, to relax, swim and sunbathe. Try your hand at surfing in the ever-popular Punta del Diablo, home to some big waves.
From June to October there is a good chance to see the Southern Right Whales attracted to breed in the warm waters, off the shore. There are numerous whale watching spots along the coast, and wales are often just off the beach.
Inland and into the countryside, you can stay at a range of estancias to taste the rural life and sample some excellent horse riding. Birders will also be excited to see the variety of birds in the wetlands.
Uruguay has a charming, warm, friendly population of only 3 million, and is a little-known but perfect destination made for horse riding. Self-drive trips around the coast and the interior are also lovely, laid back ways to see this delightfully relaxed country.
Plan a trip to Uruguay with Andean Trails.
Horse Riding
Below you will find a few of the many attractions Uruguay has to offer for your holiday.
Uruguay’s 660km of white sand coastline, capes and dunes are almost completely deserted and unspoiled.
Drive north past Punta del Este and into more remote areas for wild and beautiful coast.
The fishing village of José Ignacio is the new up-and-coming place to stay, while La Pedreda calls to surfers, kite-surfers and eco-travellers.
Cabo Polonio is another old fishing village now turned eco/hippy resort. It’s basic with little electricity, but has a huge sea lion colony, peaceful waters to swim in and beautiful sunsets and clear skies for star gazing.
Further up, Punta del Diablo has more of a nightime scene as well as good swimming beaches.
A famous former Portuguese colonial outpost, Colonia is a step into a bygone age. Wander slowly past old and pretty colonial buildings, set in picturesque, quiet streets
There are two or three good restaurants to try, a couple of small museums worth a visit and you can swim in the refreshing Rio de la Plata river.
El Buen Suspiro (the good whisper) is Colonia’s most famous street. Some say its name derives from the enticing whispers of the prostitutes that worked here, others that it was the last breath of animals that were slaughtered here.
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J. Hill, U.K. Cloud forest and Amazon trip, Ecuador. November, 2025. I would like to thank Tom for organising my trip to Santa Lucia and Sinchi Wayra! It was incredible - he made the process really easy, and having all the information provided in sheets ready to print out and take with me was really useful. As I had a short period of time to do both places and had seen Santa Lucia trips advertised on Andean Trails' website, I felt that you were best placed to help me manage the organisation and scheduling. If I were planning another trip to South America, your website is the first place I would look. I also found the blogs really interesting to read before my departure and gave me useful information (and ideas for future holidays!). The highlight of my holiday was the cock-of-the-rock walk at Santa Lucia at 4am. Seeing the forest and the birds through the sunrise and then eating breakfast by a waterfall was a great way to start the day! I also really enjoyed the day at the community centre at Sinchi Wayra learning about the community and their traditions. Accommodation/ food/ guides/ overall organisation were all extremely good for both locations. The trip was well organised - my guide made sure I had time to see and do everything that I wanted to do. We had lots of great discussions about the rainforest, the birds and insects and also the history of Santa Lucia. No question went unanswered and I had a lot of them! The food was excellent and good portions - I was very well looked after. The cabin at Sinchi Wayra was extremely comfortable, despite being quite open to the wildlife. The mosquito net sorted any night time visitors out though and it great listening to the sounds of the forest and seeing the occasional glow worm going past! Our guide worked hard on the excursions to find us lots of interesting things to see like monkeys, parrots and caymans and also helped us get great footage. The lodge picked me up straight after the flight and dropped me off well in time for my flight back to Quito with no issues. The food here was some of the best I had in Ecuador. At both lodges, time was taken to explain their history, the various environmental and social issues that impact both environments and how tourism is essential to help keep pressures of deforestation, and particularly in the Amazon, oil extraction, at bay. I feel my visit did therefore help the lodges and communities, as it helps them push back against these pressures.
Alastair and John, UK. Tailormade Patagonia inc. Self-guided Paine Circuit. November, 2025 Andean Trails has many pluses. You get a bespoke trip: “bespoke” as in getting exactly what you want (not as in expensive) and you are not part of a group with inevitable compromises to the itinerary. Kathy is very knowledgeable about the region from personal experience. The side trips beyond Chalten and Paine, suggested by Kathy, made for a fuller experience of both countries, their culture and history. We had to make changes during the trip and were able to complete them using WhatsApp, Kathy’s availability never seemed an issue. The local agents sent us reminders for the next day in good English and were all punctual. The WhatsApp reminders were very helpful/reassuring. The highlight of the trip was just the beauty of the scenery overall. Accommodation all very comfortable/ appropriate. The hotels in Buenos and Santiago were very comfortable and with good restaurants nearby. Canelos and Senderos good walking hotels, and food in Canelos notably good. Bunkrooms in Paine were roomy and facilities generally better than a lot of what we've experienced in Alps/Pyrenees. Food in Puerto Natales was particularly good with some great fish and seafood, at great prices, We maybe benefited local people by using hotels, laundries, restaurants etc. Obviously the tourist industry in both Argentina and Chile employs lots of local people. We tipped services hopefully at a reasonable level. What I would do differently is I probably would not have bought as much data on my eSIM WiFi is pretty ubiquitous even in the park. There are inevitably a lot of transfers and bus connections. Might have tried to finesse some of that.
