January in SA is like July in the USA. Is that where you are from?

I see my typo in the second paragraph...sorry...but the beaches will be crowded in January, not July in Punta del Este.

seek ocean, I am in hurry now, write later, just a thought plan to be during the week in Montevideo, the Plaza Fuerte sounds fine, and if you go to Punta make in on the week end a Saturday better. What time of the year ar you going, I am a little confused...>?

I am going to be there for 3 nights...maybe 4, the last week of April or the first week of May...hopefully.

Hi seekocean I do not know if I was clear enough before what I meant was, You do not have to thank me at all because I m having fun, I love to travel and to make plans for myself and it is a good feeling for me to be able to give some helpful information. Having said this I always thought that any tourist could take advantage of the remises, take note of
Remises La Española, that is the one I use, they might have a web site, their phone is
622 2323, they are located in Montevideo, I believe they have their main office in the Punta Carretas Shopping Center near the Sheraton.I simply call them by phone.
The good thing about them is that they charge for the hour, instead, other remises in Montevideo charge by the hour but add a per kilometer fee .
Although for a trip between Montevideo and Punta, I would imagine they would charge differently because we are talking of too many kilometers, (130 between Montevideo and Punta del Este)
Frankly, if I were in your shoes, I would use La espanola often ( no that I have any relation with them other than being an old client) , I would use them for sightseeing in Montevideo. I would take a list of the places I wish to visit from a Fodors or Frommers or Lonely Planet or from Tripadvisor etc and have the driver take me to those places. Waiting for me. It is so inexpensive, last time I was there it was like $14 us per hour.(Nov 09). If you use them it is better to make reservations a little ahead of time and you can ask for a car with ac, stressing:" send me a good car". Most of their cars are pretty good .For reasurance In Uruguay remises have a different car plate,
so you know you are in a remise not in any car. Taxis are very unpleasant from my point of view because for some "security" reason they have a fiberglass screen between driver and
passangers and you feel like in a box, not to think of the poor driver!!! Of course taxis have to be used in short trips.
Going to Punta I would use La Espanola too, but I do not know if drivers would know their way once there.
If you really wish to go to Punta may be I can think of something worth doing,you can send me an email if you wish at [email protected]
I would not go to Mar del Plata, this is 400 Kilometers South of Buenos Aires,
although it was a nice resort years ago, it has turned into more of a city than a resort
(at least in my view) I would not go there at all.

Just think the Argentineans that can afford it go to Punta del Este instead. Enjoy and spend time in beautiful Buenos Aires and go to Punta instead of Mar del Plata.

Sounds good! I'll keep the number for the remises. Graziella, could you please give me your opinion? Go to the thread 'No Entry Tax Until January 1st' and go to the end where you will see a question I asked about getting into the country (Argentina) via air, without paying the entry tax if I fly into Montevideo via EZE. More specifically...is the entry tax at EZE only and is it charged to folks who are on layovers to other countries? Thanks! I'll send you an E-mail shortly

I am no expert, however I believe that the tax is going to be charged to those entering Argentina through EZE airport. I am not a 100% sure if it will be charged if you come to Argentina through the Port of Buenos Aires, or the Aeroparque airport, or through any other airport.
Further more I wonder what might happen if you enter Argentina through Aeroparque no tax is charged and then leave from EZE...frankly I do not konw and do not dare to guess because
they ( The Argentine Government ) can come up with anything.
I wonder what avrooster thinks.
Hard to guess right ....in my opinion.

Hi Graciella, I already decided to just forget all the craziness and I went ahead and just bought the route with the best connections and I am landing at EZE. It realy was a deal 40,000 FF miles each. I can barely fly locally for that. So, now I am trying to pin down hotels...but I am not is such a hurry, as late April is probably not as in demand as late December was to book. I'll E-mail you! XO -Seeks