Uruguay

Southern Explorations Founder and President Justin Laycob has been studying, guiding, traveling and developing programs in South and Central America since 1995. Each month we feature one of his favorite itinerary selections. This month, Justin joins the team in selecting an off-the-beaten path experience with one of our most under-appreciated destinations: Uruguay . With its…

Safe, clean and scenically set on the Atlantic coast, Montevideo is a pleasure for all who travel to Uruguay. In addition to its mild climate, the capital offers a mix of colonial elegance and striking art deco buildings, sophisticated cuisine and much to see. Unlike most capital cities that most visitors on South America tours…

Of all the beach destinations that stretch along the coastline between Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, and the eastern border with Brazil , Punta del Este is the most famous, dubbed the Uruguayan Riviera. The city of Punta del Este is set on a narrow peninsula, situated eighty-three miles east of Montevideo. A rambla skirts the peninsula,…

Located less than twenty miles from Punta del Este, Piriapolis is a quirky hamlet as might be expected, having had its beginnings as the vision of one man, Francisco Piria, a real estate developer of Italian descent from Montevideo. At age forty-three, he decided that Uruguay needed a resort town on the coast and purchased…

Casapueblo Though Punta del Este had been attracting tourists for over a century, when Paez Vilaro began building first a retreat and then a studio here in 1958, the peninsula was a far different place, not at all the magnet for Argentines and others who make it the primary destination of their Uruguay tours today.…

Dinner, usually served late, is definitely worth the wait. Restaurants specializing in grilled meats are plentiful here. Uruguay’s steak houses are called parrilladas, after the multi-course platter of beef cuts these establishments serve and the grill that cooks them. When you travel to Uruguay, expect a divine grilled experience, savoring aged, grass-fed beef cuts as…

Italian pastas, gnocchi and polentas are the mainstay of many restaurants throughout the country. One famed pasta topping is Caruso Sauce, with a cream-base and mushrooms, onions and ham. It is named after Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso, the operatic superstar who performed on tour at the major houses of South American capitals, including Montevideo’s Teatro…

When the temperatures drop, Uruguayans get out the grappamiel, considered the national libation. A tradition imported from Italy, grappa is distilled from what remains after the wine leaves the barrel. In Uruguay, honey (miel) is added in the process. Grappamiel is sold as is or produced with a wide range of flavor additives, everything from…

Uruguay contains twenty-one viticultural districts. Three-quarters of Uruguay’s wine production is in reds, almost forty percent of which is Tannat, a grape brought here by Basque immigrants. The hearty Tannat is to Uruguay as Malbec is to Argentina, a grape that can fully ripen on the vine and is the country’s best-known wine. Though Uruguay…

During their Montevideo tours, visitors will be able to start tasting fine wines no more than thirty minutes from the capital. The family-owned boutique, Bouza Winery, situated in Montevideo Department, grows grapes in two separate vineyards. The first is just twelve acres in size and is near Malilla where its winery, a restored building that…