jogehanna

My husband and I are planning a 10 day trip to Uruguay and Buenos Aries in May. I am just beginning my research so any suggestions on where to stay and for how long, interesting sees to see, weather and any other information that will help me plan this trip.

messifan

Hey,

Buenos Aires is a great place, I came to visit a few years ago and now i live here full time! I have a lot of info on BA, so let me know if you need any help. PM is the easiest way.

Also, what part of uruguay are you going to? Colonia? Punta del Este? Montevideo? Somewhere else? There are a lot of different options (mostly good) for how to get there and where to stay. once again, let me know if you need any help!

Cheers!

Scarlett

Messifan, they don't have PM on Fodors.
You might want to just post your info here so everyone can benefit from it.


jogehanna,
In May, I am guessing you are going to do a day trip to Colonia?
My son combined Colonia with Montevideo and spent a night in each one, he enjoyed the little break from BA .. but he was here for months . For a 10 day visit, you might just want to do it in a day trip.
You can go to Tigre for a day trip also, fall will be nice, hopefully the mosquitoes will be gone or at least less of them ..
An estancia is a good idea also.

Get a Rough Guides Argentina and see if you can find a Time Out Buenos Aires.
Just keep reading travel boards.. great for up-to-date info.

TripAdvisor ( you will see it linked a lot on these boards) is also a good source for research.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum..._District.html

Graziella5b

Hi, if you need information on Uruguay please let me know. The time of the year makes a big difference to visit Punta del Este which is a beach resort. A lovely beach resort. Summer is between December and March, more or less. Colonia is a quaint little town. Colonial .There are other options like the capital Montevideo. Of course Buenos Aires in comparison is a huge metropoli.

RedStater

I'm not sure that Colonia is really worth the time and expense of the long ferry trip from Buenos Aires. Interesting historical sites, but doable in only a couple of hours, and I found nothing remarkable about the place outside of the old town itself. I was a bit disappointed, too, at the absence of antique cars...the guide books had led me to believe that there were hordes of them. Not that I saw.

If you must go, consider the slow ferry. Several hours atop the vessel in open air, with access to an open bar, was probably the most fun part of the day.

jogehanna

Thank you for your suggestions. My latest plan is to go from the BA airport to the ferry to Monteveido for 2 nights. Then we would go to Colonia for one night. The last night before heading to BA would be spent in a estancia near San Antonio de Areco. In Monteveido I was thinking of staying atthe Sheraton Four Points using my points. I have many questions:

1. What is the best way to get to Montevedeo other than flying from EZE?
2. Suggestions on what to do in Montevideo including tours.
3. Best way to get to Colonia.
4. Suggestions where to stay in Colonia.
5. Suggestions on estancias to stay.
6. Best way to get to the Estancia from Colonia.
7. Suggestions and tours for BA.

seeksocean

Graziella and Messifan, I am planning my stay in Argentina and Uraguay for the 6 of us. Scarlett, Rastaguy and others have been a HUGE help...HUGE. It's during the holidays (Christmas for 17 nights) and so far we are in BA a week, then on to Mendoza for 3 or 4 nights, then Iguazu for two nights.

Here's the tricky part... We want a beach. We need a little beach time. Punta del Este seems way too pricey that time of year..and too crowded as well.

What about Mar del Plata? The reviews just aren't that great. Does Montevideo have nice beaches to 'beach it' at? We'd be there the first week in January. We'd love to keep it under $200 a night, but is that even possible without staying somewhere yucky? And then there's the getting there and back to BA for our last night or two.

I am seeksocean at Tripadvisor, just in case one of you has some time to help me. Thank you one and all!!!

drdawggy

Montevideo is not on the ocean. It fronts an estuary where there are beaches...just not the same as beaches fronting the ocean.

There are a number of smaller beaches outside of Mar de Plata that you might want to explore. Pinamar and Carilo are two you might want to check out.

drdawggy

I should also add that Mar del Plata stretches for miles along the ocean and the areas in the south have some very nice beaches.

carlimusa

I personally enjoy argentinian beaches more than the uruguayan ones. Mar del Plata is a big city with activities for every age group year around.It can get crowded in the Summer, but as the Dr mentioned, there are miles and miles of beaches south, empty, with wide expanses of sand, somewhat windy, (like the Oregon coast) that have a special appeal to me. I hope you enjoy your trip to Argentina as much as I did.

