Uruguay Transportation Tips by Marie-France

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: Uruguay has nice buses offering express service between its cities. Several companies serve the same destinations. It's all pretty straighforward, except for one confusing thing I had never encountered anywhere else before: the "car" (coche) number!

Your bus ticket will have a seat number, as well as a car number. At first I thought this was weird, since normally only trains have car numbers, so I ignored it... and had to do part of a trip standing!

It turns out that a company will often have more than one bus going to the same destination at the same time! Each bus is identified by a big number in the window, e.g. 1,2,3, etc. If you get on the wrong bus (like I did) and somebody with the same seat number boards later on, you're out of luck.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: The best way to get to Uruguay from Buenos Aires is by ferry. Buquebus is the company that operates the ferries. The regular ferry takes 3 hours and leaves B.A. around 9:00am, arriving in Colonia at 1:00 pm (don't forget - Uruguay is one hour ahead of Argentina). The return boat leaves Colonia in the evening to go back to Buenos Aires. They also have an express boat if I remember well, as well as boats that go to Montevideo.

It costs about $35 US for a return ticket to Colonia. Half that for one way. You can buy the tickets at the ferry terminal, or in downtown Buenos Aires at Av. Cordoba, 879..

The ferry is free seating inside, or you can just hang around the lounge or deck. It's a big boat, and even has duty-free shops. You're crossing into another country, so don't forget your passport; you'll have to clear customs before embarking.

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