Uruguay is a small country that is nestled between Argentina and Brazil. Its capital Montevideo can be easily reached by boat from the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires, and the two countries have a lot in common culturally. Due to its coastal location, Uruguay has a lot of great beaches, including those found in Punta del Este. Uruguay is also known for its national football and rugby teams, which are both very competitive on an international level.

Uruguay is a country that I visited during December of 2013, at a time when I was both living and studying In nearby Chile.

It is a small coastal country that is separated from Argentina by the Río de la Plata. I visited Uruguay with my friend Geoffrey, and we took a ferry at the port in Buenos Aires through to Colonia, which is a small town on the Uruguayan coast. The boat journey itself was quite an enjoyable experience, although we did witness some quite magnificent thunder and lightening from the cabin of the ferry.

In total, we spent three nights in Uruguay, split into one night in Colonia and a further two nights in Montevideo. Colonia, although very small in size, is well worth a visit, due to its chilled feel and beautiful nature.

To get between Colonia and Montevideo, we took the coach, which is a journey of approximately 3 hours. Although Argentina and Uruguay are somewhat similar culturally, Montevideo is very different from Buenos Aires. One immediate difference between the two cities is the size: Montevideo is much smaller than Buenos Aires, and as such is a much less stressful place to visit. It has some amazing architecture, and just quite a chilled-out vibe in general. It is home to some great cafés and bars, and the local people are very friendly in general.

As we only spent three days in Uruguay, we didn’t get the time to head up the coast to Punta del Este, which is a town close to the Brazilian border that is renowned for its beautiful beaches: one day I will be back!