Graziella5b

May be I am partial but I would choose any of the Uruguayan beaches instead of the Argentinean, at least thousand and thousands of Argentinean prefer the Uruguayan beaches to the Argentineans.This happens every year, and has been happening for many many years, it should say something....


I think that Mar del Plata is like a big city, MDP beaches, BOY, are they crowded , Coney Island is nothing. Of course I understand what carlimusa says of miles of miles of empty beaches going south but realistically they are far way , I believe that they are not appropiate for foreign tourism unless you have a lot, a LOT of time.
Punta can be expensive, but there are many beaches in Uruguay and the distances are short nothing to compare with the miles and miles you would have to travel going to Argentinean beaches. Punta is only 130 kilometers not miles, I guess like 90 miles from Montevideo and a little further East there are many option like La Pedrera o La Paloma. Also between Montevideo and PUnta there are more beaches to choose from.

seeksocean

Thank you so very much! We (the 6 of us) just need a nice mellow oceany beach for three days of relaxing before our last night and full day in BA. We would be going to a beach from Iguazu. How in the world would we get to any beach from there? My head is spinning.

I will check all the places you all suggested. I just think that PDE is way over our budget that time of year (the first week of January). I am really trying hard with my resarch!

Graziella5b

From Iguazu I guess you have to fly to Buenos Aires, and from the same airport you can catch a plane to Punta or Montevideo. I would choose Punta because December is not exactly HIgh Season, so things are animated but not full , full. Different picture in January.
Since you are a family you have to consider the possibility of getting across from Bue to Colonia by ferry and then rent a car. In Punta a car seems to be a necesity. It is spread out there many different beaches within the Punta area, some with waves,some are calm beaches , and so forth. In Punta people choose every day a different beach some times in accordance with the wind.I mean which way the wind blows. Punta offers all kind of things, you can rent a boat and go fishing with all the children. Or take like a boat accross to the nearby Island Gorriti and have a picnic there for instance. There is tennis, horses,bicycles to rent,golf, etc. Casinos too.( dangerous) if you rent a car you can go for the day to one of the trendiest places called Jose Ignacio no too far away.Nice beach, jet set place.But simple.
nearby there are little inns by the ocean and may be you can even consider spending a few days in one of them. Because the season is about to star you can find good opportunities.
In all Uruguayan beaches people often takes picnic baskets to the beach and eat there. I mean it is the usual thing.
In Punta there are movies, night clubs and much more. So I would imagine that it will be fun. On the other hand there are very rustic beaches like Cabo Polonio, further East, there it is life like ages ago, the main attractions are the beach, the beach and the beach. Little houses by the water, like small cottages. The children will love to visit the nearby Spainsh fortress of Santa Teresa, very similar to the fortress inSaint Agustine , Florida and also there is a small fort called San Miguel founded by the Portuguese. The Santa Teresa Fortress is located in a National Park where camping is allowed. It is a very nice area.
I hope I am conveying the right picture, Punta more sophisticated the rest more in contact with nature and simpler life. i use to take my children to the East .We drove and stopped in different places like La Paloma , I mentioned before, La Coronilla and visited placeslike Punta del Diablo ( a fishermen place) etc and Cabo Polonio. There are big palmares along the way, that is huge areas with palm trees. I believe some research should be done by you I have many memories but I have not been there lately.
On top of this there are Estancias en Uruguay that also take people as paying guests I am sure there are some near the beach areas. That will be cool. Food is good in the Estancias and you can drive for the day may to Punta and other beaches and come back to the Estancia to sleep. Another day you can ride horses in the campos.

Graziella5b

The more I think an Estancia well located might be very nice. First it is not going to be very
expensive , food will be waiting for you after day trips. Good for the children. And each day it might be a different adventure. One day in Punta, One in Jose Iganacio, One visiting the Santa Teresa Fortress and so forth. One day a horse riding... may be it is a good thing for a family.