Tourist Information

PUNTA DEL ESTE

Coming from Montevideo via Interbalnearia route you will find beautiful sand strips surrounding high rise buildings. You will also see the beaches which will be making you feel that you are arriving to the paradise. Boats and yatchs, tourists doing windsurf or just swimming, kids playing soccer at the beach, all of this you will see once you arrive, but you will need to drive a little bit more to be at the peninsula itself.

It divides the sea in two different kind of beaches: the Mansa and the Brava. The first one has calm waters, soft waves and it is ideal for the ones who like to enjoy windsurfing and swimming. It is also perfect for families because is a safe beach for kids.

The Brava beach is for the ones who love adrenaline. Ideal for surfers, you can find there the most fantastic waves and the most beautiful people. Being a piece of land which is surrounded by the sea, the levels of ozone and iodine are important.Sun protection is recomended. Coming from the west you will find Chihuahua, the first Nudist beach of Uruguay. Next to it you have Solanas, a beautiful beach with an acuatic park included. Las Grutas, which, even though is a beach located at the Mansa side, has beautiful waves and is surrounding by rocks. Next to this beach you will find the Mansa itself which goes until Parada 1, at the peninsula.

At Brava beach there are many little beaches where every year the young people goes and transform it in the "must-go beach". Is the case of Bikini, Manatiales or Montoya beaches located at La Barra.

Many hotels are available to host the tourists, and one the most important caracteristic is that there are different kind of them, always ready to make you feel like your vacations will be unforgettable. The hotel and the real estate industries in Punta del Este have a capacity equivalent to a hotel with 100000 beds with services that are constantly growing. At night many different activities are available.

Musical events, disco-clubs, casinos and cinemas offer endless possibilities to make you go out until the sunrise. For gourmets there is a wide range of international and traditional food restaurants that open their doors to show their art.

Punta del Este is growing fast today. There are important real estate investments combining the beauty of the beach and the confort of the progress. It has been done an important investment to make the routes available to go everywhere faster and safe. The double-bridge which connect Brava beach with La Barra has made easier the circulation at night. Years ago it would take more than an hour to get to La Barra. Today, in less than 15 minutes you can get there and enjoy its lively nightlife. Every year La Barra grows and changes. It is the place tourists used to choose to have a calm and peaceful vacation. Today is a place with an intense nightlife, full of bars, disco-clubs and restaurants. Its houses have changed too. Now they have been converted in colorful and sophisticated ones.

The port of Punta del Este is another classic. One of the not only tourists´ favourites strolls, but also the Maldonado citizens one, it has been transformed in a beatiful walking deck. It is almost 4 mts wide and allows the access to the Mansa beach.
Roosevelt avenue is one of the avenues which connect Maldonado city with Punta del Este. This avenue is itself a big commercial center where you can find supermarkets, drugstores, and the Punta del Este Shopping Mall.
Bicycle riders can do it through the avenue wich has special paths to do it. All of this and more make of Punta del Este an extraordinary destination for your vacation.

Its beaches, bars, cinemas, sport events and more give everybody the possibility to enjoy life to the fullest. Welcome to Punta del Este!

Location

PUNTA DEL ESTE is located in Maldonado, 130 kms to the East from Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, and 372 kms from Buenos Aires (via Colonia) Located over a narrow strip of land which divides the waters of the Rio de la Plata and the Atlantic Ocean, Punta del Este appears as an exclusive beachtown. Its beauty and sophistication make it one of the must-visit ones, where the international high society go for vacations. Beautiful beaches and magnificent mansions are its prominent caracteristics.

Climate

Punta del Este's climate is an important part of the eco-system of the place, and knowing it allows you to enjoy the sun, beach and nature.

The fall has a bening weather with enjoyable temperatures during the day and chilly nights. It is the ideal time of the year to go visiting the historic places of the city , fishing, hunting, and not to be forgotten, to do the ECO-TRIPS, visiting the mountains and rivers which surround Punta del Este.

Winter is the ideal season to go to the movies. Punta del Este is the place where new films are first shown. Many cinemas with the newest technology and comfortable seatings make the perfect place for the ones who love the big screen. July is also time to receive tourists when the winter vacations are. Two weeks where the young crowd and the families come to relax and prepare for the second half of the year. July temperatures are between 15'C maximum and 8'C minimum.

Spring is the renaissence of Punta del Este. The weather is warmer, the sun begins to be felt. Gardens and parks are the must-go places. They are beautifully taken care of and are enjoyable by anyone because private house gardens are open to the view of everybody due to the safety of the city. The fantastic mansions, the parks and the beaches begin to be prepare for summer.

What can we tell about summer in Punta del Este? It is fantastic. The weather is really enjoyable, with temperatures which are around 28`C. Intense nightlife, international events, fashion exhibitions, sports competitions, shows, casinos, international Jet-Set , it all happens in Punta del Este in summer surrounded by the safety, peace and tolerance that Uruguay offers.

Costa de Oro (Gold Coast)

The Coast along Río de la Plata in the Department of Canelones bears the name ´Costa de Oro´ All along this coast there is a string of seaside resorts which have grown over the years to become yet another tourist attraction in our country. Costa de Oro fans out from the end of Montevideo to Arroyo Solís at the gate of the department of Maldonado. The seemingly never-ending white sandy beaches, with a choice of calm or rough waters, are extremely enjoyable.

