The Best Montevideo City Tour
Montevideo, Uruguay
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Get an introduction to Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, on a 3-hour city sightseeing tour — perfect for those short on time. Travel by coach with your knowledgeable guide, and step off the bus to view prominent landmarks around Independence Plaza and other city hot spots. See Parliament Palace; venture into the residential barrios of Carrasco, Punta Gorda and Pocitos; and stroll along the coastal avenue, Rambla of Montevideo. Round-trip hotel transport included.
- 3-hour Montevideo city tour
- Visit Montevideo’s main attractions including Independence Plaza and Parliament Palace
- Explore the residential neighborhoods of Carrasco, Punta Gorda and Pocitos
- Admire coastal views as you stroll down a picturesque beachside promenade
- Learn about the city’s rich history and architecture from your guide
- Walk along La Rambla of Montevideo
- Complimentary hotel pickup and drop-off
What's Included
- 3-hour city tour
- Professional guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
- Not allowed for people arriving by cruise ship
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
Pick up only at hotels.
Start time.2:00 pm
Itinerary
Get acquainted with Montevideo’s architectural landmarks, neighborhoods and coastal views on this insightful 3-hour guided tour of the capital. Board your coach upon hotel pickup for the drive to Independence Plaza (Plaza Independencia), which divides Montevideo’s Old Town and downtown.
Your guide points out the monument to José Artigas, Uruguay's great military leader and national hero, and leads you on a walk around the plaza. Admire the Italian Gothic–style architecture of the Palacio Salvo (Palacio Legislativo), whose 26 stories once made it South America tallest building. View Puerta de la Ciudadela, one of the few remaining parts of the city wall that once surrounded colonial Montevideo.
Back aboard the bus, head to the barrio of El Prado, home to three soccer stadiums and Prado Park. Listen to your guide’s commentary as your city tour continues to elegant Carrasco, Punta Gorda and Pocitos, traveling along La Rambla de Montevideo. Get out to stroll a section of this beachside promenade where you can browse local shops and enjoy lovely coastal views from Punta Gorda before the return drive to your hotel.
Your guide points out the monument to José Artigas, Uruguay's great military leader and national hero, and leads you on a walk around the plaza. Admire the Italian Gothic–style architecture of the Palacio Salvo (Palacio Legislativo), whose 26 stories once made it South America tallest building. View Puerta de la Ciudadela, one of the few remaining parts of the city wall that once surrounded colonial Montevideo.
Back aboard the bus, head to the barrio of El Prado, home to three soccer stadiums and Prado Park. Listen to your guide’s commentary as your city tour continues to elegant Carrasco, Punta Gorda and Pocitos, traveling along La Rambla de Montevideo. Get out to stroll a section of this beachside promenade where you can browse local shops and enjoy lovely coastal views from Punta Gorda before the return drive to your hotel.
1
Plaza Independencia
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
Salvo Palace (Pass By)
2
Parque Prado
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
Palacio Legislativo (Pass By)
Rambla de Montevideo (Pass By)
3
Pocitos
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- Not recommended for passengers arriving to Montevideo by cruise ship.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 42 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
3.7
based on 91 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
They never turned up. We waited 45 mins and I tried to contact them through the app as I had done successfully the day before and they ghosted me!
Our guide Paul used both Spanish and English. I’m so impressed. He is very patient answering my questions. He is very knowledgeable about the history and city. Thanks!
Tour operator never picked me up at my hotel , never answered why they didn’t picked me up. I think Viator shouldn’t work with them .
Viator couldn’t get a hold of them either to let me know why they never showed up to pick me up .
I was so excited because of the description said majority on Montevideo was going to be cover . I couldn’t plan anything else due to the tour started at 2pm but since they didn’t show to pick me up & it was a Sunday (day after the Uruguay victory fútbol game vs Brazil) everything was closed & It was raining so couldn’t do anything at all but stay in my hotel .
Viator should fired this tour company
Response from Host, Jul 2024
We have never received your reservation. Perhaps you have booked with another supplier.
Really none-the guide had to speak 3 languages and we were the only English speaking so often felt we didn't get full info. We spent too much time at a food court/mall; no need to be there for 30 minutes. Also would've liked more information about the city, etc. English tours need to be separate. Just very disappointed that we spent money on something so bad.
I am in Montevideo for a few days with work and wanted to book this city tour to see the place during some free time.
