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Can any locals give me some travel advice?

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todayisagreatday
  4/15/2015 14:01 EST

Hi, I am really sorry to post in this forum, and apologise in advance if this is not appropriate, but I'm hoping some locals can help me planning a short visit to Uruguay. I tried forums like Lonely Planet but didn't get any response.

I am really struggling on what is the best way and making the most of our limited time in South America. We are flying into Buenos Aires arriving early AM and out of Rio late PM. We have 12 nights/13 days. We know we want 4 nights in Rio and want to see Iguassu too. Uruguay is high on our list and it is likely we will return to Buenos Aires and Chile next year for some hiking in Patagonia but for now its about trying to work out splitting up the limited time we have.

We have frequent flyer miles with TAM and GOL so are happy to fly in between places if this is better use of our time but to get from Uruguay to Iguassu it seems we have to backtrack back to BA if I have got this right or from BA to Paraguay and then go to Iguassu from there. We used Cruz del Sur buses in Peru and are happy to use the equivalent if this helps us achieve more time wise.

Does anyone have any suggestions in terms of transportation options to see Uruguay and particular Colonia and if this is possible with the time we have. We have UK passports so don't need visas which is one less thing to worry about.

Any suggestions or advice would be really welcome. Thanks in advance.

Rachel

Morell
  4/15/2015 18:19 EST

Feel free to post here!

The easiest way to get to Colonia would be from Buenos Aires via the ferry to Colonia.

I have only done it in reverse but it is only a few hours and the ferry was quite cheap.

We spent two days in Colonia and that was sufficient to see everything. Some folk think two hours is too long!
We visited the different small museums and checked out the shops and restaurants. It is quite small though and if you go other than in high season - it may be quite quiet with some places closed up.

If you do not have a car you can rent golf carts or a scooter to cruise around town from Thrifty. You need to show a driver's license.

You might want to ask on the Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/uruguayexpats/

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todayisagreatday
  4/16/2015 06:04 EST

Thanks for this.

I think we seem to finally be getting things together.

So far we have 3 nights and 3 full days in Buenos Aires. On Day 4 we plan to do the fast sea cat to Colonia and spend just 1 night in Colonia. We were then thinking of going Colonia to Montevideo and spending 2 nights in Montevideo.

What would you suggest is the best way of going from Colonia to Montevideo with luggage?

We then need to go from Montevideo to Iguassu and from what I can see we have to go back to BA to fly. Its quite expensive to fly from Montevideo to BA so I guess the best way is to go on the ferry again?

Thanks - really appreciate the help.

Morell
  4/16/2015 07:13 EST

You can take the Buquebus from Colonia to Tres Cruces which is the main terminal in Montevideo and is handy to most places. They can handle lots of luggage.

You can also take the Buquebus back to BA. You buy a ticket all the way through from MVD which includes the ferry.

https://www.buquebus.com.uy/BQBWebV2/web/ArribosPartidas

There may be other ways someone can suggest.

In Colonia we stayed at the Posada Manuel de Lobo and found it pleasant and convenient for walking around town. There are lots of others that looked nice.

Morell
  4/16/2015 07:26 EST

Here is a more info in English

http://www.omnilineas.com.uy/ferry/

todayisagreatday
  4/16/2015 07:40 EST

Thanks, you're a star. We are just looking into bookings now online.

Rachel

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carlitos
  4/16/2015 08:13 EST

fast and cheapest way to go to iguazu is from BA.

rouy
  4/16/2015 15:33 EST

don't forget there are 2 companies to go to BA :

Buquebus and Colonia Express :

https://coloniaexpress.com/ar

http://www.buquebus.com/BQBPreHome.html

Picareno
  4/16/2015 16:06 EST

In wonderful Colonia, we stayed at the quirky Colonia Suite. Adored this B&B, owned by a nice, urbane man. The downstairs has gobs of books and magazines, if you want to spend any time lounging inside. We were outside most of the time. The REALLY interesting "old-town" is not that large. We stayed in this section, because much of the rest of town is growing and has a lot of traffic for such a small place. Anyway, Colonia Suite is wonderful... Great breakfasts and not very far from the Buquebus station which we took to MV. The Buquebus, is really a large ferry: It's quite well-appointed with good bathrooms, large windows, so-so snacks and even a duty-free store, like in airports. Depending on your schedule, you might want to buy your tkts. ahead of time at the station (the website is challenging) because this Ferry can fill up and, if you don't speak Spanish, selecting and purchasing your tkt. at the last minute can be a little daunting. Uruguay, especially the area around Punta del Este and Atlantida is at the top of our eventual expat list. I wish you well!

todayisagreatday
  4/17/2015 04:39 EST

What helpful people you all are over here! Picareno - we looked at the Colonia Suite which looks amazing but it's really out of our budget so are considering Don Antonio Posada or Hostel & Suites del Rio so if anyone has any opinion on these that would be helpful. The Posada Manuel de Lobo is also out of our budget which is around $67 a night maximum!

Yes, I am certainly looking at booking the ferry in advance. It looks like the Buquebus from BA to Colonia. I just wondered if there was any key differences between this and Colonia Express?

