steve kane

Will be visiting Buenos Aires for 5 days. Want to take a day to Montevideo. Understand there is a hydrofoil. How often does it run, what is the cost, and how long is the trip? <BR> <BR>Thanks for reply.

Linda

Hello Steve. Re: the hydrofoil to Montevideo. This boat excursion is nice, however there isn't much to see in Montevideo. If you only have 5 days in BA, I don't recommend this trip, however Colonia, Uruguay is suppossed to be very nice, and it is closer also. <BR>Anyway, the hydrofoil trip to Montevideo takes 2 hours and 10 minutes. (to Colonia, probably ~45 minutes). The name of the hydrofoil company is Buquebus. You can by your tickets where you leave from BA, and that is in Puerto Madero, at the Darsena Norte. I paid ~$112.OO for a RT ticket, lunch (it wasn't a good place), and tour of Montevideo, returning to BA the same day. This was a package deal. We weren't really looking for one, it just turned out that way. Buquebus has a website, but the prices are outdated. In this package deal, however, the grandfinale of the trip was a visit to a modern shopping mall. This is where the bus took us, and dropped us off for 1.5 hours. Needless to say, there wasn't much to see on this tour. The main street in Montevideo is nice however, w/ lots of street venders etc. <BR>Anyway, good luck. But if you just want to go to Uruguay, everyone keeps telling me about Colonia, the historic fort town, and that's where one should go! (it's much closer too!) <BR>Enjoy your trip if you go. Hope I could be of some help. <BR>Oh, the local "Buquebus" # is 4316-6500. <BR>Linda

Mari

Steve, I agree with Linda. We also spent 5 nights in Buenos Aires in October '98 and thought that a trip to Montevideo would be a nice way to expand our South AMerica sightseeing. We booked the same Buquebus tour (it included lunch and a "sightseeing tour" for less than the roundtrip fare alone). If you are coming from Buenos Aires, Montevideo truly pales in comparison. The sightseeing stopped at some weird places because there is not much to see in the city. Montevideo has 1 interesting building in its plaza and that is it! The only good part of the tour was the hydrofoil itself. On both the going and the return we sat next to people with which we could converse and learn about their country. <BR> <BR>My friend who lived in Buenos Aires for a semester went to Colonia, and she said it was a cute town with colonial buildings...so I definitely recommend Colonia instead of Montevideo. I wish I would have followed her advice!

joe

Steve- <BR>I´m an American living in Uruguay. I echo the sentiments of the people below. Montevideo is a nice place to live but not to visit. Its BORING. Colonia on the other hand is fairly charming and has some excellent living examples of colonial architecture. It also has a lively ambiance that Montevideo lacks. Go to Colonia!

Astrid

Montevideo is pretty but with only 5 days in B.A. I would just stay put. I am from there. There is so much to do that you will not get everything done in 5 days. Enjoy B.A. and forget the rest. Take the train out to "El Tigre". There is a "feria" which is an outside market place. The actual name is "Puerta de Frutas". You can get some really great leather goods for very cheap! I recently went in May and bought a hand-made long leather jacket for my fiancé for only $140. Women's jackets run about $100. If you are interested in any other places near B.A. please email me.

Diana

We will be coming to B.A in November and only have 4 days. WE don't know where to begin or what are the best tours for your money. Can you reconmend any hotels? We would like to go to a tango/dinner show. We like to walk a lot and we think the weather should be warm in November. Any information you can give us would be helpful. <BR> <BR>Thanks, Diana