I waited in my hotel lobby for over an hour before the agreed collection time but nobody came. I then received a message from the tour operator saying they had come for me, shouted my name, asked at reception and waited for ten minutes before leaving. None of this is true - I was sitting by the main entrance and saw and heard nobody, neither did reception.
When I replied - still before the agreed pick up time - all I got was an argument, no apology, and complete ignoring of my request to come to my hotel and pick me up. I took a taxi and did a walking tour of the city by myself.
Incredibly, despite my offering proof, Viator are refusing to process a full refund. My advice: don't book this tour!
Response from Host, Dec 2022
Full refund for this passenger.
I liked the style in which our tour guide provided the information. She was very courteous, professional, friendly, down to Earth, and passionate about providing the tour with a most memorable experience. She also was thoroughly knowledgeable about the information concerning the tour. She's a consummate professional... THUMBS UP👍🏽L THE WAY!
I took this tour on the day I arrived in Montevideo and it provided a decent overview of the city. Stopped at Independence Plaza, the Legislative Palace, Mercado Agrícola, and the Montevideo sign. Guide was conducting the tour in Spanish, Portuguese, and English unfortunately for me, English got the shortest explanations. I was staying in the Old City so it was nice to get out and see parts I might not have seen otherwise.
Tip: At Independence Plaza, take steps beneath Artigas monument to visit the mausoleum. Tour guide didn't mention this but we had time at the Plaza and it only takes a few minutes.
This tour gives you a taste of the city of Montevideo its parks, architecture, history and culture. It was an enjoyable day with good photo opportunities.
Tour was ok but to little and to long stops in places. We arrived two hours late back to hotel and this was due to long stays at some places.
The tour overview certainly does not suggest the tour is predominantly in Spanish. Our tour was overwhelmingly in Spanish. The guide provided perhaps a quarter of the content in English. My wife could not follow at all.
But, I did follow the Spanish content and it was disappointing and superficial. We were told a few major dates and place names. But, we spent many minutes driving through older neighborhoods which were run down, and heard nothing about what had changed to cause the deterioration. We learned nothing about the people, the economy, the culture.
Perhaps the best example. We stopped for a five minute photo opportunity at a sculpture depicting an colonial settler on a horse-drawn wagon. We learned nothing about where they had come from, where they were going, and what the settlement process was all about. It could have been a statute of a US wild west wagon.
The guide was pleasant and polite, and the tour did cover the City. We just didn't learn much about why Uruguay is different from Argentina or Brazil.
Wasted way too much time going from Hotel to Hotel to pick up other passengers. Then wasted more time dropping everyone off.
Perfect!! Well organized and punctual!! Tour guide Frederica and Gustavo were awesome!
They could inform everything related to Uruguai such as curiosity, economy, history and so on.
Congratulation!!!
Excellent tour giving a good brief overview of the city
This tour was billed as 2.5 hours private tour with an English speaking guide.
The bus was 40 minutes late arriving. It was a minibus of 24 people, very cramped and uncomfortable. Those sitting in the aisle seats had restricted views due to the bus construction and curtains which couldn't be moved any further.
We were the only 2 English speakers. 80 of the commentary was in Spanish with just a nod to English.
The bus spent most of the time in heavy traffic rather than visiting the sights of Montevideo. About 40 was after dark which meant we couldn't see anything anyway - remember they were late picking up.
The trip ended around 7pm when we were told it would be 2.5 hours from 2.30pm. This buggered up our dinner reservation - for my husbands 50th birthday!
Not worth the money, or the time spent, I know no more about Uruguay and Montevideo than I had read before coming to the country. Don't book this tour!
A great half-day tour of Montevideo. Perfect way to have a good idea of the landmarks and general layout of the city. Our guide Jocelyne was just perfect!
This tour had some high points and some low points, but I'll start,with the high points. Sara was a really good tour director. She had to translate into four different languages formus, plus one family had a baby, but she carried on with grace. She told us some personal stories, which I found endearing and which made the tour more real to all of us. The tour itself had a high point when we stopped and were able to visit the market and buy a few nice souvenirs. Again, Sara was patient about giving us all plenty of time.
The itinerary of the tour is quite lackluster, not really what I had expected in a tour of Uruguay's capitol. We mostly looked at the outside of buildings, with little time to get out. But Sara'/ taking the time to take us past some regular neighborhoods and telling us a lot about the people was a plus. There was some mixup at the beginning and rather a long wait, but things happen and we understand that.
