Destinations › Uruguay › Montevideo
Montevideo
Where should I stay?
Where should I eat?
- Mercado del Puerto · Ciudad Vieja · Uruguayan parrilla: A 19th-century iron market hall packed with wood-fired grills serving asado, sausages and provoleta.
- El Palenque · Ciudad Vieja · Parrilla and seafood: The best-known restaurant at the Mercado del Puerto, serving grilled meats and fish since 1958.
- Café Brasilero · Ciudad Vieja · Historic café: Montevideo's oldest café, open since 1877, with wood paneling and a literary past linked to Eduardo Galeano.
- Café Bacacay · Ciudad Vieja · Café and bistro: A classic café across from Teatro Solís, good for coffee, lunch or a drink before a show.
- La Pasiva · Various (Centro and Ciudad Vieja) · Chivitos and hot dogs: A local chain for a quick chivito, Uruguay's loaded steak sandwich, and its famous mustard-topped franks.
- Bar Arocena · Carrasco · Chivitos: An old-school bar open since 1923, known for serving one of the city's best chivitos around the clock.
- Francis · Punta Carretas · Upscale parrilla: A polished restaurant near the Rambla known for top-quality Uruguayan beef and a strong wine list.
- Mercado Agrícola de Montevideo (MAM) · Goes · Food market: A restored 1913 market hall with produce stalls, cheese and wine shops, and casual places to eat.
What should I do?
- Ciudad Vieja · Ciudad Vieja: The old town, with colonial streets, Plaza Independencia, the Puerta de la Ciudadela and the pedestrian Calle Sarandí.
- Teatro Solís · Ciudad Vieja: Uruguay's main theater, opened in 1856, offering guided tours and opera, ballet and concert performances.
- La Rambla · Waterfront (Pocitos, Punta Carretas and beyond): A promenade running along the Río de la Plata for over 20 km, where locals walk, cycle and share mate at sunset.
- Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales · Parque Rodó: Uruguay's largest art collection, including works by Blanes, Figari and Torres García, set in Parque Rodó.
- Museo del Fútbol – Estadio Centenario · Parque Batlle: A football museum inside the stadium that hosted the first World Cup final in 1930, with access to the stands.
- Museo Andes 1972 · Ciudad Vieja: A small private museum telling the story of the 1972 Andes plane crash and its survivors, most of them from Montevideo.
- Feria de Tristán Narvaja · Cordón: A sprawling Sunday-morning street market selling antiques, books, produce and just about everything else.
- Candombe drumming in Barrio Sur and Palermo · Barrio Sur / Palermo: On many weekend evenings, Afro-Uruguayan drum groups parade through these streets, especially in the weeks before Carnival.