Colonia Getting There & Away

Getting There & Away

Two daily boat connections arrive and depart from Buenos Aires and are the main connection to Argentina. A fast expensive one and a cheap slow one. The fast Buquebus catamaran ferry costs (one hour) ca. 60 USD return and is usually quite crowded with day tourists and travel groups. Make sure you book in advance for weekends and the peak season (christmas until end February. The slower boat costs 102 pesos (from Buenos Aires) round trip, and takes about 3 hours. An cheaper possibility is to take a boat from Tigre to Carmelo in Uruguay. From Carmelo, take a bus, they run every two to three hours from the center of the city to Colonia. Great landscape and also drops off kids from school along the way. There are several connections by bus from Montevideo to Colonia. Be careful with people telling you that all busses are booked out. This is in general not true and a taxi is much more expensive. For the peace of your mind buy a bus ticket upfront to avoid rare disappointment. If you want to extend your stay in Uruguay or Argentina than Colonia is a good place because upon arrival you get granted for either country a new 90 day tourist visa. So a day trip is although a good way to refresh your visa.