View of the city centre from the rambla

Some insider tips to getting the most out of your time in Montevideo.

• Walk Montevideo’s 25 kilometres of unbroken promenade by the side of the River Plate (known as the rambla). Watch the sun go down around 7pm from Playa Ramirez and try out our secret venue for fish and chips!
• Visit the Andes 1972 plane crash survivors museum, prepare to be moved. The survivors were all Uruguayan.
• Take a sailing lesson or hire a boat on the River Plate if the weather is nice, or hire a surfboard if waves are up. Secret: The water is warmest in April.
• Take a tour and wine-tasting at a prize-winning vineyard just 15 minutes from the centre of Montevideo. Uruguayan wines are relatively unknown still, although they are getting great reviews internationally.
• Have a huge meaty lunch in the Port Market aka “Disneyland for carnivores”. Secret: Vegetarians should order the roasted stuffed pepper, which is often not on the menu. It comes with melted cheese and olives and ham. To get it without the ham order “Un morrón relleno sin jamón” (oon mo-RON ray-ZHE-no seen ha-MON – I’ve given you the Uruguayshan pronunciation)
• Take a tour through Montevideo’s footballing past with the fabulous Football Fanatics including the stadium where the first ever World Cup was played. It’s a great way to spend the afternoon, and I say that as someone who doesn’t like football!
• Check out what’s on tonight These are my personal recommendations of music, dance, tango, whatever… based on the preferences of the people staying at my guesthouse. As a working musician myself, I tend to select venues completely off the tourist track. Recommendations are usually posted around midday in English, Spanish and/or Portuguese.

Photo courtesy: Cassio Luiselli