South America Part 1 - Uruguay

I recently got back from my first trip of 2026 – 12 days in South America, where I visiting Uruguay and Argentina! After the insanely cold and horrible weather in DC in late January and early February, I was more than excited to go somewhere warm. And while the Iran War started while I was still down there, fortunately for me it didn’t impact flights to/from South America.

Since I visited two different countries, I’m going to do my thoughts on each one separately, starting with Uruguay. I visited two cities in Uruguay, the small historical town Colonia del Sacramento and the capital, Montevideo, spending a couple days in both places, for a total of 5 ½ days. So here are the great, the random, and underwhelming of Uruguay.

The Great
Relaxing in Colonia del Sacramento
I started my trip in Colonia del Sacramento (colloquially known just as Colonia), and it was such an amazing relaxing start to my trip. Colonia is a tiny town, only about 20,000 people, but as a result it is very cute and friendly, all the charm of a small town. It’s also right on the Rio de la Plata (technically a tidal estuary) so you can relax at a restaurant right next to the water for a meal or just to watch the sunset over the water. The historic center flipped between Portuguese and Spanish control, creating an interesting mix of buildings. Don’t get me wrong, there is not a ton to see. But that’s not the point. It’s beautiful and charming and a wonderful place to slow down and relax.

One note – many people visit Colonia as a daytrip from Buenos Aires. I highly recommend against that. Both because you’re missing the best part of Colonia by rushing your time there, and because between getting to the ferry, going through immigration, and the ferry ride itself, you’re going to spend more time transiting than actually in Colonia.

Wine
Checking out the wine scene in Uruguay was part of the impetus for this trip and man, it was definitely one of the highlights. I went to two different wineries on a tour (shout out to Wine Explorers – Uruguay, they were fantastic) and a few different wine bars and by and large, the wine was fantastic. What’s cool about Uruguayan wine is that they are more experimental than a lot of countries I’ve visited. One winery I visited has a young wine (harvested in March and released – by law – for sale in July) where they have the grapes internally ferment, and then press the already fermented juice and do a second fermentation. Several places are aging some wine in large terracotta vessels. And there are a number of rare grapes and hybrids that I have never heard of. And of course there are great tannats, the national grape. I could go on and on but main point – the wine scene is fantastic.

The Food
As a vegetarian, you can never really predict what countries are going to have good food. And Uruguay had absolutely fantastic food – I enjoyed everything I ate. If I had to describe Uruguayan food (minus asado), it was very similar to California cuisine – fresh, local, and Western without sitting in any specific European cuisine. They even had a lot of sourdough bread. And of course there was a great deal of excellent cheese.

Absolutely delicious

The Random but Cool
The Origami Museum
Yes, you read that correctly – there is an Origami Museum in Uruguay, specifically in Colonia del Sacramento. The tiny, but very informative, museum covers the history of folded paper art over the past millennia in China, Japan, Western Europe, and the United States, and how the interaction between the cultures impacted the art form. It also covered napkin folding art. The other displays showed various modern origami art pieces. My favorite was the dragon. The museum will take you 45 min tops, but it’s definitely worth checking out for the randomness if nothing else.

The Underwhelming
Montevideo
I’d heard Montevideo described as a more chill version of Buenos Aires, but honestly, I feel like the city itself was just meh. There was some cool architecture in the old town, but the entire area was also kind of run down looking and at night felt a little sketchy. They have gardens and museums, but most of them were nothing to write home about. The Juan Manual Blanes Museum and grounds were great, but it’s a small area that only needs a few hours. I spent three days in Montevideo and I’d say you only need two – one to see the city and one for going to wineries in the area. All that said, it is a perfectly pleasant and relaxing place to visit for a day or two.

Conclusion
I had a great time in Uruguay. If I had to do the trip again, I’d have spent less time in Montevideo and either gone to Punta del Este or spent another day in Colonia so I could visit the wine region outside of the town. If you do go to Uruguay, keep in mind this is a low-key, slow down kind of place, not a “cram stuff in” place. If you want to cram things in, you can, but there isn’t a ton to cram and trying to really robs you of the charm of the country. I spent at good chunk of my time in both Colonia and Montevideo reading on benches in various parks. It was delightful. So if you’re interested in a chill, see some stuff but more relaxed kind of trip, I definitely recommend Uruguay.