A Weekend in Colonia, Uruguay

Chances are, you have never heard of Colonia, Uruguay. Although this town relies heavily on tourism, it is certainly not the type of location that gets a lot of hype.

Colonia is an old, well, Colonial town with a small population and a lot of historical buildings. It is located on the Rio de la Plata and is a short boat ride from Buenos Aires, Argentina, making it a favorite relaxed vacation spot for many city dwellers.

I chose to spend a weekend in Colonia for a variety of reasons. The most important one, to be completely honest, was to get a new stamp in my passport in order to make my residence in Argentina legal again. Of course, I also had heard that this little town is an excellent place to relax and since I was feeling stressed and happened to have a Sunday off work, it seemed like a perfect plan.

Here’s the thing about busy workaholics like myself: we always say we’d love to go to a tranquil, relaxing place but we’re usually lying, or delusional. However, I went into this weekend with high hopes, traveling on a midnight boat with my friend Jenny, who spends a weekend in Colonia almost twice a month. We started the trip out right, with a free Coke spiked with Fernet (a typical Argentina liquor similar to whiskey) and a couple beers each on the boat. We arrived in Colonia around 3am and we were ready to go out and make the most of our first night in town. However, we were soon made very aware of just how small this town is. As our hosts drove us back to the hostel to drop off our things, I scoured the streets for lights, noise and human beings. When they said this town was historical, I didn’t imagine it to be a huge outdoor museum, but that is certainly what it looked like upon arrival.

We did manage to find one tiny dance club/bar combination. The atmosphere felt like a high school party with competing social groups. The club had 3 rooms, each with very distinct (and bad) music. However, that’s nightlife in a small town and partying was not what I came for.

The next day Jenny, 2 local friends and I rented bicycles for the day. This was undoubtedly the best part of the trip. It’s spring in Colonia and basically the entire town lies on the edge of water which means lots of sparkling water and pleasant breezes.

We rode along in the sunshine, happily taking in the fresh air and tranquil waters for well over an hour. We took a break when we came upon an old bull fighting ring. Unfortunately, no one is allowed inside because it is falling apart, but it was still pretty impressive looking from the outside.

After a long bike ride, we stopped for lunch. Jenny and I split a bottle of wine, which is clearly a must during a truly relaxing weekend. Our friends indulged in the local favorite- Chivitos, which to me is just a meal for those who cannot decide what they want. It involves a lot of meat, potatoes, bread, and various seemingly random vegetables on the side. I don’t eat red meat, so I sat this experience out. However, I have tasted a chicken version of this dish before and I can confidently say I was not missing anything.

The rest of the day was spent lazily strolling through the town, eating ice cream, and watching movies. Had this been the end of my trip, I could have chalked this one up as a win. However, I still had one day to go.

The next day we had nothing planned and, being a Sunday in Colonia, there was nothing happening. We did manage to kill about an hour visiting the town lighthouse. I think the best word to describe it would be “cute”. It was small and climbing up the spiral staircase felt comparable to entering a dollhouse or a child’s playroom that adults couldn’t quite fit inside. I even managed to hit my head on a low doorway after reading a sign that warned me of that very risk.

After the lighthouse, we had the whole day ahead of us. We walked around, following our local friends as they moved from bench to bench, stopping occasionally to sip some Mate, a traditional South American tea beverage. Jenny and I stopped to get coffee at a cafe on 3 separate occasions and once again indulged in some ice cream. This is when I started to tire of the whole relaxation bit. I was slightly irked by the overall feel of the town, it seemed almost eerily tranquil and a little too Pleasantville for me but with some seriously inflated tourist prices. I realized Colonia was having a reverse effect on me, instead of feeling relaxed I started to panic thinking “when do these people work? Do they ever tire of drinking mate on benches? How could one spend every day like this?!” By the end of the day I was ready to jump on that boat and get back to my city life. Colonia is a city of beautiful views, pleasant people and endless park benches but for someone like me, one day was enough.

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Rease Kirchner a staff writer/Travel Adviser for Travelated. She is a US citizen currently living the ex-pat life in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is bilingual and an experienced traveler. She loves gaining and sharing knowledge of local cultures, customs and adventure. Her blog Mi Vida en Buenos Aires documents her life as a foreigner.