South America - Montevideo Airport (MVD) to Punta Del Este

Does anyone know if it is advisable once we get in to MVD to ask a cab to drive us to Punta del Este? Also any ideas of how much it will cost? Thanks

i'm in the same boat as you...we will be making the same trek soon. but from everything i've read, it is MUCH cheaper to take one of the frequent buses that run by the airport over to punta. It's supposed to be <10USD one way from the airport to Punta and takes 1.5-2hours.

The only question I have is whether to book this in advance or not?

Take the bus - it is almost as fast as a car and much cheaper. not sure if you need to book though. Hitchhiking is also quite common if you are in the mood (though it won't be very successful from the airport I think).

If you are spending any real time in PDE, a couple of days or more, you really should rent a car. The best areas of PDE are outside PDE. Everything is spread out and the drives are great.

Rental cars at MVD are plentiful and easy. The airport is new, easy to navigate and easy to exit/enter. Its a quick 90+ minute highway drive to PDE.
Have fun. Uruguay is great. And make sure you have a chivito, or two, while there.

If you are spending any real time in PDE, a couple of days or more, you really should rent a car. The best areas of PDE are outside PDE. Everything is spread out and the drives are great.

Rental cars at MVD are plentiful and easy. The airport is new, easy to navigate and easy to exit/enter. Its a quick 90+ minute highway drive to PDE.
Have fun. Uruguay is great. And make sure you have a chivito, or two, while there.

Fully agree - w/o a car it wouldn't be half as much fun.

If you are spending any real time in PDE, a couple of days or more, you really should rent a car. The best areas of PDE are outside PDE. Everything is spread out and the drives are great.

Rental cars at MVD are plentiful and easy. The airport is new, easy to navigate and easy to exit/enter. Its a quick 90+ minute highway drive to PDE.
Have fun. Uruguay is great. And make sure you have a chivito, or two, while there.

Thanks everyone for the excellent replies. I am actually struggling with this at the moment. We will be spending three days in Punta and I am debating whether to rent a car or take the bus from the airport and once in Punta just take taxis. Its more about the convinience than price although the hotel I am staying in (Serena) wanted to charge me $160 each way! I said thanks but no thanks. :)

See, if we rent a car for example how easy is it to drive around Punta like going to dinner, finding parking etc? I guess that is what I am debating because ultimately the costs of taking the bus and using cabs will equal the cost of renting a car. Renting a car does have the flexibility of being independent which I like also. At first we considered driving from BUE into PDE but decided taking the ferry to colonia and renting from there not necessarily perfect for us so I got plane tickets from EZE/AEP into MVD. I am starting to second guess that now and with only a few days to go what is left is this rent a car or take the bus and use cabs decision. Sorry for my rambling and appreciate your suggestions.

By the way is the bus to Punta at the airport?

ETA: I just answered my own question, the bus starts downtown and stops by the airport. In case anyone needs the schedule here it is:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294066-i5832-k4863709-Getting_to_Punta_del_Este_from_Montevideo_airport-Punta_del_Este.html

ETA a second time: Do taxi in Punta require you negotiate ahead of entering the cab like in Argentina?

If you are spending any real time in PDE, a couple of days or more, you really should rent a car. The best areas of PDE are outside PDE. Everything is spread out and the drives are great.

Rental cars at MVD are plentiful and easy. The airport is new, easy to navigate and easy to exit/enter. Its a quick 90+ minute highway drive to PDE.
Have fun. Uruguay is great. And make sure you have a chivito, or two, while there.

When you say the best areas are outside of PDE, you mean beaches? Do you mind throwing out a couple of names for me to research? Thanks in advance.

Frankly, driving around PDE is about as easy a place to drive as anywhere we've ever been, including locales here in the States. The city is layed out on an easy to navigate grid, to a large extent. Not huge traffic, easy line of sight so you don't lose your bearings and it's not big. So, you cant get very lost and soon know the area. Plus everyone is friendly. Renting a car is a no brainer, plus taxis are expensive.

