Montevideo, Uruguay: Quiet Elegance on the Río de la Plata

The Ciudad Vieja, the colonial old town, occupies a peninsula at the mouth of the Rambla and is the main area of historical interest. The Plaza Independencia, at its eastern entrance, is dominated by the Palacio Salvo — a 1928 art deco tower that was the tallest building in South America at the time of its construction and still defines the Montevideo skyline. The Mausoleo de Artigas beneath the plaza holds the remains of the independence hero José Artigas and is free to visit; the carved marble interior is unexpectedly grand.

The Mercado del Puerto, a cast-iron nineteenth-century market hall one block from the waterfront, is the Sunday institution in Montevideo. Parillada — mixed grills of beef, lamb, and offal — are prepared over wood fires in full view at a dozen competing stalls, and the smoke and theater of it are as much the point as the food. The market opens on Saturdays and Sundays; arriving before 1 p.m. is advisable. Weekday visits find the hall quieter and the grills running at reduced capacity.

The Rambla, Montevideo's coastal boulevard, runs twenty-two kilometers around the bay and is the city's main gathering space — for joggers, cyclists, anglers, and families at dusk. The central section near the old town is the most pleasant for walking; the beaches at Pocitos and Buceo, about four kilometers east of the port, are where Montevideans swim in the summer months (December through February).

The Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, in a park in the Parque Rodó neighborhood about thirty minutes from the port, holds the largest collection of paintings in Uruguay, with particular strength in Uruguayan and Argentine nineteenth- and twentieth-century work. The park surrounding it is free and pleasant; the museum itself asks a modest donation. The Uruguayan beef restaurant scene around Parque Rodó is among the best in the city for a longer lunch.