Uruguay

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Flag of Uruguay Uruguay
Information
Language: Spanish
Capital: Montevideo
Population: 3,477,779
Currency: Uruguayan peso ($)
Hitchability:
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<map lat='-32.6' lng='-55.5' zoom='6' view='0' height='300'/>

The Oriental Republic of Uruguay is a country in South America.

More than half of Uruguay's population is concentrated in the capital of Montevideo, meaning a very low population density in the country's interior. In the Uruguayan countryside you will doubtlessly encounter some of the most laid back, friendly folks you could imagine. Humble, generous and curious about anyone passing through, it is the people rather than the geography that make travel memorable in this overlooked corner of the continent. The tranquility of the countryside and the openness of the people will leave an impression on any traveler. Uruguay is a relatively small country, so traveling from the top Northern city to Montevideo would not take much time. From Rivera (a border town with Brazil) to Montevideo it is about 520 km.

Even the president is picking up hitchhikers in this country (January 2015).

Hitchhiking

Regarding hitchhiking and vagabonding, Uruguay's a pretty easy place to hang out. Many Uruguayan locals have hitchhiked through their country, and have had great experiences and good rides. Probably about 1 in 4 cars will give you a lift (outside of Montevideo). There are many stretches of desolate (but pretty) highway where you'll be lucky to see 4 cars pass in an hour. Expect long waits. Next to that, in the countryside much traffic just goes to the next farm or ranch, thus local traffic is prevalent and short rides more likely than somebody travelling longer distances. The coast, from Chuy to Colonia del Sacramento, is more trafficked and therefore an easier place to get a lift. Along the Interbalnearia some cool towns, sand dunes, and even sea lions can be seen.

Flag of Uruguay Cities in Uruguay

Sleeping out

Montevideo is the only city in the country where it's not recommended to sleep on the street, in the rest of the country you can sleep rough without a care. In the countryside, when camping out or walking through fields, be aware of (toxic) snakes. Football stadiums are recommended. Another option in the countryside is to do a visit to the local police office. They most likely might be bored and in many cases invite you for dinner and to sleep in the station, or to put your tent nearby.

Personal Experience

There is very few traffic on the Uruguayan highways, hence the fact that the entire country only has 3.5 million inhabitants. We could not hitch a single ride on that day, and so we called it a night after it started getting dark. The next day we walked and hitched, and walked and hitched...until a truck picked us up, and took us all the way to Montevideo. Which was some 490 kilometers from where we were standing. Hitchhiking in Uruguay is definitely better then Argentina. -- (Tony Tung)


Traffic can be very low at times, as described above. Hitchhiking around the Ciudad de la Costa east of (next to) Montevideo seems to be very difficult, several times failed in hitchhiking between Carrasco airport and Atlantida. All other roads are fine, just be aware that anywhere outside of the cities traffic gets rare fastly, mostly locals driving to the next estancia. When waiting to get a straight ride to a next, bigger city, e.g. between Melo and Tacuarembo, one can wait ages. Hopping between estancias works fine, but even seemingly short-distance trips in the countryside can take their time. Notable, though, is that night hitchhiking works pretty awesome so far, from Paysandu to Montevideo it was no problem at all, and also from Rocha to Maldonado once it took me less than a couple of minutes to score a ride (given that traffic exists at that time of day). --Platschi (talk) 22:34, 21 December 2013 (CET)


Here is a short analyze of hitchhiking in Uruguay from Korn on - warmroads.

Other Links

Check Nomadwiki for info on accommodation, showers etc. or Trashwiki for dumpsters...and share your wisdom :)