Colonia del Sacramento is a small city in the southwest of Uruguay with a beautiful old town, which is designated a UNESCO world heritage site. It is also just an hour away with the ferry from Buenos Aires and therefore perfect for a day trip to escape the bustling city of Buenos Aires. In different blogs and forums I have seen comments about disappointments of a trip to Colonia. I say if you are looking to get away from the noisy Bs As and are happy to spend a chillaxed day in a small town (population 27,000 – it’s not Rio!) with an interesting history and some nice restaurants and cafés, then this place is for you. If you are only spending a couple of days in Bs As then I would advise against a day trip to Colonia – Bs As has enough to offer to spend weeks here and not getting bored. It is a getaway option for longer term travelers. There are also a bunch of people using this day trip to renew there tourist visa (3 months max.) in Argentina.
The port is rather unimpressive and so is the surrounding area. Walk ten minutes up and left and you get to the good stuff: the historic core with the lighthouse El Faro, the Basilica del Santísimo Sacramento and the Calle de los Suspiros.
Have a nice lunch there (you’ll find plenty of restaurants); I had schnitzel (called Milanesas in South America – guess who brought it there? 
) with French fries.
Walk some more, rest on a bench looking at the Río de la Plata and think about life (or your next blog post).
Later, keep walking, buy some cheesy souvenir, have an ice cream at Freddo and/or a scone and tea at the Charco Hotel (the scones are actually a bit sweet, so clotted cream and jam can be left out):
And then take the ferry back to Bs As.
I took the ferry leaving 12.30pm, arriving 1.30pm and returned with the ferry at 7.45pm, arriving at 8.45pm and this was enough time to discover the city.
Travel Tips
- If you’re taking the ferry from Bs As compare prices on Buquebus, SeacatColonia and ColoniaExpress. If booking with SeacatColonia, you will be traveling with the same ferry as Buquebus. ColoniaExpress ferries are a bit smaller.
- DO NOT change money on the ferry, wait at least for the exchange at the port. On my day of traveling, exchange rate USD/UYU on the ferry was 25.40 while 27.30 at the port. In other words: a total rip-off! Most restaurants and stores however accept USD and ARS as well. So if this is your only trip to Uruguay, I wouldn’t necessarily change money (I am planning a weekend in Montevideo soon, thus I bought some Uruguayan pesos).
- Prices on the ferry for food and beverages are steep (ARS 40 for an alfajor that otherwise costs around ARS 20-25), so bring your own food and drinks.
- I found the website Guru’guay very helpful for tips when traveling to and staying in Uruguay.
