Uruguay: Expectations vs. an Excellent First Impression

What People Told Us

I (Ashleigh) am a researcher at heart so, of course, I asked, googled and reddit searched EVERYTHING about Uruguay prior to departure. The conclusions were all over the place. Some called this place the Canada of South America – meaning progressive, accepting, and safe. Others rated Montevideo’s safety lower than Buenos Aires. Despite the variation of details, some themes seemed to permeate.

1.  Quiet, laid back. Read “boring to some.” Many described Uruguay and Montevideo in particular as a rather quiet, boring, even sad place in comparison to its vibrant Argentinian neighbor city, Buenos Aires.

2.  English speaking, but only in Montevideo. According to the internet people speak English in Montevideo and somewhat in Punta del Este, the major seaside tourist destination. Everywhere else we should expect to speak Spanish or Portugese.

3.  Beautiful beaches. Uruguay is renowned as the playground of South America. Punta del Este boasts some of the most popular beaches on the continent and is the playground of the rich and famous. Some of the smaller beach towns are more surfer/hippie-centric.

4.  Expensive. Being the playground of the rich and famous comes at a price apparently and Uruguay is widely considered one of the most expensive countries in South America to visit. 

5.  Trash, homeless people, and crime in the old city. Ciudad Vieja is the most touristy area of Montevideo and many blogs described it as dangerous at night. They also stated that Montevideo has a growing homelessness problem with numerous people sleeping on the street.

Our First Impressions

Some warnings on context before you read this. First, we lived in San Francisco for 8 years. We’re very accustomed to large cities and everything that comes with that – namely crime and safety precautions. Second, we’re taking Spanish classes for 3 weeks of our time here in Uruguay so we have a goal beyond tourism. Our expectations of how things might work and our priorities may be different.

One week in and I find Montevideo bustling and charming. I could see myself living here and we haven’t even been to the Uruguayan beaches or wine country yet! Think of this place as a smaller version of San Diego that’s slightly gritier and full of the nicest people!   

1.  There are plenty of sites and neighborhoods to take in. We’ve seen 1-2 sights per day and eaten out one meal per day for the last 5 days. We still have a number of things to see and are currently wondering how we’re going to fit it all in between class and our planned weekend trips. Gurúguay is the best website! Their recommendations are spot on ! This is the site to actually read if you are considering a trip to Uruguay – or buy the book!

2.  The people here are SO nice. Case and point – we walked into a butcher shop looking for meat.  Oblivious to the process, we were waiting for someone behind the counter to notice us. A very nice Uruguayan lady noticed us and handed us her number slip (essential for service) before getting herself another one. She not only helped us with the process, but put us in line ahead of her. Where on Earth would you see that in a big city?? Totally adorable and sweet. We’ve already had 3 or 4 similar experiences to date.

3.  People in Montevideo do NOT speak English (as a rule). We’ve interacted with 1-2 people who willingly spoke to us in English when they realized how poor our Spanish is. Most simply muddle through with our Spanish and have resorted to Google Translate at times to bridge the gap.  This is perfect for us as we want to learn. If you don’t speak Spanish, consider learning a few key phrases and be sure to have your Google translate handy. As per point 2, people are more than willing to struggle through with you.

4.  Things function well here. You can drink the water, eat raw veggies and access services fairly easily.  Large grocery stores are available every 3-5 blocks in our neighborhood. Farmers markets provide cheap and delicious farm fresh vegetables. Banks and ATMs are readily available, even on Sunday. Restaurant service is good. Bus service is cheap, timely and incredibly easy. They have a great app that functions like Google Maps called Como Ir. Just type in where you want to go and it tells you the 5-7 different buses that will get you there. I’ve found nothing frustrating here to date about their system, compared to the US. Certainly not the frustrating experience I was told to expect in South America. 

5.  Prices seem reasonable, but we have no comparison. Our apartment is $100 cheaper than we planned in Santiago (our original destination). We haven’t found a way to spend more than US$50 for a dinner for two people and we’ve VERY good at trying. All my veggies for the week cost me $100 pesos or US$2.70, 15 eggs cost $60 pesos or US$1.62, and a delicious bottle of white wine costs $219 pesos or US$5.90. We’ll see how this stacks up to Argentina, but we’re within our budget and excited about it!

6.  Montevideo seems safe and reasonably clean to date. We’ve not been out late (after midnight), but to date I feel as safe (if not safer) in Montevideo as I did in San Francisco. There is a significant volume of graffiti, but that also means AMAZING street art, of which we’ve seen some incredible works so far. Check them out on our Instagram!

Overall, we are really enjoying the first stop on our sabbatical in Montevideo, Uruguay. Our expectations have been surpassed and it will be an excellent place to learn Spanish – with full immersion. Check out what we got up to during our first week in Montevideo here!