Montevideo

Montevideo is the capital of Uruguay. Whether arriving to or departing from Montevideo, expect to use public transportation to get you into/out of town.

North towards Canelones (Ruta 5), West towards Colonia del Sactamento, Argentina (Ruta 1)

 * Option 1: You can take bus #137 (Paso de la Arena), #370 (Cerro) or 17 (Casabo) from the roundabout at Palacio Legislativo. These buses most likely also pass downtown. The bus stop is behind the Palacio, next to the José Batlle y Ordóñez monument. The price for one ticket is $20 (March 2013). Get out at Av. Dr. Carlos Maria Ramirez, esq. (crossing with) Concordia. Ask somebody on the bus if you are not sure. If you miss it, you'll see yourself driving over the Ruta 1 highway, then just get out at the first next stop. From Concordia crossing, walk right into the side-road next to the bridge. You'll find yourself standing at the highway. Walk up about 200m to the on-ramp. You can use this ramp to hitchhike cars both on the highway and driving onto it. This place is also fine for hitchhiking towards La Paz, Canelones or Florida along Ruta 5. The highway crossing can be found about a kilometer behind this spot.


 * Option 2: Bus 163: Take a bus from anywhere of Montevideo with number 163 which will put u on the road 1. Do not get out on the first crossing of the highway, but on second. Ask the driver to tell you where. In Uruguay there are generally very little number of cars as the country is low populated.


 * Option 3: Catch the Santiago Vazquez bus in downtown Montevideo towards Vazquez and Mercedes (not sure of the bus number though, you should ask). When you get to Santiago Vazquez cross the bridge and start hitching after the toll. If going to Gualeguaychu get off in the 2 and start hitching there. However it's strongly recommended to go to Colonia. If you're going from Colonia to Gualeguaychu hitch on the 21. Even if you will see the ugliest towns in the country and you'll get cider instead of water people are super nice.

East towards Atlántida, Maldonado (IB), Brazil
If you plan to hitchhike east along the Interbalnearia, a good start might be at the Carrasco airport. You can take the local bus #109 to Parque Roosevelt ($20, April 2013) until the last stop, where the Parque R. begins. It can take you about 30-45min from Centro. You then just follow the road for about 1 km, and you'll situate yourself at a roundabout which marks the beginning of the IB. Behind the roundabout, there's a bus stop with plenty of space to stop cars. There's also two service stations a bit up along the way. Still quite some traffic might go only to the airport which is located about a 1,5 km up the road, so in doubt it might be possible to walk up behind the bridge (exit/entrance to the airport) and start from there. Traffic is plentyful.

''Platschi tried to hitchhike from here in April 2013, but somehow after three hours of thumb gestures, nobody stopped. Must have been a cloudy day. Still, it seems the only suitable place to get east along the IB when hitchhiking out of Montevideo.''

East towards Minas, Treinta y Tres (Ruta 8), Brazil
If hitchhiking out towards Brazil, one can either take the IB along the coast or the Ruta 8, depending on the destination. Hitchhiking out of Montevideo towards Ruta 8, one can take the local bus #D8 to CNO Maldonado. Get out at Ruta 8, Gral J.A. Lavalleja y Angel Zanelli. If in doubt, ask the driver to leave you close to Villa Garcia. There's a roundabout located, after which it is possible to hitchhike out of town towards Pando, Minas along Ruta 8.

From the airport
It's possible to get a ride to Montevideo from the airport by just talking to some friendly looking people. The airport is situated in the north east of Montevideo. Also, if you walk down the parking, there's a barrier for all in- and outgoing traffic that has to pay a fee for entering the airport territory. Behind this barrier, there's plenty of space to communicate with drivers and stop cars. Be aware that traffic can go in all directions at the roundabout just behind it. A bit further up the on-ramp, there's a bus stop as well.

isin: Uruguay

trash:Montevideo