Punta del Este Shore Tour for Cruise Passengers

Badge of Excellence

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Great choice

5+ bookings last month.

3 to 4 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.6

· Cynthia_K ·

Mar 2026

This was a perfect introduction to Punta del Este!. Our driver provided information about the history and development of the town. The stops were leisurely, not rushed, and we were so lucky to have gorgeous weather. Multiple short stops means less time on the bus over all. Great AC too! Also, our group was much smaller than the cruise bus tour groups. Would definitely recommend.

· Jason_W ·

Mar 2026

One of my favorite cruise port shore excursions I’ve taken in nearly 100 ports over the last 25 years or so. Very kind people, incredible value and one of the prettiest locations I’ve ever visited. What a gem!

Overview

What's Included

Local guide
Bottled water

Tips (Optional)
Lunch
Entrance to Casa Pueblo

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Puerto de Punta del Este
Rbla. Gral. Artigas 652, 20100 Punta del Este, Departamento de Maldonado, Uruguay
We'll meet you at the port of Punta del Este, look for our yellow sign!

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.9:00 am

Itinerary

Puerto de Punta del Este

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Maldonado

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Punta Ballena

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Infant seats available
Near public transportation
Stroller accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible

Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
In case you are bringing a wheelchair, electric scooter, or require child seating, please let us know at least 48 hours in advance.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 200 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.6

based on 27 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Good time on tour

Douglas_B, Mar 2026

The tour was exceptional. Hit the highlights and provided us with good background on each point of interest. The only suggestion is that they need to have a flag or sign at the meeting point to find the tour operator more easily

More time at Casa Pueblo

KingCoyle, Mar 2026

Well organized at the port. Very nice bus and driver. Guide was pleasant and knowledgeable. The tour was well thought out for the time limitations, but if I had one complaint it would be that the stop at Casa Pueblo was to short. I would have picked longer time there and way less time shopping at the end.

Punta Del Este. Yellow Penguin

Alan_B, Mar 2026

Our Guide Fernando was the best. He was professional and well informed. Great communicator. Easy to understand English speaker. .

Tour for cruisers

Darlene_M, Mar 2026

Great experience. We normally go thru the cruise ship excursion but wanted to try it through Viator. Our guide, Fernando, was amazing. Gave us a lot of insight and information about life in the area. He made the tour interesting and entertaining! We will definitely use Yellow Penguin again!

Tour ok, as long as you don't get Veronica. She is not very good at all.

Carolyn_K, Mar 2026

We had Veronica, who spoke so low we could hardly hear her. We had to keep asking her to talk louder. It was frustrating. The last 30-45 minutes, she sat by the driver and didn't talk at all. We learned very little about the Highlights of the City, unless we stopped somewhere and asked one-on-one questions. Out of all the tours we did in South America through Viator, this is the only one that I would not suggest unless you get a different tour guide. Veronica was just not on her game.

Book Yellow Penguin for Punta Del Este

Jason_W, Mar 2026

Good way to see Punta del Este but beware of the last stop. If your not interested in the museum then don’t go

M_C, Mar 2026

This tour was a good way to see Punta del Este. We were in a small group of 12. The tour covered the main points of interest and the guide provided good information. The only negative thing about this tour is that the last stop which is at the home/museum/ restaurant of a famous Uruguayan artist, the entrance fee was $15US per person and the toilets and coffee shop were all within the museum complex so even though f you had no interest in the museum a couple had to pay $30 US for the privilege of using the toilet or for the privilege of buying a coffee. This was not made clear in the description of this tour and to make matters worse, the museum was in a really isolated spot so there was nothing else to do for the 45 minute stop.

Excellent tour of the highlights

Pamela_H, Mar 2026

Sylvia was a great guide. The tour was well organised and we were met promptly from the ship. The tour was long enough to see all the highlights of Punta del Este in an efficient manner.

Punta Estes City Tiur

Brian_M, Mar 2026

Excellent tour of the City of Punta Estes, one of the nicest cities on our Cruise. Once again Yellow Penguin came through and did and excellent job. Out tour guides were attentive and very knowledgeable. Will continue to use Viator and Yellow Penguin in the future.

