Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento Day Trip

It feels like I’ve been to Colonia del Sacramento (in Uruguay, a short hop across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires) for a day trip more times than I’ve eaten Argentine beef. And believe me, that’s a hell of a lot of times!

Now I know that this is a blog about the city of Buenos Aires, and Colonia is not only a different city entirely, but also in a whole other country… but it is such a popular day trip for people visiting Buenos Aires, that it justifies a few words from me here (well OK, I waffle, so it will probably be a lot of words).

I have always found it funny that in guide books, websites, forums etc, a regular answer to the common question “what can I do in Buenos Aires, Argentina?” is “visit Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay”. This is especially comical for me because it reminds me of a joke I once heard from a stand-up comedian back in Coventry, England. It went a little something like this…

“When I came to Coventry last night I asked at the hotel what there is to do in the city. After a little thought, the only thing they could suggest was ‘go see Warwick castle’. I asked them, ‘but isn’t that in Warwick, not Coventry?’, to which they shrugged and gave a nod.”

“To recap, the quick answer to the question ‘what should I do in Coventry?’ is ‘LEAVE! NOW! GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN’”

So apparently, thinking along these lines, a quick answer to the question ‘what should I do in Buenos Aires, Argentina?’ could be not just “leave the city”, but also “get the hell out of the country“. Just to be on the safe side.

Obviously, given the name of this blog, this is not a sentiment I would fully endorse! However, if you are visiting Buenos Aires for a fairly long period, or are an expat living here (perhaps in need of a 3 monthly tourist visa renewal), then a trip to sleepy old Colonia del Sacramento does indeed make for a nice day trip, to get away from the crazy, busy city of Buenos Aires. Also it’s nice to remind yourself of what the horizon actually looks like.

How to: Buenos Aires to Colonia by Buquebus Ferry

A trip across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento is simple, and there is really only one sensible option: Buquebus. They run quite a few ferries back and forth between Argentina and Uruguay, seven days a week.

You can choose a fast or a slow ferry to get there, and there are usually special offers for both types to be found on their website. At the time of posting, there is a fast ferry (“buque rapido”) return crossing (approx. 50 minutes each way) available for 99 Argentine pesos (around US$30), and a slow ferry return crossing (approx. 3 hours each way) on offer for 78 Argentine pesos (around US$25). Here is a link to the latest offers on their site – you can switch this web page to English, but I recommend you try to keep the site in Spanish, because upon changing language the prices often seem to rise, although only a little. Still, very naughty, Buquebus!

For peace of mind, and an easy life, I recommend booking online with a credit card at least a week before you want to make the trip, especially if going on a weekend, when the ferries can get booked up quickly. Then you just have to turn up at the Buquebus ferry terminal (Darsena Norte, in Puerto Madero) about an hour before your journey to pick up your tickets (at the desk immediately on your right as you enter the terminal), check in, and get in the passport control line.

The small city of Colonia only really warrants a single day of exploration, so try to book an early morning crossing going, and a late afternoon/early evening crossing coming back to Buenos Aires.

I would also say it is best to get a taxi to and from the Darsena Norte ferry terminal in Buenos Aires, because it is not the easiest or safest place to get to for tourists – it is literally “the other side of the (train) tracks”, which are not nice to cross on foot, in addition to some dangerous roads around that area with potentially confusing crossings. [Note: I have to admit that personally I always get a bus to around the start of Av. Cordoba, and then walk this last part... but I'm somewhat 'local', and a cheapskate, and so exempt from such sensible advice ]

About the City of Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Colonia del Sacramento was the only Portuguese settlement along the Rio de la Plata when the Spanish were colonizing this area. It was founded in 1680 with the name Nova Colonia do Sacramento by Manuel de Lobo. Colonia’s founding kick-started a struggle between the Spanish and the Portuguese over control of this area.

For years Colonia was a smuggling port, evading the strict trade measures imposed in the Americas by the Spanish. Due to this situation, the city changed hands many times between the Portuguese and the Spanish. Even Brazil controlled it for a short while, until the new country of Uruguay declared independence in 1825.

An interesting thing about Colonia is that its colonial center (Barrío Historico), offers an idea of what buildings in Buenos Aires might have looked like back in colonial times, before the city was successively modernized down the years. Colonia was recently made a UNESCO heritage site, so it should remain a time capsule of the Rio de la Plata’s colonial past for many years.

