Rich in culture and wonderful European-influenced architecture, a walk through Montevideo was just what was needed to end off our 14-night Antarctica cruise.
This blog post is about my port-of-call experience in Montevideo, Uruguay during my 14-Night Antarctica cruise with Celebrity Cruises in early February of 2024. You can read all about this series of blog posts:
[ 14-Night Antarctica Cruise ]
[ Ushuaia, Argentina ]
[ Puerto Madryn, Argentina: Peninsula ]
[ Puerto Madryn, Argentina: Punto Tombo ]
[ Montevideo, Uruguay ]
We arrived at Montevideo early in the morning so when we got off the boat, the streets were still relatively quiet. We didn’t take any excursions here since I was feeling a little under the weather at this point.
Instead, we decided to take a walk around town on our own to see what we could find. We ended up walking the entire day all around the central area of Montevideo, enjoying the sights and sounds on a beautiful, sunny day.
The architecture found in Montevideo is influenced by the European migrants so there is a mix of styles including colonial, Neoclassic, and art deco. Finding these along our walk was quite interesting.
Palacio Estevez | Museo de la Casa de Gobierno 
Colourful buildings and flowers adorn the side of a building. 
Looking down a street in Montevideo. 
The side of a cafe. 
Bus stop. 
Palacio Salvo 
Palacio Salvo 
Palacio Salvo 
Palacio Salvo 
Plaza de la Constitución 
Looking down an aisle. 
Looking down the street. 
An abstract shape on the side of a buiding. 
Looking down the street. 
A boy looks out the window. 
A pedestrian walkway. 
An interactive art installation. 
Staff working in a cafe. 
Working in a bakery. 
A flag out the window. 
Someone down the street. 
Looking down the street.
By chance we found a panoramic observatory at the top of a municipal government building. We went up about 90m to the rooftop where it offered 360 degree views of the entire city.
It was an unexpected and welcomed find on our walk. Be warned that the elevator to go up here only houses three people at once and moves extremely slowly up and down the exterior of the building. This is likely the reason why I never saw this observatory in any of the tours of the city; it would take too long for the entire group to go up and down the elevator.
After spending some time up above, we came ba
ck down with an empty stomach. We looked around for a place to eat which was on our way back to the ship.
We ended up at Tannat, a steak house that looked very appetizing since the grill/kitchen was staring right at us from the outside! We went inside and ordered one meat dish each thinking we would share. What ended up arriving was two plates full of different cuts of grilled meat! We couldn’t believe how much meat there was—with only a small side salad per dish.
There was one more place we needed to visit in Montevideo, and that was the Port Market, which houses a number of different restaurants. It’s a popular destination as it houses all sorts of different steak houses all under one roof.
Naturally, we didn’t eat anything here as we had just eaten an entire plate of meat at Tannat. We passed through perusing at the various options and promptly made our way ack to the ship.
YouTube
You can watch my YouTube review on Montevideo, Uruguay by clicking the link below:
Have you been to Montevideo? Let me know what you thought!