A country · 70 places · 10 regions

Uruguay, all of it.

70 curated places across 10 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.

Colonia del Sacramento · via Wikimedia Commons

The 4 biggest regions — Montevideo Department, Maldonado Department, Rocha Department and Colonia Department — read below as chapters, with 6 more waiting past them.

Chapter I · Montevideo Department · 24 places

Montevideo Department

Montevideo is the capital and largest city of Uruguay, positioned on a promontory at the northern bank of the Río de la Plata estuary with a rambla coastal boulevard stretching 22 kilometres along the waterfront. The Ciudad Vieja old town contains Art Deco and neoclassical buildings from the early twentieth-century economic boom, clustered around the Plaza Independencia and the Mercado del Puerto covered market. Uruguay's relaxed and progressive cultural character is reflected in the city's thriving murga carnival tradition and its well-maintained public beach system.

Montevideo

Montevideo Department, Uruguay

✦ November to April · $$

Palacio Salvo

Montevideo Department, Uruguay

✦ Year-round · $

Mercado del Puerto

Montevideo Department, Uruguay

✦ Year-round · $$

All 24 places in Montevideo Department →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter II · Maldonado Department · 10 places

Maldonado Department

Punta del Este is a resort city on a narrow peninsula at the southeastern tip of Uruguay, where the Río de la Plata and the Atlantic Ocean converge, creating calm western beaches and open ocean eastern shores on the same narrow isthmus. The sculpture La Mano — five giant fingers emerging from the sand at Playa Brava — is the most replicated image of the city and an unavoidable photographic reference point. The city draws the South American cultural and economic elite in January, when its population expands from 10,000 to over 200,000.

✦ December to March · $$$

Meet Punta del Este All 10 places in Maldonado Department →

Chapter III · Rocha Department · 10 places

Rocha Department

A laid-back fishing and beach village on Uruguay's Atlantic coast. Wooden cabins and wide empty sands make it a quiet summer alternative to the busier resorts.

Aguas Dulces

Rocha Department, Uruguay

✦ December to March · $

Cabo Polonio

Rocha Department, Uruguay

✦ November to April

Punta del Diablo

Rocha Department, Uruguay

✦ December to February · $

All 10 places in Rocha Department →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter IV · Colonia Department · 5 places

Colonia Department

Colonia del Sacramento is a UNESCO World Heritage city on the Río de la Plata estuary, founded by the Portuguese in 1680 as a trading post and contested with Spain throughout the colonial period. Its historic quarter preserves an unusually intact streetscape of cobblestone lanes, ruins of a seventeenth-century convent, a lighthouse converted from a colonial bulwark, and low single-storey houses with terracotta rooftiles. The city is accessible by high-speed ferry from Buenos Aires in just over an hour, making it a popular weekend excursion.

✦ September to May · $$

Meet Colonia del Sacramento All 5 places in Colonia Department →

Regions of Uruguay

Every place in Uruguay

70 places, one country.

Colonia del Sacramento

Colonia Department, Uruguay

✦ September to May · $$

Montevideo

Montevideo Department, Uruguay

✦ November to April · $$

Punta del Este

Maldonado Department, Uruguay

✦ December to March · $$$

Palacio Salvo

✦ March–June, August–November · $$

Wander all 70