A lot of travelers skip Uruguay entirely because it sits between the more obvious destinations of Argentina and Brazil. That is a mistake, and a correctable one since Montevideo is a day trip from Buenos Aires.
The ferry takes about two and a half hours from the Buquebus terminal. I arrived mid-morning and started in the Ciudad Vieja, the historic old town with colonial architecture and a market I walked through for about an hour. The fish empanadas I bought there, stuffed with mussel and calamari, were the best empanadas I had in the entire region.
From the Ciudad Vieja I took a short Uber to Estadio Centenario, the 1930 World Cup stadium. Then to a government building in the center where you can go to the roof for free and see the whole city laid out below you. Then back down to Plaza Independencia to see the General Artigas statue before the cold forced me to find somewhere warm.
Uruguay uses a lot of electric cars for ride-sharing. Every Uber I took was a BYD electric vehicle. That surprised me more than anything else about Montevideo.
The beach, the Rambla, was my last stop before heading back. The water looked brown rather than blue on that winter day and the wind was cutting across the bay. I still walked the whole length of it because the city looks different from the waterfront.
Five stops: old town market, Estadio Centenario, government rooftop, Plaza Independencia, Rambla. That is a full and honest day in Montevideo. You will need a warm jacket and comfortable shoes. Everything else takes care of itself.
