Introduction
To end our journey in Uruguay, nothing better that to get a ferry instead of a bus or a plane to reach Argentina. In order to do so, our travel brought us to Colonia del Sacramento. A historical town in the south of Uruguay.
Colonia Del Sacramento also shortly called Colonia is the capital of the Colonia state. Its population is about 27 000 people. The historical city center has a strong Portuguese and Spanish Architecture as since its foundation in 1680 it switched from Portugal territory to Spanish one.
Table of Contents
Scheduled
We arrived in Colonia del Sacramento at 2:30pm by a COT bus from Montevideo. We headed to our guesthouse walking as it was near the old city center. After drooping our bags, we started to discover the town as we would only have half a day here.
Old city center
The old city center of Sacramento is beautiful. Made of cobble streets border by pavement with lots of trees, themselves protecting beautiful old building with a European architecture. Just getting from street to street is awesome. Along your way you will discover a cute town with great restaurant and colourful stores.
Everything is nearby and easily reachable walking, here are some place where we stopped:
- Plaza 25 De Agosto
- Santísimo Sacramento
- Plaza Mayor
- Faro de Colonia del Sacramento
- Bastión de San Miguel
- Puerto de Colonia
- Feria Artesanal
- Rambla Colonia Del Sacramento
- Muelle De Colonia Del Sacramento
- Centro cultural bastion del carmen
Places
Plaza 25 De Agosto
We first started by the little cute square near our hostel where later on during the day it felt good stopping to arrange our accommodation in Buenos Aires.
Santísimo Sacramento & Plaza Mayor
Catholic church opened to public for free with a nice design in its wall. Plaza mayor is the main square of the old town
Faro de Colonia del Sacramento
Built in 1850, the lighthouse as a narrow staircase that allow you to get on top of it. First you get to the observation deck and later you can reach up to the light itself.
From up there, you get a gorgeous panoramic view of the town.
Bastión de San Miguel & Train station & Puerto de Colonia
We kept on strolling around and discovered the ruins of an old bastion that was once the defence of the city. A bit further we saw some rail tracks that we followed until an old train station that is nowadays just used as offices. At the end of it was the port. We took the chance to get a ticket for the next morning ferry to Buenos Aires with Colonia Express.
Feria Artesanal & Rambla Colonia Del Sacramento
The day is not yet over, so we crossed town to reach the Feria Artesanal. As it was end of the afternoon, it wasn’t completely open. So, we just past it and headed to the Rambla. After passing some street art, we decided to head back to town. But if you have time or like to walk you can keep on for a few kilometres before arriving to another part of town.
Muelle De Colonia Del Sacramento
To end the day, we went to this peer and get a bench facing the sunset. We had first bought a cold beer and some peanuts to ease the wait.
Centro cultural bastion del carmen
And before returning to our guesthouse, we made a final stop there to chill a bit longer and listen to music. A concert was taking place and people were getting ready. It isn’t everyday but with luck it will be at the time you are there.
“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.” — Lawrence Block
Where to stay in Colonia Del Sacramento
- Budget: CASA GRANATE – CASA HOTEL – Slow Home
- Mid-Range: Posada Plaza Mayor
- Luxurious: Don Antonio Posada
- Apartment: Las Glicinas Boutique Apartments
