Colonia: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Colonia del Sacramento was founded by the Portuguese in 1680 on the Uruguayan shore of the Río de la Plata, directly across from Spanish Buenos Aires, as a smugglers’ foothold in Spain’s empire. It changed hands between the two crowns again and again for almost a century. Its old quarter, a World Heritage site since 1995, is small enough to walk in two hours.
A short history of Colonia
Colonia del Sacramento was founded in 1680 by the Portuguese, directly opposite Spanish Buenos Aires across the river estuary, and served mainly as a base for smuggling goods. For about a hundred years the town passed back and forth between Portugal and Spain, through wars and treaties, until in 1777 it was finally handed to Spain. After Uruguay's independence in 1828 it remained a quiet town, and thanks to this the cobbled streets and low houses of the colonial period were not destroyed. In 1995 the historic quarter was declared a World Heritage Site, and ferries link it to Buenos Aires in about an hour.
The ten best sights in Colonia
1Portón de CampoThe city gate and its drawbridge
2Calle de los SuspirosThe cobbled lane everybody photographs
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3Plaza Mayor
The Portuguese square under the trees
4LighthouseClimb it for the river at sunset
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5Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento
The oldest church in Uruguay
6Museo PortuguésThe Portuguese century of the town
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7Casa Nacarello
An eighteenth-century house, furnished
8Museo IndígenaThe peoples before the forts
9Plaza de ArmasThe church square and its excavations
10Bastión del CarmenA factory turned cultural centre
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Colonia →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Colonia:
Free walking tours in Colonia
The Portuguese town
Colonia del Sacramento was founded by the Portuguese in 1680 on the Uruguayan shore of the Río de la Plata, directly across from Spanish Buenos Aires, as a smugglers’ foothold in Spain’s empire. It changed hands between the two crowns again and again for almost a century. Its old quarter, a World Heritage site since 1995, is small enough to walk in two hours.
- Portón de Campo · The land gate of the walled town, with a wooden drawbridge over the moat, rebuilt in the twentieth century on the old foundations; the walls were torn down in the nineteenth century as the town grew.
- Calle de los Suspiros · A lane of low colonial houses running down to the river, paved in the Portuguese way, with a gutter down the middle of the street rather than at its sides — the Spanish built theirs with gutters at the edges, which is one way to tell who built a street.
- Plaza Mayor · The old parade ground of the Portuguese garrison, now a square of plane trees; at its edge stand the roofless stone walls of a colonial house, left as ruins.
- Lighthouse · Built in 1857 among the ruins of the seventeenth-century convent of San Francisco, whose stone walls still stand around its base. From the top, on a clear day, the towers of Buenos Aires show on the horizon, some fifty kilometres across the river.
- Casa Nacarello · A small Portuguese house of the eighteenth century kept as a museum, with thick walls, a low roof and the furniture of a colonial family — one of a group of small municipal museums sold on a single ticket.
- Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento · Considered the oldest church in Uruguay, first built by the Portuguese at the founding of the town. It was used to store gunpowder during the wars, and in 1823 the powder exploded and destroyed most of it; what stands now was rebuilt on the old walls.
The river and the millionaire’s resort
North of the old town the rambla follows the river, wide and brown as a sea, to Real de San Carlos, the resort an Argentine shipping magnate built for the rich of Buenos Aires before the First World War. Half a day; rent a bicycle or a golf cart, as many visitors do.
- Bastión del Carmen · On the line of the old walls, an industrial building of the late nineteenth century with a tall brick chimney, restored as a theatre and cultural centre by the water.
- Museo Indígena · A collection of stone tools and points of the peoples who lived along the river before the Europeans, gathered over a lifetime by a local collector.
- Rambla · The Río de la Plata here is fresh water, so wide that the far shore is invisible; it is the estuary of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, and its brown colour is silt carried down from the heart of the continent.
- Real de San Carlos · Around 1910 Nicolás Mihanovich, a Croatian-born shipping magnate of Buenos Aires, built a resort here with a hotel and casino, a pelota court and a racecourse, and ran his own ferries across the river to fill it.
- Plaza de Toros · The resort’s bullring, opened in 1910 with room for some ten thousand spectators. Uruguay banned bullfighting in 1912, so it was used for only a handful of fights; it stood empty for a century before its restoration.
- Playa Ferrando · Back past the port, a quiet river beach with a view back to the old town and its lighthouse; the water is fresh and shallow, and the sun sets over Argentina.
The department of Colonia
Inland and along the river lie the villages settled by immigrants: Swiss cheesemakers, English quarrymen, and the vineyards of Carmelo. A day by car; the roads are quiet and straight.
- Nueva Helvecia · A colony founded in 1862 by Swiss immigrants, still known for its cheese and its chalets; Swiss and Uruguayan flags fly side by side on the square.
- Conchillas · A village built in the late nineteenth century by the British firm C. H. Walker, which quarried stone and sand here for the building of the port of Buenos Aires; its brick houses, store and cemetery are still English in style.
- Carmelo · A town of vineyards where the Arroyo de las Vacas meets the river, crossed by a swing bridge of 1912, said to be the first in Uruguay, still turned to let boats through. The local grape is Tannat.
- Port and ferry terminal · Back in Colonia, the port where most visitors arrive — the fast ferry from Buenos Aires takes about an hour and a quarter, which is why so many see the town only as a day trip and miss its evenings.
- Avenida General Flores · The main street of the newer town, named after Venancio Flores, the caudillo who seized power in the 1860s; here are the banks, the shops and the parrillas where locals eat.
- Plaza de Armas · Beside the basilica, a square where excavated foundations of colonial buildings have been left open to view, the oldest layer of the town.
Getting to Colonia and getting around
- Port and ferry terminal · Ferries to Buenos Aires, about an hour
- Bus terminal · Buses to Montevideo and Carmelo
Cheap eats in Colonia
Uruguay eats the chivito: a steak sandwich piled with ham, cheese, egg, bacon and salad, the national sandwich, with fries. At the counter also: empanadas, milanesa, and dulce de leche on everything. Uruguay is not cheap; a chivito costs about twelve to eighteen dollars.
- Avenida General Flores · Chivitos and parrilla
- Nueva Helvecia · Swiss cheese of Uruguay
- Carmelo · Tannat in the cellars
Museums in Colonia
Small museums of the Portuguese town, on one ticket.
- Museo Portugués · The Portuguese century
- Casa Nacarello · A colonial home
- Museo Indígena · Before the Europeans
Nature and day trips near Colonia
The river like a sea, beaches of fresh water and sunsets over Argentina.
- Rambla · The riverside promenade
- Playa Ferrando · The quiet beach
- Lighthouse · The view at sunset
Things to do in Colonia with kids
With children: a drawbridge, a lighthouse to climb and golf carts to ride.
- Portón de Campo · The drawbridge
- Lighthouse · The climb
- Plaza de Toros · The bullring by bike
Holy places in Colonia
The church of the town and the convent under the lighthouse.
- Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento · The oldest church
- Lighthouse · The convent ruins
Frequently asked questions about Colonia
What is there to see in Colonia?
The top sights in Colonia are Portón de Campo, Calle de los Suspiros and Plaza Mayor. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Colonia?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Colonia without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Colonia?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Colonia, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The Portuguese town.
How do you get to Colonia and get around?
The main ways are Port and ferry terminal and Bus terminal. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Colonia, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Colonia that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Colonia for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.