For places to visit there are many. Drive up the coast to La Barra. Then another 15 minutes to Jose Ignacio. You can drive even further up for some more remote beaches. Have lunch at La Huella. We thought the best parts of the PDE area are outside the town and would not stay in town in any event.

And don't forget the chivitos......

Taxi in Punta are very expensive and metered (most are new Mercedes sedans) - not at all like Argentina. You wont save any money.

If taking the bus from MVD airport to Punta Del Este, how often do they run and do they leave directly from the airport?

Im considering doing MVD-PDE by bus and then taking the ferry to Buenos Aires. For the latter, this also saves me from having to pay the entry tax. How expensive are the ferries to B.A. and are they comfortable or pretty dingy?

If taking the bus from MVD airport to Punta Del Este, how often do they run and do they leave directly from the airport?

Im considering doing MVD-PDE by bus and then taking the ferry to Buenos Aires. For the latter, this also saves me from having to pay the entry tax. How expensive are the ferries to B.A. and are they comfortable or pretty dingy?

Do you mean a ferry from Punta to BA? I don't think there's any, just flights. Ferries only from Montevideo (or Colonia).

As per the suggestions above, just rent a car. It's quite cheap and will give you much more freedom to explore the areas around Punta.

If taking the bus from MVD airport to Punta Del Este, how often do they run and do they leave directly from the airport?

Im considering doing MVD-PDE by bus and then taking the ferry to Buenos Aires. For the latter, this also saves me from having to pay the entry tax. How expensive are the ferries to B.A. and are they comfortable or pretty dingy?

http://www.buquebus.com/BQBWebV2/web/ENG.Home

You can check schedules and fares. Ferries are fine - nothing luxurious, more like (almost) airplane seating, with a duty free shop and a cafeteria.

Do you mean a ferry from Punta to BA? I don't think there's any, just flights. Ferries only from Montevideo (or Colonia).

As per the suggestions above, just rent a car. It's quite cheap and will give you much more freedom to explore the areas around Punta.

So is going from Punta del Este to B.A. by bus and ferry the best/cheapest way? You take the bus to MVD and then the ferry from there to B.A.? It's 2 hours to MVD and then three hours to B.A.? How often are the ferries? It sounds tedious and time-consuming!


Also, how do you get to the ferry to B.A. from the MVD airport?

So is going from Punta del Este to B.A. by bus and ferry the best/cheapest way? You take the bus to MVD and then the ferry from there to B.A.? It's 2 hours to MVD and then three hours to B.A.? How often are the ferries? It sounds tedious and time-consuming!


Also, how do you get to the ferry to B.A. from the MVD airport?

Cheapest, probably. Best, not likely. Long-distrance buses are very good in Uruguay. The one I took from Colonia to MVD (company was called COT, I think it's the biggest) even had superfast wi-fi! Alternatively, plenty of direct seasonal flights to BA with Aerolineas, Pluna and BQB Airlines.

Probably around 3-4 ferry departures per day. Might be worthwhile taking the bus from Punta to Colonia and doing a 1 night stopover there. From there ferry crossing to BA is only 45 mins. Colonia is a further 2.5 hrs from MVD.

www.buquebus.com for ferry routes/timetables
www.cot.com.uy for COT buses

Probably buses running from MVD airport to the ferry terminal, but not sure. MVD is a nightmare for taxis as only Mercedes taxis are on stand there and cost almost USD 100 to get downtown!

i'm in the same boat as you...we will be making the same trek soon. but from everything i've read, it is MUCH cheaper to take one of the frequent buses that run by the airport over to punta. It's supposed to be <10USD one way from the airport to Punta and takes 1.5-2hours.

The only question I have is whether to book this in advance or not?

Buses are a way better. WAY cheaper, very frequent, and direct. Can be caught from MVD or Montevideo proper.