Uruguay in 7 Days on a Budget (Daily Costs)
Seven days in Uruguay: the whole coast, Montevideo to Punta del Diablo
Seven days covers a full first-trip route: Montevideo, an overnight in Colonia del Sacramento, then east along the coast through Punta del Este, Jose Ignacio, off-grid Cabo Polonio, and Punta del Diablo with Santa Teresa National Park, before a direct bus back to Montevideo to fly out. Budget roughly $45-130 a day per person depending on the stop. Remember the peso trap: Uruguay’s “$” sign means pesos, not US dollars, at roughly 40 to 1. Only have six days? The 6-day plan stops after Cabo Polonio.
| Day | Focus | Travel time | Cost (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montevideo: Ciudad Vieja, Mercado del Puerto, the Rambla | Carrasco Airport transfer, 20-40 min | $45-65 |
| 2 | Colonia del Sacramento, overnight in the old town | Bus 2h45-2h50 from Tres Cruces | $55-75 |
| 3 | Punta del Este: La Mano, Casapueblo | Bus via Montevideo, about 5h total | $70-100 |
| 4 | Jose Ignacio, the quiet luxury version of the coast | About 45 min by car or local bus | $90-130 |
| 5 | Cabo Polonio, off-grid dunes and a sea lion colony | Bus to the Ruta 10 depot plus a mandatory 4x4, roughly 3-5h door to door | $50-70 |
| 6 | Punta del Diablo and Santa Teresa National Park | 4x4 out, then a coastal bus hop, roughly 1-2h | $45-65 |
| 7 | Back to Montevideo to fly out | Direct bus, roughly 4-4.5h from Rocha | $30-45 |
Book these before you go:
- Punta del Diablo or Punta del Este hotel : book Punta del Diablo well ahead in summer, its rustic hotel supply is smaller than the glam-coast towns'.
- Rental car in Uruguay : the easiest way to cover Montevideo through Jose Ignacio; you’ll still switch to bus-plus-4x4 for Cabo Polonio.
- Buquebus ferry schedules : worth checking if you’re bookending this trip with a Buenos Aires stop, direct to Montevideo or Colonia.
- Coastal Uruguay tour : a guided option for the Punta del Este through Jose Ignacio stretch if you’d rather not drive it.
Before you land: pesos, the whole bus network, and where a car helps
Uruguay’s peso (UYU) shares the plain “$” sign with the US dollar; real dollars are marked “U$S,” at roughly 40 pesos to the dollar. Carrasco Airport sits 20-40 minutes from central Montevideo. Tres Cruces buses reach every stop on this route, including Punta del Diablo (roughly 4-4.5h direct from Montevideo, $20-30), but a rental car (roughly $35-90 a day) earns its cost once you’re covering Punta del Este through Jose Ignacio on your own schedule; Cabo Polonio always means switching to the bus-plus-4x4 combination regardless, no private cars inside the park. Current entry rules are on the Ministry of Tourism’s site .
Where to stay across seven nights and six very different towns
Montevideo and Colonia follow the shorter plans’ lodging advice. Jose Ignacio is the splurge night. Cabo Polonio flips to simple, solar-powered cabins, often cheaper than the towns on either side. Punta del Diablo splits the difference between Cabo Polonio’s isolation and Punta del Este’s polish: rustic surf-town guesthouses, roughly $35-55 a night, for travelers who want quieter and cheaper without going fully off-grid.
Day 1: Montevideo, the capital that isn’t Punta del Este
Montevideo, not Punta del Este, is the capital. Morning in Ciudad Vieja: Plaza Independencia, the 1928 Palacio Salvo, and Teatro Solis, guided tours roughly $10 for foreign visitors. Lunch at Mercado del Puerto, a shared grilled-meat platter for two runs roughly $50. Evening on the Rambla, the 22km waterfront promenade, ending with dinner in Pocitos.
Day 2: Colonia del Sacramento, stay the night
Do Colonia as an overnight, not a rushed round trip; it’s more atmospheric once the ferry-borne day-trippers from Buenos Aires clear out in the late afternoon. Bus from Tres Cruces runs roughly 2h45-2h50 ($14-20 one way). Spend the afternoon in the Barrio Historico, a UNESCO old town mixing Portuguese and Spanish colonial styles, including Calle de los Suspiros. Climb the 1857 lighthouse (roughly $U100, about $2.50, cash preferred) before dinner.
Day 3: Punta del Este, the resort stop, not the destination
Punta del Este is worth a look but skip it as the centerpiece of the trip; the high-season glitz and prices buy less character than nearby Jose Ignacio. Arrive via the loop back through Montevideo (about 5h combined) or a direct through-ticket where available. See La Mano at Playa Brava, free and always accessible, then Casapueblo at Punta Ballena (roughly $U600, about $15), timed for the sunset “Ceremonia al Sol” recording, arriving 40 minutes early.
Day 4: Jose Ignacio, the splurge that’s worth it
Jose Ignacio is the best “worth it” stop on this coast for anyone who can afford one night here: less built-up than Punta del Este, better food, and a low-rise building code that protects the atmosphere it’s selling. La Mansa’s calm beach, La Brava’s rougher surf, and the lighthouse (a shore-based whale-watching spot roughly July-October) are the draw, not a single paid attraction.
Day 5: Cabo Polonio, off-grid by design
Cabo Polonio is the best beach stop in the country for anyone willing to accept its constraints, no mains power, a mandatory 4x4 in, cash-only, precisely because those constraints keep it from becoming another Punta del Este. Bus to the Ruta 10 depot, then a 30-minute 4x4 truck ride through the dunes into the village. The 1881 lighthouse, the only building on the national grid, overlooks one of South America’s largest sea lion colonies, easily seen from the deck without a boat.
Day 6: Punta del Diablo and Santa Teresa National Park
Punta del Diablo is the best split-the-difference stop on this coast for anyone who wants quieter and cheaper without Cabo Polonio’s full off-grid commitment. It’s a former fishing village turned laid-back surf town, rustic compared to Punta del Este. Santa Teresa National Park next door is free to enter; the 18th-century Portuguese-built fortress inside charges a small separate fee. Do this over a third night in Punta del Este if the choice is between the two.
Day 7: Back to Montevideo to fly out
Direct buses run from the Rocha coast back to Tres Cruces (roughly 4-4.5h, $20-30), avoiding a full backtrack through every earlier stop; build in a real buffer before a Carrasco flight, since this is the longest single travel day on the whole trip.
Is a week enough time to see Uruguay properly?
A week covers a full coastal route, Montevideo, Colonia, and the entire Atlantic coast through Punta del Diablo, at a comfortable one-to-two-night pace per stop. It skips the interior entirely: Salto’s thermal springs are a 6-plus-hour bus ride from Montevideo each way and work better as their own dedicated trip than a bolt-on to this coastal loop.
How much does 7 days in Uruguay actually cost?
Figure roughly $470-640 total per person across six nights of lodging that swing from budget to splurge and back to simple twice over, seven days of meals, and the bus, car, and 4x4 legs connecting six stops. Traveling outside the December-February peak keeps Punta del Este and Jose Ignacio nights toward the lower end of that range, and remember Uruguay still runs 30-50% above Argentina or Peru for a comparable meal even in the quiet season.
Money moves that matter over a full week
Withdraw enough pesos before Cabo Polonio and again before Punta del Diablo’s smaller ATMs run dry on a busy weekend. Book Jose Ignacio and Punta del Diablo’s better guesthouses first, both have the smallest room supply on this route and sell out well before Montevideo or Punta del Este do.