Great overview of beautiful Punta del Este

Cynthia_K, Mar 2026

Beautiful place

Lynn, Mar 2026

Punta is a beautiful place. We enjoyed seeing the island. The PA system in the van did not work well so it was difficult to hear and understand our guide, also one couple wanted to go to a museum and our guide instructed the driver to take us to a couple of places while they were in the museum and the driver didn’t understand and we sat waiting for these people for 45 minutes.

Beautiful excursion in a beautiful port

petriestyx, Mar 2026

We very much enjoyed our air conditioned ride with our tour guide Pablo. It was a beautiful Sunday morning that coincided with an Ironman competition. Fortunately Pablo knew the ins and outs an was able to manage to make all of our stops.

Enjoyable city tour.

Andrew_l, Feb 2026

Great tour guide Jimmy. Itinerary was very enjoyable. Given time not rushed through any of the locations visited.

Great city tour

Laraine_W, Feb 2026

Punta del Este is a lovely place and our guide Fernando showed us the best of it. He made us want to consider it for a future trip. He was knowledgeable with a great sense of humor. My only negative… no time to shop!

Very well organised And...

Mansukh_S, Feb 2026

Very well organised And met my expectations All viewing point well selected and plenty of time to take pictures and admire the scenery Guide was excellent and very imformative

Nico, or Nicolas was...

Jana_L, Feb 2026

Nico, or Nicolas was absolutely wonderful, showing and explaining all of the sites to us. He was knowledgeable, had a great sense of humor, helpful, personable an overall great tour guide. We enjoyed it immensely.

Lovely tour of Punta del Este

Robert_K, Feb 2026

This was a lovely tour of Punta del Este. We found our guide right where we got off our tender boat and travelled in a modern, clean coach to see the main attractions, with plenty of stops for photos. Fernando was a great guide and gave us lots of information about the places we visited and about Uruguay in general. I would recommend this tour for all cruise ship passengers.

Pleasantly surprised at Punta Del Este

Peter_T, Jan 2026

Nice 13 seater Mercedes van. Bottle of water and small cake in seat pocket. Well informed guide but difficult to hear at the back of the van as there may have been a problem with the system

The best tour company I have ever dealt with. Highly recommend them!

William_S, Jan 2026

This is not so much a review of the tour so much as a comment on the tour company. Through a variety of errors, and I blame Viator for these, we ended up missing the tour. On the part of Viator, they have failed, despite several requests to combine two accounts. That was the main reason we missed the tour. I just put it down to bad luck. But then, completely of his own accord, the owner of the company offered us a free tour in Montevideo two days later. Their customer service is absolutely amazing. I can’t think of many companies that would go that much trouble. Again, let me stress, this offer was not requested or expected by us. The second tour of Montevideo turned out really great. I have absolutely no qualms in giving them the highest possible recommendation.

Overall experience is...

David_L, Jan 2026

Overall experience is good. The program is well-planned. The guide is a good one but not actively talked about what we would see.

Punta del Este in a capsule

Betsy_L, Dec 2025

Nice overview of the area. Great tour leader and driver. Saw highlights of the area. I didn’t go into the museum, so not much else to do there.

Highly recommend. Quick way to see Punta del Este

Donald_M, Dec 2025

Excellent guide: Valentina was very knowledgeable and gave us some excellent information on history, culture, and answers to the various questions addressed to her. Gave us time at each stop to explore, take pictures and buy souvenirs if desired.

Response from Host, Jan 2026

Your review just made our day — comments like this are exactly why we love what we do! Thank you so much for your kind words. We’re delighted to hear that Valentina shared such valuable insights about history and culture, and that she gave you enough time at each stop to explore, take photos, and even pick up a few souvenirs along the way. It’s wonderful to know the experience felt relaxed, informative, and well balanced. Thank you again for choosing Yellow Penguin — we’d love to welcome you back for more adventures in South America! 🐧✨ Yellow Penguin Team

You don’t need to book...

Ilana_H, Mar 2025

You don’t need to book this tour by Viator, when you get off at the pier, vans are waiting offering the same tour and is cheaper. We didn’t find the yellow penguin sign and I had to contact the tour operator, and finally he told me to look for one of the guides that were at the pier, and we were directed to one of the vans that were charging two thirds the price we had paid. No bottled water and the air conditioned was not working well (it was 34oC). There wasn’t enough time to see the museum at Casapueblo because the driver told us he was being called back to the pier to take another group. I complained to yellow penguin at the end of the tour and got a 50% refund