A stretch of sixty eight kilometers where more than thirty seaside resorts lay in the midst of sand and trees tenaciously fighting the winds and dunes. Forestry of the coastal strip previous to urbanization gives a feeling of warmth, peace and quiet to visitors. For those who have a fancy for a crowd, there are urban centers such as Solymar, Lagomar, Atlántida, Costa Azul or La Floresta, with all the necessary services including a Casino where to try your luck. This coastal zone represented a fortunate expansion for thousands of Montevideo dwellers who built their week-end and summer homes and gradually decided to establish their permanent residency in this friendly area. This brought about an unusually large population growth with the subsequent development of services. In summer, nice and comfortable housing is usually offered for rent on a monthly or full-season basis. Tourists and montevideans alike benefit from the opportunity to enjoy the invaluable pleasure of taking a well-deserved break, a few days of rest and leisure in touch with nature, enjoying both local and international cuisine as well as bars, coffee-shops, etc. Costa de Oro could be divided in distinctive areas; the first one is highly urbanized since many citizens prefer the peace and quite of the seaside towns to the hustle and bustle of the capital. Up to arroyo Solís where the seaside resort El Pinar is located (Ruta Interbalnearia, Kilometer 29), services are abundant and traffic is constant. Not far from Montevideo, since it is only 20 kilometers away, you may reach these beaches by excellent roads and enjoy an afternoon or a whole season.

Further away from the capital, from kilometer 34 up to the seaside resort Costa Azul on kilometer 57, lays a less busy strip that caters to those who like quiet with all the comforts of a good infrastructure. There we find: Pinamar, Salinas, Marindia, Fortín de Santa Rosa, Atlántida, Parque del Plata, Las Toscas, La Floresta y Costa Azul, the very heart of Costa de Oro. These seaside resorts have grown spurred by the flow of traffic from Canelones, Minas and all the nearby cities and towns. Neighboring agricultural and industrial producers and businessmen contributed generously to create this beautiful area. Here, tourists will find many camping sites, restaurants, hotels and all kinds of well equipped services. Finally, towards the East end of the department lay the seaside resorts which -without neglecting the service offer- have the roughest vegetation, surrounded by pine trees and eucalyptus. The following stand out: Bello Horizonte (remarkable for surf lovers), San Luis, Los Titanes - La Tuna, Araminda, Santa Lucía del Este with calm beaches and fishermen, Cuchilla Alta, with cliffs over the ocean, Jaureguiberry on the border of the department, kilometer 81, and Solís, in the Department of Maldonado..

Oceanic Coast – Rocha

Rocha borders the ocean and, like the rest of the Department, it is a place where nature is seen most vibrant and intense. There are lagoons and wetlands brimming with flora and fauna. Hundreds of kilometers of unspoilt beaches and places invite to daydreaming, like Punta del Diablo, Cabo Polonio, Valizas or Barra del Chuy. Seaside resorts with first class services like La Paloma, La Pedrera y La Coronilla.

Land of large cattle-breeding areas, lagoons bordered with palm groves, native forests and a rugged coast facing the Atlantic, Rocha is filled with natural unspoiled attractions. Some of its seaside towns have earned international renown.

Here, life goes by in absolute freedom under the burning summer sun and mild mid-seasons. The sea quiets down wherever there are coves or small bays, but the stony walls take the ocean furious shove creating the eternal spectacle of large waves breaking against the rock. Where once rose small villages, now we find comfortable tourist venues.

The most important, La Paloma, is nestled on a wide inlet. Protected by tall, very old pine trees, it still preserves the charming features of its primitive configuration. Suitable lodging and a good number of simple but comfortable houses typical of unpretentious, simple towns, meet a growing demand from people escaping rush and schedules. Fishing boats on the horizon reveal the presence of a sea lion rookery nearby. The whole of the oceanic coast is considered one of the best fishing sites because it harbors abundant and varied fish. Punta del Diablo, specialized in artisan shark processing, is definitely worth visiting. If you wish, you may find accommodation for few days in a cabin. The coastline draws a zigzags. Peculiar dunes rise 70 meters high and the wind changes their shape. Further on, in Cabo Polonio, we find a desolate but beautiful landscape. Sand, dunes, and typical carriages to access otherwise unreachable places. And then, sea lion colonies sing in chorus on the rock formations. Tourists explore Rocha looking for emotion, enjoying the wild beauty of a barely trodden, natural environment. It is not unlikely to travel along very long and wide strips of soft, white sand without catching sight of its end. But nothing in this region is monotonous. The coast offers rock variations, calm water refuges and tiny hamlets here and there.

Well preserved forts and fortresses from colonial times, converted into museums, tell of times when Spaniards and Portuguese fought for control over Rio de la Plata. One of those historical monuments is the Fortress of Santa Teresa, located on the coast, next to a park with thousands of centennial trees, exuberant vegetation, exotic birds and pools rimmed with flowers. The Fort of San Miguel, a drawbridge type of fort, is located inland, close to the border of Brazil. From its top we see a huge native forest. The palm groves and lagoons remain practically.

Montevideo

The Uruguayan capital combines the charm of a city surrounded by beaches and coastline, with prestigious hotel chains, shopping centres and modern architecture and with the historic colonial buildings in the old city, where the visitors can also find antiques and good restaurants. Montevideo is a beautiful and safe city to walk around, with several museums, the magnificent Parliament Building, built in 1925 with 40 different types of marble, and the Centenary Stadium, built in 1930 for the first football World Cup.

Colonia

Colonia has been declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO. The city has preserved its centuries-old protective wall and drawbridge and numerous 18th Century mansions, now converted into charming museums and guest houses including the Portuguese Museum and the Spanish Museum, and these adorn the city’s picturesque colonial streets. Colonia is located 177 km from Montevideo by car and 45 minutes from Buenos Aires by ferry.