Montevideo (Uruguay) is a relatively small Latin American capital city. It’s not that touristic. Most visitors arrive with the ferry from Buenos Aires for a 2 to 4-day visit, but rarely much longer. You can easily stay fit and have a healthy diet during your trip to Uruguay. Especially if you take advantage of the tourist VAT refund incentive for eating at restaurants.
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Uruguay VAT Refund
During certain times of the year (such as during the past 2018 tourist season), there is a VAT refund in place for purchases at Uruguayan restaurants and grocery stores. The only requirement is to pay with a foreign credit card. The VAT amount of 18% will be refunded to your bank statement automatically. On the other hand, the discount for groceries is only 4% on purchases made at supermarkets. Other discounts apply to car rentals, while hotels are also free of VAT for tourists.
Montevideo Restaurants
Bosque Bambu (Eng: “Bamboo Forest”) is a pay-per-kilo vegetarian restaurant with a small health product section. You’ll find spinach pie, some soya options, crumbed vegetables, seitan, as well as vegetables like green beans and broccoli. With the green walls and wooden chairs, the decor has a slight resemblance to an urban forest. Staff didn’t speak much English, but they’ll point out the different vegetarian meat options (e.g. soya, seitan). Thanks to restaurants like these (and the 18% VAT refund), eating well was more affordable in Montevideo than in Buenos Aires.
Vida Sana in Tristan Narvaja Street is an Uruguay and Chinese-fusion pay per kilo vegan restaurant. You’ll find the typical Chinese vegetarian stirfry tofu options. As well as seitan, deep fried eggplant, swiss chard balls (similar to spinach), and mashed potato balls. The negatives are the number of deep-fried options and the fact that half the options contain the allergen, soya. Since Uruguayan cuisine is traditionally very meat-heavy, it’s no surprise seeing foreign influences in the vegan food scene.
Vegan Wraps in Pocitos has been around for a few years and serves tasty vegan wraps along with green juice. If you’re into vegan food (or flexitarianism), you’ll find some relatively affordable healthy choices over here. Quality food in Uruguay is still far from cheap.
Lastly, as in Buenos Aires, empanadas are very popular in Montevideo, along with different types of Uruguayan “Quiche”. Some of these vegetable-based and healthier than others.
Montevideo Gym (“Gimnasio”)
There are plenty of gyms in Montevideo that’ll allow you to work-out for below $10. I got a free trial work-out at Club One gym (Juan Jackson Rd). It’s one of the larger (if not the largest) gyms in Montevideo, with very good equipment. Thus you can try your luck and ask for a free trial.
Wholefood shops
There are a few decent wholefood shop options such as La Granola and La Molienda in Montevideo. Most of these shops serve refreshing green juice as well. Plus, they usually sell a few interesting herbs. However, herbalism in Montevideo is not as interesting as in other Latin American countries, since there is no rainforest nor jungle in Uruguay.
Yerba Mate Uruguay
Uruguayans are even more obsessed with Yerba Mate than Argentinians. They use a slightly different variation of the tea, which contains more powdered herb than the Argentinian Mate. But which is also more aged than the fresh-green Brazilian “Chimarrao”. Thus, although Uruguay Mate is imported from the south of Brazil (they don’t grow their own Mate), it still has a unique texture. An interesting Yerba Mate choice in Uruguay is “El Moncayo” – a blend containing more than 12 different herbs. Other brands contain a few individual herbs such as Gingko Biloba, Chamomile, Mint, and Passionflower.
In Montevideo, you’ll notice the Uruguayans carrying their gourds and thermal flasks with them wherever they go. Moreover, they drink yerba mate on the street while walking. The tea is typically stored in a leather shoulder bag, with a pouch for the Yerba Mate tea, another for the Gourd and “bombilla” (straw), and one more for the thermal flask. Drinking Yerba Mate while walking on the sidewalk is not common in Argentina. They’re more likely to drink Yerba Mate while sitting in public spaces, or indoors.
Ferry from Buenos Aires to Montevideo
There are three different ferry companies. Colonia Express was the least expensive. Seacat Colonia is slightly more expensive. Both Colonia Express and Seacat Colonia take you with the boat to Colonia. Here you transfer on a connecting bus to Montevideo. It takes between 4 to 5 hours. Buquebus has direct ferries to Montevideo. The more you are willing to pay, the faster the trip will be (fastest travel time is 1 hour). You’ll find the fares on these companies’ respective websites. The longer beforehand you book your ticket, the more you’ll save. During tourist high season when ferry tickets were sold out, I have experimented by taking a direct overland bus from Buenos Aires to Montevideo. This is potentially the cheapest option but by far the least comfortable and the most time-consuming (about 8 hours).
Other Activities and Neighbourhoods
Mercado del Puerto
The Harbor Market (Mercado Del Puerto) is one of the main tourist attractions in Montevideo. It’s a huge building with a lot of Asado restaurants and grills. As well as touristic gift shops selling yerba mate gear and other souvenirs. Uruguay is far from being a destination for cheap steaks, but you’ll witness the Uruguayan meat obsession at this market. This is a tiny country with a lot more cows than people. Around the Mercado del Puerto you’ll find a few more touristic stalls and shops as you walk towards the Ciudad Vieja.
Ciudad Vieja
The touristic area of the Old Town (Ciudad Vieja) consists of only one main pedestrian street. It’s a good place to buy Yerba mate gear. The small stall owners are not that likely to rip you off if you shop around a little. The quality is better than the cheap Yerba Mate gourds, bombillas and flasks which you’ll find in the supermarkets. In addition, there are a few health shops in this street that you’ll spot while walking. In the day-time, it felt very safe to stroll here, but at night it looks deserted apart from a few shady locals hanging around.
Pocitos
This is the rich and upmarket neighborhood of Montevideo. The only activities here is going to Pocitos shopping center and strolling next to the beach. These beaches are, however, seen as too dirty for swimming. Pocitos is supposed to be the safer area of the city, but as with the rest of Montevideo, it can still be dangerous at night.
Montevideo Agricultural Market
The Agricultural Market (“Mercado Agricola”) is a nice place to spend a couple of hours if you are bored in Montevideo. There’s good food including Salmon empanadas, fresh fruits, some tourist souvenirs, and other local interesting items to buy. This ranges from leather gaucho clothing to health and wellness products.
Other Uruguayan cities
Salto is Uruguay’s second largest city and is known for its hot springs. Next, Colonia is a small town, one hour by boat from Buenos Aires. A day-trip should be enough time to see Colonia. Punta Del Este is the most fun part of Uruguay, at least in the summer months. In winter it’s quiet. It’s one of the top three beach destinations for summer on this side of South America. Other contenders are Mar del Plata (Argentina), Rio de Janeiro as well as Florianopolis (Brazil). Punta del Este is expensive, and if you stay central (close to its beach peninsula), it looks and feels like a first world city. It’s safer than Montevideo.
Health Travel Junkie Challenge
The Health Travel Junkie challenge for Montevideo is to drink yerba mate outside on the street like the Uruguayans do.
Health Travel Junkie Scale
Fitness activities – 8
Food – 7.5
Cost of traveling – 7
Other Wellness-related activities – 8
Overall rating: 76%
What did you think about the Health and Wellness scene in Montevideo? Do you have any Uruguayan tips to share? Post in the comment section below to help fellow travelers have the best time in this city.