A couple of my favorite historical sights in Colonia de Sacramento are the Calle de los Suspiros (street of the sighs), a beautiful little cobblestone street lined with colorful houses and Colonia’s trademark yellow lamps – that’s me pictured at the end of this street in the above photo – and the historical city gate and walls, which can be seen in the next photo below, of my fiancee relaxing on a cannon found on Colonia’s old defensive wall.

Five Tips for Enjoying a Day in Colonia

1. Take the chance to relax a little…

Colonia del Sacramento is a world apart from the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires city, instead offering you an opportunity to relax in its peaceful, idyllic, old-world environs. Take that chance while you can, because at the end of the day you’ll be back in Argentina’s big smoke, dodging the psycho taxi drivers on the streets once more (in Uruguay most drivers actually stop when you cross the road, rather than speeding up! what a novelty…)

2. Cough up for the fast ferry…

With such a small pesos price difference between the 3 hour buquebus ferry and the 50 minutes one, I would highly recommend that you pay that little extra for the faster boat when taking a day trip to Colonia de Sacramento. Otherwise, over 7 hours of your day will be spent either traveling in the ferry, or getting on and off it, and that sure is a large portion of the day to waste, meaning less time for relaxing in Colonia (as per point 1).

3. Hire some nifty transport…

For me, the thing I look forward to most, by far, about my trips to Colonia, is hiring a scooter and whizzing around the almost deserted coastal and country roads of Uruguay for the best part of a day. Invigorating, fun, and ever so slightly dangerous – what more could you ask for on a holiday? The best place to hire scooters in Colonia, and indeed other forms of transport, from bikes to golf carts to cars, is at Thrifty car rentals, whose office you will find as you walk out of the ferry terminal in Colonia (see photo above). Last time I was there, it cost a very reasonable US$20 to hire a scooter for the day, or US$25 for a whole 24 hours (note: you will need your driving license and a credit card). Hiring transport will also give you easier access to parts of Colonia that you otherwise might not get to see, with one example now to follow…

4. Go to the beach…

Now you have that scooter, you’ll be wondering where to go. Well, one of my favorite places in Colonia is Playa Ferrando, a very scenic beach in a small bay about 15 minutes scooter ride out from the city center. Make sure you get a map from Thrifty Rentals when you go, as the way to Playa Ferrando is marked clearly on there, in addition to other places to visit in and around Colonia. It’s the perfect place to lie down and take in a little sun, if there in summer (and even spring or fall), or go for a nice walk if visiting during winter. And yes, if you fancy a paddle, the water is safe to enter on this side of the Rio de la Plata – that murky tinge to the water is just sediment from the bottom of the riverbed (and if you look at the photos at the end of this post, you’ll see I put my feet where my mouth is on this issue).

5. Eat some cheap and cheerful junk food…

No, seriously! There is this great little hole in the wall place along Colonia’s main avenue (Av. General Flores), a couple of blocks or so away from the old city center, that does simply amazing hamburgers with everything (egg, ham, cheese, pickled vegetables, and all kinds of interesting and/or spicy toppings and sauces). It’s called Los Farolitos (see the last photo below), and I’m sure you won’t be reading about it in any of the guide books. Thing is, I’ve tried many real restaurants in Colonia del Sacramento and none of them have come even close to impressing me, so this small purveyor of unhealthy comfort food remains my number one dining choice there – so pull up one of the eight or so dodgy plastic chairs outside it on the sidewalk and join me!

More Pictures of Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

And finally, here are a few more sufficiently random photos from my trips to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.

In clockwise order from the top left, they are: 1. Me and a cow somewhere in the Uruguay countryside near Colonia; 2. My fiancee and I paddling in the shallows at Playa Ferrando; 3. Me doing a silly pose on the scooter that got us to those last two places in style; and 4. Los Farolitos, my ‘dining’ venue of choice in Colonia del Sacramento…

One last thing – if you are interested in seeing some more conventional travel photos of Colonia del Sacramento, I urge you to go see this post about a day in Colonia, by Will, and also this entry on day trips to Colonia, by the Argentina Travel Guide, which also contains some useful information on taking a day trip to this beautiful little Uruguayan city.

Once more, thanks for reading everyone!