Uruguay is seen as a quiet escape from the busy city of Buenos Aires. With only 3 million people in the whole country, most things feel calmer, slower, and easier. The only exception is the transportation between destinations and within a destination. This article should help you organize your travel within the country and will clarify some ways to get around from Buenos Aires to Montevideo to Punta del Este.
While Uruguay is one of the more expensive countries to visit in South America, taking public transportation is one way to minimize expenses. The beautiful beaches of this country are easy to access using the buses and Uruguay’s close proximity to both Brazil and Argentina make it an easy place to reach for a few days of relaxing. While a smaller nation, Uruguay is worth a visit especially if you are spending time in the more urban areas of nearby Buenos Aires
Getting To and From Buenos Aires to Montevideo by Ferry
If you are trying to go between Buenos Aires to Montevideo or other places in Uruguay, the easiest and fastest way is through the ferry. (There is a bus as well but it takes a lot longer.)
There are two ferry companies, Buquebus and Colonia Express. Both offer the same services and routes. However, Buquebus is more expensive. If you are interested in Buquebus offerings, here is their website. You can also reserve the transportation for Colonia Express on their website here. Ultimately, the process for both services is the same and the rest of this section is relevant for both companies.
To go from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, most ferries typically go between Buenos Aires and Colonia del Sacramento, with a few exceptions that go directly to Montevideo. The companies include a service that provides express buses from Colonia del Sacramento to Montevideo to Punta del Este, two of the main destinations within the country. If you are going directly to or from one of these two destinations, use the Buquebus and Colonia Express bus to ferry combination as it will be a reliable and comfortable form of transportation. So if you are going from Buenos Aires directly to Punta del Este, make sure to book the ferry + bus option that will take you there rather than separately book the ferry and a bus through a different company.
We talk about the buses further down in this article but they will have many more stops than these direct buses and are less consistent. Unfortunately, you cannot book simply the bus service of these companies; it must be accompanied by a ferry.
Travel From Buenos Aires to Montevideo Or Other Parts of Uruguay
Check-In
If your travels start with the ferry part of the journey, you will need to arrive at the terminal 1.5 hours prior to the departure of your ferry. Be prepared to stand in multiple lines and the process will feel similar to that at an airport. First, you will stand in line to check-in with your company and receive your ticket.
Next, you will go through security where you will place your bag through an x-ray machine. This process should be quick and simple. You do not need to remove your shoes or take out your laptop or liquids. Simply place your items on the belt, go through the metal detector, and pick up your items on the other side.
Border Control
Now, here is where things may start to look different. Because you are going between two countries, you will have to go through border control to properly leave one country and enter another. You will enter a line to first leave one country and then a second line to enter into the next one. You need to go through both lines to legally travel between countries. The border patrol officers for both countries will help you through the process if you are lost.
The Boat Experience
Once you get through the border control lines, you’ll have to stand in yet another line to get onto the boat. You can sit anywhere you want on the boat. If you are traveling with a lot of luggage, you can find racks where you can leave your luggage.
You can move about the boat while it is moving. We recommend going to the deck to watch the boat leave the docks, especially when going from Buenos Aires to Montevideo or other parts of Uruguay. On the boat, there is a duty free shop, a cafe, and a currency exchange kiosk.
As the boat arrives at the next dock, you will see people line up to leave the boat prior to even docking. You can line up with them if you are eager to get off the boat. Or you can stay in your seat and wait to disembark. It will take some time to get off. If you are arriving in Colonia del Sacramento, you will have to put your bags through another x-ray machine at the terminal prior to leaving.
Transferring from the Boat to the Bus (at Colonia del Sacramento)
If you are transferring on to a bus at Colonia del Sacramento to continue your journey from Buenos Aires to Montevideo or Punta del Este, the buses will be waiting for you to the left side of the arrival gate. People will help guide you to the right bus based on your destination, either Montevideo or Punta del Este. The bus will go directly to your destination!
