Colonia Del Sacramento

[ang144]

Ship is stopping in Montevideo and wondered if it is worth going on the all day tour of Colonia Del Sacramento or should we just book a local tour of Montevideo?

[4774Papa]

Ship is stopping in Montevideo and wondered if it is worth going on the all day tour of Colonia Del Sacramento or should we just book a local tour of Montevideo?

We are considering the Colonia Del Sacramento. Has anyone done this tour?

[marazul]

We are considering the Colonia Del Sacramento. Has anyone done this tour?

 

We went on our own from Buenos Aires. (Search this board.) It is a charming and historical little town and well worth seeing if you have extra time in Buenos Aires. The ferry ride from Buenos Aires is one hour. I am not sure how far a drive it would be from Montevideo. I hate spending a lot of time in buses, so I would weigh that against interesting things to do in Montevideo. If it is not too long a drive, I would go to Colonia. But, that's just me.

[lenkay]

We teamed up with 4 other folks and rented a VW combivan and a driver.

Trip takes a couple of hours each way but the Colonia is a very interesting place to visit. Advantage is that the driver is at your disposal and waits until you are ready to move on.

We walked around the town & had lunch, then headed back to Montevideo where again he took us to the interesting places. He was quite enthusiastic; eventually we insisted he take us back, as the ship was leaving in an hour.

We saw a lot more than the people who took the tour, at a fraction of the cost.

Oh yes, it helps if one of the part speaks Spanish. We had one and it made the tour far easier & more interesting

[pmacher61]

I have been to Colonia a few times for various reasons. There is not much to see or do and I would recommend against a long ride to get there. It may be worth a 1 hour ferry ride if you have excess time while in BA.

[TiogaCruiser]

I took this shorex through HAL a few weeks ago. It is 2 to 2 1/2 hours one way. We arrived as other tours were getting underway. It was about 50-60 minute walking tour ( over uneven terrain) then we went to a restaurant for the include 3 course lunch. Afterward we were to have the remainder of the time (30-60 minutes) on our own.

 

The town was interesting and I would have liked a few more hours there. I left lunch early and got about 1 1/4 hours on my own. The restaurant was pleasant and so was the company, the service was slow ( there was at least one other big group there) BUT I did not travel half way around the world to sit and eat. I managed to get several good pictures sans people and bought a few gifts plus had a pleasant chat with one of the shopkeepers. I got in to the church and would have liked to get up the lighthouse.

 

The cruiseline could improve the shorex by contracting for a smaller lunch ( like choice of sandwich or empanada) OR if the really think we need lots of food, specify all courses be served at once. My opinion, we burned too much time in the restaurant. ( and on day 19 of the cruise, I wasn't interested in heavy food.)

 

One item ( which I don't know the answer to) is how one gets from the ferry ( from BsAs) to Old town Colonia- are there busses and what is the schedule like?

[DeepFreeze63]

Sorry, just say this post. We were on a ship stop in Montevedeo lat December - we loved it (for a day) to walk around for about 4 hours. A few years ago, we went by ferry from BsAs to Colonia for a day. Ferry stops just outside the old area and tourism office was terrific. Had a good time as the historical area is interesting. But it really is small and a couple of hours is more than enough. I'd stay in Montevedeo!

[truel1111]

I suggest you search for Colonia photo and decide yourself. I have seens towns similar to Colonia before, so I don't find Colonia interesting.

 

I suggest Ponte del Este which is about same distance to Colonia but on the east side of Montevideo.

 

http://www.google.ca/search?q=ponte+del+este+finger+in+sand&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=04IiUYmfF5K49gSziYD4Aw&ved=0CEQQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=748