We are currently looking at flights from BA to Iguassu, this looks like the quickest and most cost effective option, it just means ferry from MVD back to BA then getting to the airport......

carlitos
  4/17/2015 07:01 EST

check also, from rio or from sao paulo to foz do iguazu, last time I used the foz do iguazu airport I had to fly out of it to Curitiba, May be you can Fly from Rio to Curitiba and then to foz do iguazu. Or maybe you can fly from rio do Cascavel then 2 hour bus to foz do iguazu. but as I said, the natural way is BA to Iguazu.

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todayisagreatday
  4/20/2015 15:30 EST

I'm getting in a bit of a mess with the different ferries and buses not being able to understand the language! My main barrier is trying to work out which one is 'better' than the other in terms of time. I notice some have a ferry, then a bus to Colonia and for Colonia Express I don't know whether it is a bus or ferry or both and the duration. Can anyone translate. I've put my dates up so hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

3rd June
Check out of BA. We thought of going to MVD first rather than Colonia? Overnight MVD,

4th June
Overnight MVD

5th June
Go to Colonia - will this be a seperate ticket - who? Overnight Colonia.

6th June
Need to get back to AEP airport for flight to IGR. Likely to be LAN flight at 11:15am. With this in mind I guess we are better going from Colonia as it is quicker which is why I've done it in this order??

Morell
  4/20/2015 18:15 EST

You would have to take the 4.30 am Buquebus ferry from Colonia to get back to BA to catch that flight. It gets into BA at 7.45 am

The direct fast Buquebus ferries from the port of MVD to BA are at 11.00 am getting in at 1.15 pm or the 7.30 pm which gets in at 9.45 pm. So you would need a different flight for that to work.

COT have buses from Tres Cruces every hour or two going to Colonia.

http://www.cot.com.uy/site/reservas.php

It is good to make a reservation in advance.

From BA there is a fast ferry to MVD at 7.30 am arriving at 9.45 am and again at 4.00 pm arriving at 6.15 pm both arrive at the port. There is an hour time difference between MVD and BA which accounts for the time between the two.

Hope this is correct!

Morell
  4/20/2015 18:23 EST

Sorry, we are the same time right now. Argentina does not have DST but Uruguay does but we are back on regular time now.

todayisagreatday
  4/20/2015 18:28 EST

Ooh, 4:30am that doesn't sound good, for some reason I thought Colonia was closer to Buenos Aires than MVD? Is this right, we are better going from Colonia to BA, or MVD to BA?

Yes, I may need to look at alternative flights given that none of the LAN ones work particularly well!

Are them our only options (Burquebus) - I can't understand the Colonia Express or Seacat neither does it have arrival times!

todayisagreatday
  4/20/2015 18:34 EST

Ah, I've found Colonia Express - cheapest for us at 89ARS from Colonia to MVD we'll just have to get a later flight time from AEP to IGR. Any ideas how long the ferry takes?

Looks like it will have to be a flight with Aerolineas Argentinas ;-0

rouy
  4/21/2015 08:53 EST

Colonia Express : the trip takes 1h 15 min. from port to port.
I traveled some years ago with them and it was great, better than Buquebus.
They are very active on Facebook.
I suppose they can communicate in English.
Good luck
Rosana


https://www.facebook.com/ColoniaExpress

Todos nuestras frecuencias se realizan en barco rápido y la duración del viaje es de 1:15 min de escolllera a escollera

Cualquier duda o inquietud te invitamos a comunicate con nuestro CallCenter según tu ubicación donde con gusto te pueden colaborar.

•CALLCENTER ARG
Tel.: +54 (11) 4317-4100
Horario:
Lunes a Viernes de 09 a 19 hs
Sábados, Domingos y Feriados 07 a 19 hs

•CALLCENTER URY
Tel.: +598 (2) 2400-3939
Horario:
Lunes a Viernes de 09 a 19 hs
Sábados, Domingos y Feriados 07 a 19 hs

•OFICINA CENTRAL ARGENTINA
Av. Córdoba 753, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires
Tel.: +54 (11) 4317-4100
Horario:
Lunes a Viernes de 09 a 19 hs
Sábados 09 a 13 hs

•PUERTO DE BUENOS AIRES
Pedro de Mendoza 330, Dársena Sur - Ribera Oeste
Tel.: +54 (11) 4317-4100
Horarios:
Lunes a Domingo de 09 a 20 hs

•COLONIA
Muelle de Ultramar
Tel.: +598 (452) 29676/78
Horarios:
Lunes a Domingos de 09 a 22 hs

•COLONIA
Terminal de Omnibus Colonia del Sacramento
Av. Buenos Aires esq. Manuel de Lobo
Horarios:
Lunes a Viernes de 10:00 a 19:00 hs
Sábados de 09:30 a 12:30 hs

•MONTEVIDEO
Terminal de Omnibus Tres Cruces, Av. Italia y Blvd. Artigas
Local 31
Tel.: +598 (2) 2400-3939
Horarios:
Lunes a Domingos de 05:30 a 22:30hs


Te invitamos a estar pendiente de este medio donde publicamos constantemente promociones y concursos que seguro serán de tu interés.

Recuerda Seguirnos en Twitter y Facebook.
Muchas Gracias!
http://bitly.com/Coloniaexpress

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