Travel From Montevideo Or Punta del Este to Buenos Aires
Now if you are returning to Buenos Aires from either Montevideo or Punta del Este, you can start with taking a bus through either Buquebus or Colonia Express. While the ticket says to arrive 1.5 hours prior to the bus departure, you really only need to arrive 30 minutes before the departure. When you arrive at the bus terminal, you will check-in where they will give you your bus and ferry tickets. You will then make your way to the bus where they can take your larger bag to stow and you can pick your seat. We recommend sitting on the upper deck of the bus, relaxing, and taking in the Uruguayan landscape. When you get to the boat terminal, you will proceed through the border control lines and then onto the boat as described in the section above.
Buses Between Destinations of Buenos Aires to Montevideo to Punta del Este.
Buses between destinations in Uruguay may be a little challenging to find. You will need to use a few different websites if you want to book a bus in advance online. The second option is to go to the bus station that you are departing from and ask different bus companies for their availability to different destinations.
Using Websites Online
Most buses go through Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay and you can use this bus station as a tool to figure out the routes and bus companies throughout the country. Use the website for this bus station, Tres Cruces.
To figure out the bus companies that go to your destination, look for the routes between Montevideo and your final destination. The site will give you a list of routes between Montevideo and that destination but, more importantly, it will give you the bus companies that go to that location. These will be listed under the “empresas”.
Your next step will be going to these buses’ websites and looking at their routes and timetables. Often, these companies do not post their routes until two weeks prior to the departure. If you are a planner, this may seem stressful but, if you book a few days in advance, you will find availability. Most people within Uruguay just show up to the station and take the next bus to their destination without necessarily reserving in advance.
The other website we used to determine bus schedules is Urubus. They allow you to search different routes, show you the timetable, and may allow you to book the bus directly through their website.
Reserving in Person
If you are struggling with any online bus bookings for getting from Buenos Aires to Montevideo to Punta del Este, you can also go to the central bus station and buy tickets in person. The different bus companies have individual stations that list their different destinations. The employees will help you find the appropriate bus for your route and help you book the bus.
This may be the best option if you have some time and flexibility to go to the bus station, especially if COT is the only company running the route that you are looking at. COT did not always disclose their routes online.
Blueprint Travelers Anecdote: we were looking to go from Punta del Este to Colonia del Sacramento, through Montevideo, on New Year’s Day. Our first bus from Punta del Este to Montevideo was in the morning and our next bus continuing to Colonia del Sacramento was in the evening because we were under the impression that COT was not running their buses for this route that day. However, when we got to the Montevideo bus terminal, we saw that COT buses were running the route hourly. We quickly purchased the next possible ticket to get to our destination quickly.
To this day, we don’t know why these buses were not listed on their website and why, even the week prior to this journey, the employees of the company were not aware of these routes when we asked in person.
Local Buses in Punta del Este
If you are in Punta del Este without a car, you will want to use the local transportation to explore the area and go to some different beaches and locations. You can read more about an itinerary in Punta del Este and the different areas to explore here.
You can look into renting a car in Uruguay to get around independently from the bus system.
To best navigate the buses here, you need to download the application called Moovit. Because it uses both crowd-sourced and public transit data, it can provide information in areas that use private forms of transportation. This is the case for Punta del Este. On the application, similarly to Google Maps or other transit applications, you just need to enter your start and your destination and it will give you the bus information, the times, and the bus company. For these buses, you will need Uruguayan pesos to pay as you get on the bus. In December 2023, the buses were around 50-80 pesos per person.
Now, you may have to wait a little while for the bus to arrive as they are not always right on time. You may have to wait up to 20 minutes for a bus, but it will always come! Enjoy the sea air and vacation vibes of the area while you wait!
The Bus System in Montevideo
Similarly to Punta del Este, you can use Moovit to get around the city. While most of their transportation can be found on Google Maps, some of the more specialty buses are not listed there, like when trying to go between the airport and a Montevideo neighborhood. Moovit provided the option for a direct bus between the airport and the neighborhood that Google maps did not have.