Would I recommend this tour? Maybe not. Had I known ahead of time, I would have hailed a cab and gone straight to the market. But since our Spanish is rusty at best, Sara was a big help that way. So to answer: if you are not proficient in your Spanish, I think it could be a good idea. Luckily, we were dropped off steps from another outdoor market where we had a delicious fish lunch and shopped the street wares. If someone with you speaks Spanish, get on line, do your homework and take a cab for your own trip. You can do better.
There aren't many things of significance to see in Montevideo, so it's mostly a drive around the city and along the beach. But the guide was quite pleasant, and you got to learn a little bit about life in Uruguay. Not a bad way to spend a few hours.
Good tour for those interested in history and architecture. THe weather was a bit cold and rainy but we trudged on and made the best of it.
Well worth going on this trip when you first arrive in Montevideo to get you bearings. Guide was friendly but didn't have the best English
The bus arrived 40 minutes late and we were not kept informed by the tour operator of what was happening. Each time we contacted him he said the bus would be another couple of minutes and then he said it had been held up by a fire in central Montevideo which had caused massive traffic jams. We checked with the tour guide when eventually the bus did arrive and this was not true. Nevertheless the tour guide was very good and the tour quite interesting.
not so good, too many languages, no time to be really informed about the tour.
If you speak spanish or portugese. OK
As we'd arrived by ship, we didn't have a hotel pick-up but we were met at the Carnaval Museum right on time. Tour was well commented and plenty of photo stops. The walking route within the old town is also worth doing.
We had a great tour guide and driver Virginia and Matias. Very informative and friendly. Not to be missed.
A good overview of the city and it's architecture. Guides was most helpful with comments.
This tour was only 2 hours MAX with another hour of dropping people off around the city. Also, this tour is billed as an English tour and it is not. Viator is walking the fine line of false advertising. Having a guide speaking in Spanish, Portuguese, and English is very impressive, but having the tour be 10 English does NOT make it an english tour. I read the reviews on trip advisor and they all say the same for your tours around the world. I am very disappointed.
Response from Host, Jan 2016
Thank you for your feedback. Although all of Viator’s tours are offered in English, many of our guides are multi-lingual and we cannot guarantee English will be the only language spoken during a tour. Occasionally our guides must provide assistance to a variety of guests from around the world and multiple languages will be spoken to accommodate everyone. We are sorry if you felt your tour was lacking due to this fact, and based on your concerns, we will contact our local tour operator and continue monitoring feedback from our future travelers to ensure a positive, quality experience for all.
A good tour. We were picked up a bit late and the guide was very good but had a lot of different nationalities so spent a lot of time repeating the same information but in several languages. The tour took in most of the city sights and good opportunities to take photos etc.
The tour guide Rosana was very professional but also funny. the tour started on time we went through all attactions as expected.
Not a lot to see in Montevideo but still worth doing the guide was great x
Great introductory tour to Montevideo. Our guide, Marcello was very informative and made sure we had an enjoyable time.
Excellent tour guide,friendly and very informative. Itinerary was great....highly recommend
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Attractions in Montevideo, Uruguay
- Montevideo Metropolitan Cathedral (Catedral de Montevideo) Tours & Tickets
- Montevideo Independence Plaza (Plaza Independencia) Tours & Tickets
- Gateway of the Citadel (Puerta de la Ciudadela) Tours & Tickets
- Montevideo Legislative Palace (Palacio Legislativo) Tours & Tickets
- Salvo Palace (Palacio Salvo) Tours & Tickets
- Rambla of Montevideo (Rambla de Montevideo) Tours & Tickets
- El Prado Montevideo Tours & Tickets
- Pocitos Tours & Tickets
- Pittamiglio Castle (Castillo Pittamiglio) Tours & Tickets
- El Milongón Tours & Tickets
- Montevideo Port Market (Mercado del Puerto) Tours & Tickets
- Montevideo Cruise Port (Puerto de Montevideo) Tours & Tickets
- Solís Theatre (Teatro Solís) Tours & Tickets
More attractions near Montevideo, Uruguay
- Rambla of Montevideo (Rambla de Montevideo) Tours & Tickets
- Montevideo Independence Plaza (Plaza Independencia) Tours & Tickets
- Montevideo Legislative Palace (Palacio Legislativo) Tours & Tickets
- Montevideo Agricultural Market (Mercado Agrícola de Montevideo) Tours & Tickets
- Montevideo Port Market (Mercado del Puerto) Tours & Tickets
- Solís Theatre (Teatro Solís) Tours & Tickets
- Salvo Palace (Palacio Salvo) Tours & Tickets